Northern Territory Minister for Primary Industries, Paul Kirby, has approved an amendment to the existing mine management plan (MMP) for the McArthur River Mine, creating a pathway for the implementation of all 30 recommendations made by the NT Environment Protection Authority (NTEPA). The McArthur River Mine is one of the world’s largest zinc, lead and silver mines and is currently operated by McArthur River Mining, a subsidiary of Glencore. The mine is situated approximately 70 kilometres southwest of Borroloola in the Northern Territory and has been operating since 1993. In August 2018, the NTEPA c... more

Perth-based exploration company, Anglo Australian Resources NL (Anglo Australian), has revealed the results of a recently completed diamond drilling campaign at its 100 per cent owned Mandilla Gold Project. Located approximately 75 kilometres south of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, the Mandilla Gold Project lies on the western margin of a porphyritic granite intrusion known as the Mandilla Granite. The Granite intrudes volcanoclastic sedimentary rocks in the Project area, which forms part of the Spargoville Group. The Mandilla Gold Project consists of the Mandilla South and Mandilla East Prospects. ... more

Venture Minerals Limited (Venture) has awarded preferred tenderer status to a major local civil and mining contractor for the recommencement of the Riley Iron Ore Mine (Riley). Venture’s 100 per cent owned Riley DSO Deposit is located in north-western Tasmania, approximately 10 kilometres from Venture’s Mt Lindsay Tin-Tungsten Deposit. Riley has reserves of 1.8 Million tonnes at 57 per cent iron (Fe) with low impurities. The deposit occurs as a hematite rich pisolitic and cemented laterite - all at surface. Venture made the decision to place the Riley Iron Ore Mine in Care and Maintenance in 2014... more

Anglo American plc is moving to expand its metallurgical coal operations in Central Queensland’s Bowen Basin with one of the most technologically advanced underground mines in the world, following the approval of its Aquila project by the company’s Board. Aquila is an underground hard coking coal mine near Middlemount, which will extend the life of Anglo American’s existing Capcoal underground operations by six years, to 2028, and continue to optimise the Capcoal complex. The complex consists of the Capcoal Open Cut Mine, the Grasstree underground operations, and associated infrastructure, positioned... more

Australian Industrial Energy (AIE) has announced another important milestone in the development of its Port Kembla Gas Terminal (PKGT) with the award of the key wharf facility and pipeline construction contract for the LNG import facility. New South Wales currently imports over 95 per cent of its domestic gas from other states. This means that local industries, business and households can be impacted by supply or price shifts occurring in other states. AIE states that LNG will be sourced from international suppliers and transported by LNG carriers to Port Kembla, where it will be transferred to a floating,... more

The 440-kilometre Tanami Natural Gas Pipeline, which will transport gas to Newmont Mining’s Granites gold mine, located approximately 540 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs in the Tanami Desert, has been completed. The pipeline is part of Newmont’s $346 million Tanami power project which is expected to provide the mine with a safe and reliable energy source that lowers power costs and carbon emissions by 20 per cent. The power project involved the installation of two power stations, a 66 kilovolt interconnected power line and the approval to operate the natural gas pipeline. Historically, mining op... more

A seismic survey program has commenced on QEM Limited's (QEM) 100 per cent owned Julia Creek project, covering approximately 496 square kilometres in the Julia Creek area of North Western Queensland. Julia Creek is located over the vast Toolebuc Formation, which is the host to widespread vanadium mineralisation, and is considered an ‘oil shale’, meaning it has the potential to hold significant petroleum resources. QEM announced in February this year that it had engaged geological service company, Velseis Pty Ltd, to conduct the 26-kilometre 2-D seismic survey which would outline the geological structur... more

EPIK Co. Ltd. has executed an agreement with Watpac for the provision of  design, engineering and construction services for the onshore infrastructure components of the Newcastle LNG floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) import terminal at the Port of Newcastle. Situated at the back-end of the existing gas transmission network, the Port of Newcastle is one of Australia’s largest ports and a major trade and logistics hub, making it an ideal area to develop an LNG import terminal. The potential investment for the Newcastle LNG project is estimated to be approximately $AU547 million and is set to inc... more

