Strandline Resources Limited (Strandline) has taken another step towards bringing its 100 per cent owned Coburn mineral sands project into production, securing a binding offtake agreement (Agreement) for approximately 7,000 tonnes per annum of the premium (finished) zircon product for the first five years of production. The Agreement is with European-based Chilches Materials S.A. (Chilches), a world-leader in providing products for the ceramics, glass, refractory and investment casting markets. The zircon sales covered by the Agreement are expected to generate approximately 6-8 per cent of Coburn’s forec... more

BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) has announced it will invest $100 million in automated vehicles at its Daunia mine in Queensland. On top of creating new permanent jobs on site, the project will also support 30 additional jobs at Hastings Deering’s Central Queensland operations as they assist with truck and ancillary fleet conversion. QRC Chief Executive Ian Macfarlane said companies in the resources sector, such as BMA, are building high-tech capacity into their operations to improve safety and efficiency. “Technology is a multiplier of jobs and through this investment up to 10 regional businesses in... more

Australian Strategic Materials’ (ASM) Korean research and development partner, ZironTech has successfully produced a titanium metal alloy with the patented reduction process at the JV’s commercial pilot plant in South Korea.  This is the first phase of the development of a low emission, high purity metal refining technology that can be applied to zirconium, titanium, rare earths for permanent magnet alloys. Typically, in metal production, energy costs accounted between 30 – 40 per cent of total costs.  The production of the titanium metal alloy utilising 45 per cent less power indicates significant c... more

Preliminary metallurgical test work by joint venture partners Rox Resources Limited and Venus Metals Corporation has delivered high gold recoveries from the Youanmi Gold Project in Western Australia. The Youanmi Project is host to several styles of mineralisation, to ensure adequate representation from the different mineralisation styles. 81 samples were selected for metallurgical test work from 32 RC holes previously reported by Rox across the Project area. Intervals were selected to cover a range of gold grades, mineralisation styles and degree of weathering/oxidation. Samples were analysed by the LeachW... more

Norwegian-based international energy company, Equinor, is leading a project to develop one of the UK’s – and the world’s – first at-scale facilities to produce hydrogen from natural gas in combination with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project, called Hydrogen to Humber Saltend (H2H Saltend), provides the beginnings of a decarbonised industrial cluster in the Humber region, the UK’s largest by emissions. H2H Saltend supports the UK government’s aim to establish at least one low carbon industrial cluster by 2030 and the world’s first net-zero cluster by 2040. It also paves the way f... more

BP and Chevron have committed to investing a total of $116.5 million in oil and gas exploration activities, with at least half directed to projects in South Australia with a view to increasing energy supplies in the state and south-eastern Australia. BP and Chevron ceased their programs of exploration in the Great Australian Bight in 2017 and 2018 respectively. The commitments were announced following the conclusion of Good Standing Agreement negotiations with both parties after their decisions to cease petroleum exploration in the Great Australian Bight. Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Ma... more

Commercial operations have commenced on the $140 million Atlas Gas Pipeline, which will transport gas from Senex Energy’s Atlas gas acreage - located near Wandoan in south-west Queensland - to the east-coast gas market via the Wallumbilla Gas Hub. In June 2018, energy infrastructure company, Jemena, signed an agreement with Senex Energy to build, own, and operate a 15 petajoule per annum (40 TJ/day) gas processing facility and 60km buried pipeline (Atlas Gas Pipeline) in order to fast-track new gas supply to the domestic market. Jemena’s Managing Director, Frank Tudor, said the Senex-Jemena partnership... 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

Norwegian-based international energy company, Equinor, is leading a project to develop one of the UK’s – and the world’s – first at-scale facilities to produce hydrogen from natural gas in combination with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project, called Hydrogen to Humber Saltend (H2H Saltend), provides the beginnings of a decarbonised industrial cluster in the Humber region, the UK’s largest by emissions. H2H Saltend supports the UK government’s aim to establish at least one low carbon industrial cluster by 2030 and the world’s first net-zero cluster by 2040. It also paves the way f... more

A group of prominent Melbourne universities and businesses has secured a multi-million-dollar deal to power their operations using wind energy produced in regional Victoria. The group of seven large energy users includes RMIT University, Deakin University, Cbus Property, ISPT, Fulton Hogan, Citywide Asphalt, and Mondelez International. From July 2020, the purchased wind power will be produced primarily by the Yaloak South Wind Farm near Ballan, with the remaining energy coming from other wind farm projects in regional Victoria. Tango Energy will provide 110 GWh of renewable electricity per year to the pu... more

