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’…
Western Australian based company AVZ Minerals Limited's (AVZ) 60 per cent owned Manono deposit has been confirmed as the largest measured and indicated lithium resource in the world. The Manono Project is located approximately 500 kilometres north of Lubumbashi in the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa. The project covers approximately 88 square kilometres and hosts lithium pegmatites with a strike length of over 13 kilometres. AVZ has announced a 41.7 per cent increase in Manono’s combined Measured and Indicated Resources, up from 189.8 Million tonnes (Mt) to 269.0 Mt. ANZ has stated that overall tonnage…
A second, larger diamond drill rig operated by Foraco Argentina SA has progressed drilling to a depth of 141 metres at Lake Resources NL (Lake)’s 100 per cent owned Cauchari Lithium Brine Project in Jujuy - a province in Argentina’s remote northwest. Located adjacent to world-class brine projects either in production or under development, the new round of drilling aims to unlock further value from the emerging project. The larger diamond drill rig is targeting a sand horizon estimated between 350-450 metres deep and is set drill to 500 metres. Two rigs are now operational at Cauchari and reporting results…
Rio Tinto has approved the next stage in the development of Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) in South Africa through the construction of the Zulti South project. The $463 million (Rio Tinto share $343 million) investment will sustain RBM’s current capacity and extend mine life. RBM currently operates four mines in the Zulti North lease area, a mineral separation plant and smelting facility. The Zulti North orebody grade is declining, hence the Zulti South mine is required to maintain the output of high-margin zircon and rutile, and provide sufficient ore to support TiO2 sales. The Zulti South mine (Phase 1) will…
Canadian technology company, ELYSIS has announced the site for its new research and development facility in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Québec. The ELYSIS joint venture, by Rio Tinto and Alcoa Corporation, is working to commercialise a breakthrough technology that eliminates all direct greenhouse gases (GHG) from the traditional aluminium smelting process, instead producing pure oxygen. In Canada alone, the technology has the potential to reduce GHG emissions by 7 million tonnes, which is equivalent to removing 1.8 million cars off the road. The company believes this technology could reduce the environmental footprint of the aluminium industry on a global scale.…
ASX-listed emerging diamond group, Lucapa Diamond Company Limited, in partnership with the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho, have announced the recovery of a top-colour 55-carat diamond from the new 1.1 Million tonne per annum (Mtpa) Mothae kimberlite plant in Lesotho, Africa. The 55 carat stone is the fifth over 50-carat diamond recovered to date from Lucapa's 70 per cent owned Mothae project; in March, an 83.9-carat diamond was recovered. Commercial production from the Mothae mine commenced in January 2019 following the successful commissioning and ramp-up phases for the new plant and an earlier bulk sampling campaign. Mothae is considered…
Anson Resources Limited has commenced drilling the re-entry of the Skyline Unit 1 well at its Paradox Brine Project, located in Utah, USA. Anson is targeting lithium-rich brines in the deepest part of the Paradox Basin. Lithium values of up to 1,700ppm have historically been recorded in close proximity to Anson’s claim area. According to the company, the Skyline Unit 1 well had access that required little upgrade work and had previously recorded brine flow from historical drilling. This marks the third re-entry of an existing well carried out by the company at the Paradox Brine Project to sample brines…
BlackEarth Minerals NL has provided an update on the assay results received from trenching programs at the Maniry Graphite Project in Southern Madagascar. The Maniry trenching program was completed in early December with 47 trenches excavated for 4,314 metres, with 2,183 samples collected for analysis. 479 assay results were returned from the laboratory with the remaining assay results expected to be received and reported upon during the current quarter. The most impressive assay results were received from Trench MNT041 and MNT041a which were excavated at the Razafy NW prospect, these are summarised below: Trench MNT041: 0m at 9.89 per cent…
