Australian mineral exploration company, Corazon Mining Limited has announced a high grade copper mineralisation from a recently completed surface rock-chip sampling program at the Mount Gilmore Cobalt-Copper-Gold Project in New South Wales Australia. Corazon has secured the right to earn up to 80% of the Mt Gilmore Cobalt-Copper-Gold Project from private company Providence Gold and Minerals Pty Ltd and is currently completing due diligence. The surface rock-chip sampling being reported was undertaken by Providence; these results have been received by Corazon and as such additional disclosure is required by the Company. Rock-Chip Sampling Program A total of 76 rock-chip samples…
Carrapateena in South Australia is shaping up as a major copper-gold project. In a statement last month, the proponent (OZ Minerals) made clear its commitment to the project. The ore-production rate is to be increased over what was previously planned; work on a decline will commence next month (mining will be underground); and final processing will take place at Whyalla, a regional city approximately 200 kilometres south of the minesite. All going well, construction will commence next year, with first production in 2019. Estimated capital cost: nearly A$1 billion (over US$700 million). OZ Minerals says that the choice of Whyalla…
The Government has approved two proposals from Rio Tinto to develop new deposits in the Pilbara, Western Australia, prolonging the life of existing mining operations. Announcing the approvals, State Development Minister Bill Marmion said the projects would deliver both short and long-term benefits for the State. "This is great news for the resources sector and will create opportunities for workers and contractors who are doing it tough in the current climate," Mr Marmion said. "These approvals will allow Rio Tinto to maintain its current level of production at two sites, Yandicoogina and West Angelas." The Minister has given approval for…
Mineral Resources of Perth is a mining company, but it is also a mining-services company, offering services in fields such as crushing and pipeline design and construction. The company is developing a new transport system for taking iron ore from its Iron Valley mine in the Pilbara region to Port Hedland for shipping. The system is an elevated rail line. Mineral Resources says that it occupies a “niche between heavy rail and conveyor”, adding that it is “significantly less capital intensive than traditional heavy-haul rail” (see further information). The system will be open to third-party users. It has the potential…
Sand mining on North Stradbroke Island is to substantially cease by 2019, with the Queensland Parliament voting in favour of the phase-out to allow the creation of new, sustainable jobs. The North Stradbroke Island Protection and Sustainability and Other Acts Amendment Bill 2015 to end sand mining was passed in the Queensland Parliament early today (Thursday). Environment Minister Dr Steven Miles said it was a good result for the environment and would ultimately open up new and exciting opportunities for the island community, leading to positive economic outcomes. “Today marks the start of a new chapter for North Stradbroke Island,”…
The company developing a greenfield coal project at present may appear to be brave, but at least three such projects are at an advanced planning stage in Australia. The first is Meteor Downs South in Queensland. This will be a small, low-cost operation, entailing open-cut mining and simple processing. It will produce thermal coal (used for electricity). Subject to final approval by the proponents (a Chinese company and a Japanese company), construction will commence by the end of the year. The second is a much larger, Chinese-driven project: Hillalong, also in Queensland. With an estimated capital cost of A$600 million,…
Doray Minerals Limited has entered into a farm-in Agreement with Rox Resources Limited to explore the highly prospective and underexplored Mount Fisher Gold Project which is located in the north-eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. The Mt Fisher farm-in represents another strategic exploration project for Doray, with a large contiguous land package over an underexplored greenstone belt with already identified gold mineralisation, and adds to its highly prospective Horse Well JV and Western Gawler farm-in in South Australia. Doray’s Managing Director, Allan Kelly, said Mount Fisher represented a very attractive exploration opportunity for Doray, given the many similarities with the multi-million…
Lithium exploration and project development company, Lake Resources NL have confirmed that drill hole locations have now been determined for the upcoming drill program at their 100 per cent owned Cauchari Lithium Brine Project in Argentina. Following recent discussions with relevant authorities in Argentina this week, the company has announced plans to drill three holes, with a possible fourth hole, to depths of 400 metres. Drilling is anticipated to show a likely extension to the high-grade lithium brines in adjacent properties and work is likely to commence in early October, barring any unforeseen delays. Third party drill results on the…
BHP Billiton plc (BHP) has entered into an agreement with Canadian based mining company Guyana Goldfields Inc. (Guyana) to acquire a 6.1 per cent interest in SolGold Plc (SolGold), the majority owner and operator of the Cascabel porphyry copper-gold project in Ecuador. SolGold is a copper-gold exploration company with objectives to discover and define world‐class copper‐gold deposits in Ecuador. They hold the largest exploration team and the most active exploration programme across the country. Cascabel is SolGold’s flagship project and is one of the most advanced resources project in Northern Ecuador. Under the terms of the new agreement, BHP will…
A South Australian mining company’s plans for the largest base metal mine in Algeria is now one step closer to construction, following the completion of a revised Definitive Feasibility Study. Located near the Algerian city of Bejaia, the Tala Hamza Zinc Project is expected to produce an average of 129,300 tonnes per annum of zinc concentrate at 54 per cent zinc (90 per cent recovery) and 26,000 tonnes per annum of lead concentrate at 63 per cent lead (73 per cent recovery) over 21 years. A processing plant with a 1.3 million tonne per annum capacity will also be built…
A contract for a feasibility study into the first-ever high-voltage direct current (HVDC) offshore wind substation in China has been announced. China has committed heavily to developing its offshore wind power generating capacity. It currently plans to have 5 GW of offshore wind power installed by 2020 and in 2017 alone it installed almost 1.2 GW of offshore wind capacity. This brought the cumulative total installed capacity to nearly 2.8 GW, third globally behind the United Kingdom and Germany. However, the country is now faced by the challenge that all the promising wind farm sites within 10 km of the…
Australian gold-focused exploration company, Cardinal Resources Limited has finalised documentation which allows the company to enter into a transaction for US$25million ($AU32 million) with Canadian based Sprott Private Resource Lending to provide a credit facility. The facility will provide working capital and funding to complete the Preliminary and Definitive Feasibility Studies for the Namdini Gold Project, which is located approximately 50km south-east of the regional town of Bolgatanga in Northern Ghana. The project lies within the Nangodi Greenstone Belt, one of a series of granite-greenstone belts within the area which host significant gold mineralisation in Ghana and Burkina Faso. “We…
Australian mineral exploration company, Tyranna Resources Limited has acquired private company US Cobalt Pty Ltd, who owns the Goodsprings Cobalt and Base Metals Project, in Nevada, USA. US Cobalt's Goodsprings Cobalt and Base Metals Project consists of 329 mining claims covering 6,580 acres located within the Goodsprings mining district in southern Nevada. In March this year, Tyranna entered into a binding option agreement to acquire US Cobalt, as part of the company's diversification strategy to capitalise on the battery minerals revolution. Tyranna’s Managing Director, Bruno Seneque said the acquisition was an ‘outstanding deal’ for Tyranna and their shareholders. “Historical mining results…
Rio Tinto recently opened a fourth diamond pipe, known as the A21, at the Diavik Diamond Mine in Canada. The pipe is located adjacent to Diavik’s existing mining operations at Lac de Gras (a notable Lake in Canada that was the centre of the diamond rush of the 1990s). The new open-pit pipe will provide an important source of incremental supply over the next four years, assisting with sustaining production levels at the mine. First ore was delivered in March and the pit is expected to be at full production during the fourth quarter of 2018, following a four-year construction period…
