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…
Eni, a leading Egyptian Oil Company, has just announced a second light oil discovery on the b1-X exploration prospect, which is located in the South West Meleiha license, in the Egyptian Western Desert, located approximately 130 km North of the oasis of Siwa. The well in question is the second drilled well by Eni, who had plans to explore the deep geological sequences of the Faghur Basin. Approximately 7 km away from their first discovery (SWM A2-X), SWM B1-X has been drilled to a total depth of 4,523 meters. Down there Eni announced that they encountered 35 meters net of…
In partnership with Shah Deniz, BP has just announced the start-up of the new $28-billion project Shah Deniz 2, a landmark new gas development in Azerbaijan which will enable the first commercial gas delivery to Turkey. The project is set to start on time and on-budget. Shah Deniz 2 is set to be the first subsea development in the Caspian Sea, also forming the largest subsea infrastructure operated by BP worldwide. The project forms the beginning of the Southern Gas Corridor series of pipelines, delivering natural gas to the Caspian Sea and directly to European markets for the first time.…
Australian Oil and Gas company Calima Energy Limited has undertaken a strategic review of current and near-term investments in gas pipeline capacity relevant to the Montney Formation in Western Canada. “Calima is fast approaching the point where it will be drilling its first wells on the Calima Lands and it was therefore considered prudent to review the factors affecting the market both in terms of price and ease of access to infrastructure,” commented Calima Energy Managing Director, Alan Stein. The review identified over C$70 billion (approximately A$72 billion) of proposed infrastructure investments which have the potential to add over…
Nautilis Minerals Inc. has just announced the commencement of their wet-testing program for a new seafloor diamond drill rig. Nautilus’ rig, which is nicknamed the ‘Hobbit’ has met preliminary targets in a series of land-based trials, of which were largely focusing on rod handling, functional drilling and stability testing. Nautilus’ wet-test program is set to occur over a two-week period, expanding the testing parameters to include submerged operations and mechanical endurance. The Canadian registered company was the first to explore the ocean floor for polymetallic seafloor massive sulphide deposit (the sulphide deposit prospect is in Papua New Guinea and…
Global engineering firm, DRA, has successfully secured a contract with Sierra Rutile Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Iluka Resources Limited, for the expansion of its mineral sands operations in the Bonthe District of Sierra Leone. Sierra Rutile’s Gangama plant, which was originally constructed by DRA in 2016, will double its capacity to 1000-1200tph at the project’s completion. The project also includes the expansion of the Lanti front end circuit; and the refurbishment of the Lanti floating concentrator. “We are excited to continue our longstanding partnership with Sierra Rutile, which has included three feasibility studies and two engineering, procurement, and…
Lithium Power International Limited’s 50% owned Chilean joint venture company Minera Salar Blanco (MSB), responsible for developing the Maricunga Lithium Brine Project, has been awarded a key regulatory export licence by the Chilean Nuclear Energy Commission (CCHEN) to produce, market and export lithium products from Chile that are extracted from the Maricunga salar. MSB was granted a significant extraction quota on 9 March 2018 to export lithium from Chile. The quota has a term of 30 years and covers brine extracted from Maricunga, containing 88,885 metric tonnes of metallic lithium in brine or 472,868 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE).…
Construction at the US$80-million Epanko project in Tanzania is expected to commence next year. Following mining and processing, Epanko will produce a high-grade graphite concentrate. The proponent, the Australian company Kibaran Resources, is also looking at a further processing step, to produce graphite suitable for lithium-ion batteries. Because of their use in electric vehicles, such batteries present a strongly-growing market for graphite. Australia is the largest foreign investor in mining in Africa. Epanko is one of several dozen Australian projects that have progressed beyond an early exploration stage. There are many more at an early stage. According to one estimate,…
