On 8 March 2016, General Mining Corporation Ltd, along with its project partner Galaxy Resources Limited, announced the signing of two binding Term Sheets with two China based buyers for the sale of 60kt of spodumene concentrate (USD 600/t) in 2016, and a further 120kt in 2017 (subject to price agreement in the December quarter 2016) from the Mt Cattlin mine in Western Australia. Completed Offtake agreement details The Company is pleased to announce that it has now signed a binding tri‐party offtake agreement with one of the offtake parties, and GMM’s exclusive selling and settlement agent, Tokyo based Mitsubishi…
The re-opening of Central Queensland’s Isaac Plains Mine underlines the solid long-term prospects for the Queensland resources sector. Officially re-opening the mine near Moranbah in central Queensland, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the mining sector was doing it tough, but demand remained strong for Queensland’s resources and expertise. “As the re-opening of Isaac Plains here today in Central Queensland shows, investors still have confidence in Queensland and our resources,” she said. “We have new faces, like Stanmore Coal, and new investors who are calling the bottom of the market, stepping up and creating jobs, like the 150 jobs here at Isaac…
The $1.4 billion Dugald River zinc project has gained special status to help cut red tape and create hundreds of jobs in north Queensland. State Development Minister and Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Dr Anthony Lynham has granted “prescribed project” status to MMG Ltd’s project, 85 km north-east of Mt Isa. “Projects like Dugald River are critical to economic development and job creation in the north-west during these tough times caused by ongoing resource commodity price lows,” Dr Lynham said. “Granting it prescribed project status will allow the Coordinator-General to assist MMG to navigate processes and timely approvals through…
Western Australian State Development Minister Bill Marmion has toured the Roy Hill project, the State's newest - and the nation's biggest - single-pit iron ore mine. "Roy Hill celebrated its first shipment in December 2015, and is now in the process of ramping up to its full production capacity of 55 million tonnes per annum," Mr Marmion said. "At full capacity, five ore trains per day will run between the mine and port facilities at Port Hedland, all controlled via Roy Hill's state-of-the-art remote operations centre in Perth. The Minister said the mine is expected to operate for more than…
Minister for Industry, Resources and Energy, Anthony Roberts, has announced that a billion dollar project in the State’s central west to mine rare metals and rare earths has now passed its final hurdle and will go ahead. “The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has granted an Environment Protection Licence to Alkane Resources after the company had already been granted a Mining Lease last December after it had met a rigorous government approval process. “Known as the Dubbo Zirconia Project, the mine will produce up to 30,000 tonnes of specialty metals and rare earths per year which are highly sought after to…
Thousands of new jobs in regional Queensland have come a major step closer with approval of the mining leases for the $21.7 billion Carmichael coal mine and rail project in the State’s Galilee Basin. Premier Annastascia Palaszczuk said Minister for State Development and Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Dr Anthony Lynham had today approved the grant of three individual mining leases about 160km north-west of Clermont. “This is a major step forward for this project after extensive government and community scrutiny,” the Premier said. “Some approvals are still required before construction can start, and ultimately committing to the project…
The approval of a new $1 billion rare earth and metals mine in Dubbo is great news for the region, the state and national economies, and the New South Wales minerals sector, says Australia’s resource industry employer group, AMMA. “AMMA welcomes New South Wales granting an environment protection licence to Alkane Resources, in what was the final regulatory hurdle after a decade long process for the Dubbo Zirconia Project,” says AMMA executive director, policy and public affairs, Scott Barklamb. “Following construction which will create 450 jobs, this project will produce 30,000 tonnes of rare metals and rare earths annually and…
Rio Tinto will invest C$105 million to modernise its Port-Alfred Port Facilities in Saguenay, Quebec, Canada. The investment will improve the safety and efficiency of receiving and unloading operations for raw materials used to produce aluminium at Rio Tinto's operations in the region. In order to adapt the infrastructure to the dimensions of modern vessels, a new platform will be built at the end of the Duncan wharf to facilitate docking. The Powell wharf will also be redeveloped to receive and unload alumina. This work includes the addition of a new unloading system, the dismantling of part of a warehouse…
Anglo American's has announced that its Unki platinum mine in Zimbabwe has been assessed against the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance’s (IRMA) comprehensive mining standard, achieving the IRMA 75 level of performance. The Unki underground mine was the first in the world to publicly commit to be independently audited against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining in 2019 and is both the first mine in Africa and the first producing platinum group metals operation to complete the audit. Chief Executive of Anglo American’s Platinum Group Metals business, Natasha Viljoen, said Anglo American has a longstanding commitment as a leader in…
Rio Tinto has reached an agreement with Landsvirkjun on an amended power contract that will allow the ISAL aluminium smelter in Iceland to continue operating with an improved competitive position. The agreement will deliver a more competitive power price and energy flexibility that is mutually beneficial for both ISAL and Landsvirkjun. Rio Tinto Aluminium Chief Executive, Alf Barrios, said the company is pleased to have reached an agreement on a power price that, coupled with improved efficiencies the company has delivered at the site, makes ISAL more competitive. “This provides a stronger footing to continue operations at the smelter and…
Lepidico Ltd’s proposed Phase 1 Project involves the development of an integrated lithium mine and concentrator in Namibia along with the development of a chemical conversion plant to be built within the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD). Today, the company announced the Preliminary Environmental Review (PER) for the Phase 1 Chemical Plant site within the KIZAD has been approved by the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD). The Phase 1 Chemical Plant is designed to process 56,700 tonnes per annum (tpa) (dry basis) of lithium mica/amblygonite concentrate at a feed grade of up to 4 per cent Li2O for…
Australian Strategic Materials Ltd (ASM) has advised that the Korean Institute of Rare Metals (KIRAM) has successfully produced and tested two kilograms of pre-sintered permanent magnets from ASM’s high-purity neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) powder from its pilot plant in Korea. KIRAM’s testing provides a strong indication that ASM’s NdFeB alloy is suitable to produce rare earth permanent magnets that are commercially in demand. This certification is further validation of ASM’s strategy to become an independent, fully integrated 'mine to manufacturer' producer of critical metals. ASM’s Managing Director, David Woodall said the excellent support and collaborative work between the Ziron Tech and KIRAM…
USA-focused diversified explorer, Hawkstone Mining Limited has announced spectacular high-grade results from the Devil’s Canyon Gold Project in Nevada, USA. The results follow the completion of further rock sampling, structural mapping and airborne UAV (drone) magnetics at the project, which is located in the highly prolific Carlin trend that has produced in excess of 195 million ounces of gold. A total of 37 rocks samples (DC015-52) were collected as both outcrop and float, focused on extending areas of known mineralisation together with reconnaissance prospecting along prospective trends and targets identified from previous sampling and geological interpretations. Anomalous rock samples were…
DeepGreen Metals, which is exploring for deep-ocean polymetallic nodules as a lower impact and more cost-effective alternative to terrestrial mining, has announced an upward revision to the nodule resource reported within the NORI-D exploration contract area held by its subsidiary, Nauru Ocean Resources, Inc. The nodule resource is now estimated as 4 megatonnes (Mt) measured, 341Mt indicated and 11Mt inferred mineral resources. As countries invest in large-scale clean energy transition programmes and begin to phase out internal combustion engines, securing the minerals required to build batteries for storing renewable energy and powering electric vehicles is vital. According to some academic…
