HighGrade is Australasia’s weekly online mining magazine delivering to readers the high-grade cut of mining industry news from around the region, and the globe. read more
RECENT projects don’t come much more colourful than the Mt Kare gold project in Papua New Guinea, the scene of a huge gold rush 23 years ago that, invariably, attracted all the usual types of suspects in its wake. ASX-listed Indochine Mining though, now plans to finally give the story a happy-ending though in the shorter term it’s got one or two corporate strategy issues to navigate.
MELBOURNE, Feb 23 – BHP Billiton says the high Australian dollar and low global manganese alloy prices forced its decision to suspend production at the TEMCO plant in George Town, Tasmania.
TORONTO, Feb 23 – PMI Gold Corporation aims to fund the development of its flagship Obotan gold project in Ghana with an underwritten C$35M share issue.
PERTH, Feb 23 – Growing Australian iron ore producer Atlas Iron has readied itself for the challenges of exponential growth by appointing chief development officer Ken Brinsden to the managing director’s role.
SYDNEY, Feb 23 – A prefeasibility study supports emerging producer Sumatra Copper & Gold’s two-stage development plans for its 100% owned Tembang gold and silver project in central Sumatra, Indonesia.
VANCOUVER, Feb 23 – Government approval of the preliminary environmental impact assessment for the Perama Hill deposit in Thrace, northern Greece brings Eldorado Gold a step closer to its planned 110,000oz a year open pit gold mine.
PERTH, Feb 23 – Kalgoorlie Mining Company has shut down mining operations at the Bullant underground gold mine 65km northwest of Kalgoorlie in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia.
PERTH, Feb 23 – A 21% increase in the overall resource at Kurnalpi has given Carrick Gold a boost as it prepares for first production late this year from its LKK gold project 50km east of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.
VANCOUVER, Feb 23 – The merger of European Goldfields and Eldorado Gold Corporation is set to be finalised this week after shareholders of both companies approved the plan of arrangement.
PERTH, Feb 23 – Magma Metals has increased combined underground and open-pittable mineral resources to 790,000 platinum-equivalent ounces at its Thunder Bay North platinum-palladium-copper-nickel project in northwest Ontario, Canada.
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 23 – Witwatersrand Consolidated Gold Resources is completing a prefeasibility study for the first mining area as its application is lodged for a mining right for gold, silver and uranium over its combined prospecting rights in the southern Free State goldfield of South Africa.
PERTH, Feb 23 – Encouraging news keeps coming for Haranga Resources at the Bayantsogt prospect, within the Selenge iron ore project area in Mongolia.
LONDON, Feb 23 – Higher spot gold prices helped lift precious metals miner Pan African Resources to a 90% jump in attributable profits to GBP14.44M for the six months to December 2011.
PERTH, Feb 23 – First production is due next month from the refurbished plant at Noble Mineral Resources’ Bibiani gold project in Ghana as commissioning proceeds despite several shutdowns caused by electricity grid supply fluctuations.
LONDON, Feb 23 – West African-focused diamond explorer and miner Stellar Diamonds reports large diamonds have been recovered from bulk sampling at the Droujba kimberlite pipe in Guinea.
PERTH, Feb 23 – Southern Cross Goldfields has identified a new gold target at its 100%-owned Marda gold project, 400km east of Perth in Western Australia.
MELBOURNE, Feb 23 – Pacific National Coal Haulage has won a 15-year contract to deliver up to 4Mtpa of coal to the new Wiggins Island Coal Terminal from the Springsure Creek coal mine in central Queensland, Australia.
PERTH, Feb 23 – Peak Resources says it can focus on the development of the Ngualla rare earth project in southern Tanzania after wrapping up 100% ownership through its acquisition of its Tanzanian Joint Venture partner Zari Exploration.
PERTH, Feb 23 – Trial mining is on track to begin in the June quarter on the Talang Santo prospect, 17km from the Way Linggo underground gold-silver mine in Lampung Province on southern Sumatra, Indonesia.
MELBOURNE, Feb 23 – Pluton Resources has updated ore reserves for the Hardstaff Peninsula that it says will add 10 years to the mine life at its prospective Irvine Island iron ore project on Western Australia’s Kimberley coast.
PERTH, Feb 23 – Production is now getting back to normal after substantial rain delays at Alcyone Resources’ Twin Hills heap leach silver operation, part of its 100%-owned Texas silver and polymetallic project in southeast Queensland, Australia.
PERTH, Feb 23 – Azure Minerals has identified a new mineralisation zone from its first drilling program at the 100%-owned El Tecolote zinc project in Sonora, Mexico.
MELBOURNE, Feb 23 – Newcrest Mining, Australia’s largest gold producer, is expected to achieve listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange following the receipt of conditional approval from the TSX.
MELBOURNE, Feb 23 – BHP Billiton has raised US$5.25B via a five tranche Global Bond to be used to refinance debt, including the retirement of commercial paper, and general corporate purposes.
A HISTORY of delays, cost overruns and regulatory hurdles have to be overcome to make the nuclear power industry a competitive investment and kick start wider use of nuclear energy in advanced economies, according to recent research.
CITIGOLD’S decision to hitch itself to funds out of China makes it the latest Australian gold miner to tap into what is the world’s fastest growing gold market.
JEREMY Read last week took up his position as skipper and star striker at the head of a new look Avalon Minerals team that will be looking to kick some early goals over the next few months in order to please its owners and make up for a ragged 2011 season.
NEW headline grabbing junior Ventnor Resources appears to be staring down the barrel – or more precisely down the drill hole – at a significant looking copper development north of Meekatharra in Western Australia.
SHOT down on the eve of the state election last year, Kores’ Wallarah 2 management have since regrouped and are currently jumping through approval hoops to have another crack at gaining approval for their underground coal project on New South Wales’ Central Coast.
THE factors that pushed the gold price up by more than 10% over 2011 are likely to continue for at least the first half of this year, according to the World Gold Council.
BOTH the bulls and the bears on China will find something to encourage them in the latest property numbers out of the country.
SOUTH African mining executive Mike Kilbride is now non-executive chairman of emerging coal producer Continental Coal.
FEBRUARY 21 - “NOT for widows and orphans.” That was how one mining analyst described the investment environment for miners during a site visit in Zimbabwe last week. Still, he remained ever optimistic that the country could somehow find a way through the current mess, centred on indigenisation legislation, and set up a more stable mining framework.
FEBRUARY 21 - SCOTT Lowe concedes comparisons can be problematic when referring to $A700 million Discovery Metals and the sub-$A100 million company Blackthorn Minerals that he runs, but between the jigs and the reels there are similarities to be seen all the same.
FEBRUARY 20 - ‘HIGH cost, low productivity nation’ was the lament last week of Australian business leaders captured in a national newspaper headline. Later in the week unions stopped work at the nation’s biggest coking coal mines – a clear sign the industry’s decade-long battle with declining productivity isn’t about to get easier. One industry ‘analyst’ believes the productivity problems run deeper than economic commentators would have us believe.
APPARENTLY it is tough to get mining engineers with block caving expertise. And apparently this means OZ Minerals potentially has a problem on its plate at its Carrapateena project, a problem that could, according to Citi, see the operation developed as a stoping operation instead. You’re kidding, right?
