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…
Decmil Group Limited was recently awarded a $30.6m contract with BHP Billiton Iron Ore to design and construct a warehouse hub at Kingsford Business Park, Port Hedland, Western Australia. The facility will consist of a 12,000m2 warehouse and 35,000m2 sealed hard standing area. Construction is expected to commence in May 2016 and adds to Decmil’s long history of providing non process infrastructure to the West Australian mining sector.
Gold Road Resources Limited has completed the Pre‐Feasibility Study (PFS) for the development of its 5.62 million ounce5 (Moz) Gruyere Project, located 200 kilometres east of Laverton in Western Australia. The completion of the PFS included detailed economic analysis and further technical work building on the findings of the first stage Options Study which determined that the best go‐forward case was a large‐scale open‐pit mine utilising a conventional 7.5 Mtpa SAG/Ball Mill Circuit gravity/carbon‐in‐leach processing facility, powered by a pipeline‐supplied, gas‐fired power generation plant. The full PFS confirms the Project as one of Australia’s best undeveloped gold deposits and indicates…
Doray Minerals Limited has successfully achieved another milestone in its plans to become a multi-mine high-grade gold producer with the recent commencement of open pit mining at the Company’s Deflector Gold Project. Doray’s open pit contractor, MACA Ltd recently completed the first blast in the Deflector open pit and has commenced open pit mining operations during February, as forecast. Doray’s Managing Director, Allan Kelly, said the commencement of open pit mining represented another significant milestone in the rapid development of the Deflector Project and came less than a year after completing the takeover of Mutiny Gold in March 2015. “We…
The Department of Environment and Heritage Protection issued a final environmental authority (EA) for Adani’s Carmichael Mine project on 2 February 2016 with approximately 140 conditions, including 9 conditions relating to the black throated finch as required by the Land Court. The EA application was vigorously assessed by EHP and acted on recommendations made by the Land Court. EHP is confident the strict conditions placed on the EA, including extra requirements based on the Land Court’s recommendations, will ensure this mine will not pose an unacceptable risk to the environment and any potential impacts will be closely monitored. The project…
One of Victoria’s most productive gold mines, Fosterville Gold Mine near Bendigo, has reached a major milestone by extracting its millionth ounce of gold from the current operation. Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio joined the mine’s operator, Newmarket Gold Inc, to unveil a plaque on site of the Fosterville Gold Mine to celebrate the achievement. At today’s prices, a million ounces of gold is worth approximately $1.6 billion. Fosterville Gold Mine employs 400 people and boosts the local economy by $90 million a year through wages and sourcing goods and services regionally. The Fosterville mining operation is also…
Leading mining and civil construction firm BGC Contracting Pty Ltd has been awarded a five-year contract extension with Cliff Natural Resources at its Koolyanobbing Iron Ore Project in Western Australia. The current mining contract, previously due to be completed in 2017, will be extended through to 2022, and is valued at more than $520 million. Under the contract, BGC Contracting will continue to provide the full range of mining services, including drilling, blasting, loading, hauling, dumping, crushing, screening and train load-out. BGC Contracting CEO Greg Heylen said the contract extension was recognition of the Koolyanobbing team’s ability to meet Cliffs’…
A selection of the finest rough diamonds from Rio Tinto’s Australian and Canadian mines will be tendered to diamond specialists from around the world in October and November. Headlining Rio Tinto’s forthcoming ‘Specials’ Tender, which showcases rough diamonds greater than 10.8 carats, is Lot number 1, Diavik Helios, a 74.48-carat Fancy yellow diamond. The Diavik Helios takes its name from the pure yellow sunlight emitted by the mythical Greek God of the Sun. Fancy yellow diamonds are rare finds from the Diavik diamond mine in the remote Northwest Territories of Canada which primarily produces high-quality white diamonds. Patrick Coppens, General Manager,…
Pan Asia Metals Limited (PAM) has held positive discussions with the Phang Nga Provincial Government regarding its exploration, mining and mineral processing aspirations in Thailand. PAM was recently invited by the Chief Executive Offer of the Phang Nga Provincial Administrative Organisation (PAO), a Phang Nga Provincial Government coordinating body, to present the Reung Kiet Lithium Projec, located approximately 70 kilometres northeast of Phuket in the Phang Nga Province in southern Thailand. In brief, the PAO wants to ensure that the requirements of the project are incorporated into the Phang Nga New Town Planning Committee’s zoning plans to ensure it can…
Eagle Mountain Limited intends to develop a low-cost mining operation which means increasing the resource base both within its 80 per cent owned Oracle Ridge Mine Project in Arizona, USA and in the near-mine vicinity. Diamond drilling commenced at Oracle Ridge in early September and was designed primarily to target extensions of the high-grade portions of the existing Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE). Five of the six drill holes completed intersected skarn-hosted copper mineralisation. Additionally, mineralisation has been encountered in the Leatherwood granite, which opens up the prospectivity of this rock unit. Samples have been submitted to the laboratory and assay…
Barrick Gold Corporation has advised that plans to extend the life of the Hemlo gold mine in Canada by transitioning it to a modernised Tier Two [1] asset with a purely underground operation are 'well underway' as open-pit mining at the mine starts winding down. The Hemlo open pit has been mined since 1989 and has produced over 2.8 million ounces of gold. It was originally used to produce blasted rock for the backfilling of the mine’s underground stopes but in 2002 a truck fleet and key personnel were seconded from Barrick’s Nevada mines to establish the pit as a…
Endeavour Mining (Endeavour or the Company), has announced that mining operations have successfully restarted at its Boungou open-pit gold mine in Burkina Faso, following the mobilisation of the West African mining contractor and completion of infrastructure and operating improvements. Endeavour has also confirmed potential annual synergies of $35 to $40 million during its SEMAFO integration process. The identified synergies are in the areas of procurement and supply chain optimisation, corporate and in-country G&A savings, centralisation of technical services and functions across the group. It is estimated that 60 per cent of these synergies will be progressively unlocked by year end…
Rio Tinto and China Baowu Steel Group have celebrated a significant milestone reached by its landmark Bao-HI Ranges iron ore joint venture (JV) with more than 200 million tonnes of iron ore now shipped from the Pilbara to mills in China. The 200 millionth tonne of iron ore sold under the partnership was mined at Eastern Range, located approximately 10 kilometres south of Paraburdoo. It departed Rio Tinto’s Cape Lambert port on board the Baosteel Li Da last month before arriving at Majishan, China, on 19 September. The shipment followed a broader milestone for Rio Tinto with the company shipping…
Australian Strategic Materials (ASM), through its partner Ziron Technology Corporation (Ziron Tech), has successfully produced 8.6kg of a high purity zirconium metal at its commercial pilot plant in South Korea. The planned flowsheet for ASM’s 100 per cent owned Dubbo Project, located in central-western NSW, incorporates the production of both industrial-grade zirconia and dehafniated zirconia (ZrO2) and hafnium oxide (HfO2) using a process patented by Australia's Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) with ASM having an exclusive global licence. Successful production of this high purity zirconium metal from commercial-grade zirconia is an important milestone for ASM. ZironTech has received confirmation…