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), on behalf of the Australian Government, has announced up to $40 million in funding towards the deployment of a Pumped Hydro Energy Storage (PHES) project in South Australia. This funding will help to fast track development of South Australia’s first PHES plant. As South Australia continues to increase its renewable energy make up, large-scale storage such as PHES and grid-scale batteries are needed to supply system strength, energy reliability and inertia to the region. Pumped hydro energy storage uses excess renewable energy during low demand periods to ... more

Leading French renewable energy company, Neoen, has commenced full-scale commercial operation at its $198 million Numurkah Solar Farm. The Numurkah Solar Farm is a 128-megawatt (MW) renewable energy project consisting of approximately 350,000 solar panels installed on 500 hectares of land, located approximately 6 kilometres south of Numurkah in Victoria. It is the largest of its kind in the state. Fully owned and developed by Neoen, the Numurkah Solar Farm is expected to produce 255-gigawatt hours of emission-free, clean, competitive renewable energy per annum – the equivalent of taking 77,000 cars of... more

Canadian company, Hydrostor Inc., has just received development approval to build the nation’s first advanced compressed air energy storage (A-CAES) facility near Strathalbyn in South Australia. Hydrostor plans to re-purpose the former Angas Zinc Mine into a 5 megawatt (MW) / 10MWh facility by transforming the existing mine into an air-storage cavern 240 metres below ground using their innovative design to achieve emissions-free energy storage. A-CAES works by using electricity from the grid to run a compressor, producing heated compressed air. Heat is extracted from the air stream and stored inside a pr... more

Global distributed energy producer EDL is delivering an innovative hybrid renewable energy solution for Gold Fields’ Agnew Gold Mine in Western Australia’s goldfields region. In an Australian first, the project will utilise wind generation as part of a large hybrid microgrid in the mining sector. EDL CEO James Harman said the project represents a major step in Australia’s journey to sustainable energy. “We have leveraged learnings from demonstrated su... more

More than 400 jobs and a boost to the local economy will be an added bonus to a $90 million overhaul of the largest generating unit in Australia at CS Energy’s Kogan Creek Power Station. Located near Chinchilla in South West Queensland, the Kogan Creek Power Station is one of Australia’s most efficient and technically advanced coal-fired power stations. Commissioned in 2007, the 750 MW power station can generate enough electricity to power up to one million homes. Kogan Creek’s last major overhaul was carried out in 2016. This overhaul includes a range of inspections, maintenance and upgrades o... more

The Queensland Government has ticked off a major milestone on a proposed $1 billion overhead high-voltage electricity transmission line which would connect major energy users and North West Queensland’s public to the national electricity grid. Queensland’s independent Coordinator-General declared CuString Pty Ltd’s CopperString Project a ‘coordinated project’ on 27 April. The proposed project is a 1,100-kilometre 275-kilovolt overhead high-voltage electricity transmission line connecting the North West Minerals Provence and Mount Isa to the National Electricity Market grid south of Townsville. ... more

The Queensland Government has fast-tracked $100 million, as part of its $225 million commitment to Townsville’s water security, to keep construction of the Haughton 36.5 kilometre water pipeline moving. Member for Townsville, Scott Stewart said the $100 million payment (paid last week) would go towards supporting up to 1000 jobs over the life of the project. “We all know Townsville has been doing it tough and is currently recovering from an unprecedented flooding event. The jobs that flow from the Haughton pipeline are a shot in the arm during the rebuilding period,” Mr Stewart said. There are mo... more

Construction of the $1 billion Albemarle Kemerton Plant in Western Australia, Australia’s largest lithium processing plant, has commenced. The plant will become Australia's largest lithium hydroxide plant, with approval to produce up to 100,000 tonnes per annum of premium battery grade lithium hydroxide. Western Australia is currently the number one global producer of lithium, the second largest global producer of rare earths, the third largest global producer of cobalt and the fourth largest global producer of nickel. The Government of Western Australia is working with Albemarle to ensure job opportu... more

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 r... more

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) w... more

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... more

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... more