Work on the long-awaited 280-megawatt (MW) Cultana Solar Farm in South Australia could commence as early as July. The project, which is on an 1100-hectare site north of Whyalla on Eyre Peninsula, is the first large scale project in Sanjeev Gupta’s plan to generate one gigawatt of dispatchable renewable energy in South Australia. The solar farm is being delivered by SIMEC Energy Australia through an Engineer, Procure and Construction (EPC) partnership with Shanghai Electric. SIMEC Energy Australia is a part of Gupta’s GFG Alliance. SIMEC CEO Marc Barrington said final regulatory approvals and a trans... more

Australia’s largest hybrid renewable microgrid has been completed at Gold Fields’ Agnew Gold Mine in remote Western Australia. On Monday, EDL announced that all five wind turbines were officially up and running and integrated into the 56-Megawatt (MW) Agnew Hybrid Renewable Project - the first in the country to power a mine with wind-generated electricity. The project comprises four key components controlled by an advanced microgrid system: Five 110m wind turbines, each with a rotor diameter of 140m, delivering 18MW A 10,710-panel solar farm generating 4MW A 13MW/4MWh battery energy storage ... more

A major milestone has occurred at the $193 million Port of Townsville Channel Upgrade Project, with the recent delivery of more than half of the total rock required to build a protective sea wall. The Port of Townsville is the largest commercial Port in Northern Australia, but at just 92 metres, the shipping channel is one of the narrowest in the country. Currently, vessels up to 238 metres in length can safely access the Port. Yet ships are getting larger, so the Port needs to adapt so that it is can continue to service the needs of North Queensland's mining, defence, agriculture, construction, vehicle an... more

A $4 million construction contract has been awarded for the continued works on critical port access infrastructure at the Port of Port Hedland. On Friday, the Pilbara Ports Authority awarded the contract for Stage 4 of the Utah Road Pavement Rehabilitation Project to AllRoads Pty Ltd. AllRoads has committed to sourcing its construction workforce within Western Australia. Under the contract, a 1.2 kilometre stretch of Utah Road will be upgraded, following some deterioration from increased traffic loads of iron ore and other products. Utah Road connects the Great Northern Highway with the Utah Point Bu... more

Lynas Corporation Limited (Lynas) has selected Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, as the location for its new cracking and leaching plant - a decision that is set to create new jobs and is the first step in establishing a critical minerals hub in the Goldfields region. Kalgoorlie was selected from the two shortlisted locations in the Goldfields region following extensive due diligence from Lynas. The company detailed that Kalgoorlie provides close proximity to the Lynas mine at Mt Weld as well as a skilled workforce and rich history in the mining and processing industries. Lynas has signed an option to subleas... more

Mackay construction company, Fergus Builders, has secured the contract to build the $7 million Resources Centre of Excellence – a world-class engineering, industrial and technology hub in Queensland. The Mackay-Isaac-Whitsunday region is home to 34 operating coal mines and the region is one of the largest Mining Equipment, Technology and Services (METS) hubs in Australia. The Resources Centre of Excellence, a joint Queensland Government and Mackay Regional Council project, will be an important nexus between research, education and the resources industry. Its objective is to leverage existing local expert... more

Mineral exploration and development company, Kodal Minerals plc, has provided an update on the progress of the Bougouni Lithium Project Mining Licence application in Mali and an update on its gold exploration properties in Mali and Cote d'Ivoire. The Bougouni Project covers an area of 350km2 and is located approximately 180km south of Bamako, the capital of Mali, and benefits from established infrastructure via a sealed road from Bamako. According to Kodal, the Feasibility Study accompanying the Mining Licence application has been accepted by the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum of Mali. The Ministry of... more

Equinor (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) and SSE Renewables, the two companies behind the world’s largest offshore wind farm Dogger Bank, have just revealed plans to build a new Operations and Maintenance Base at the Port of Tyne in the UK. The Dogger Bank Wind Farm is a 50:50 Joint Venture between Equinor and SSE Renewables. Construction of the wind farm, led by SSE Renewables, officially commenced in January 2020 and as operator for the operations phase, Equinor will construct this new Operations and Maintenance base, and operate the wind farm for its expected life of more than 25 years. The... more

Following the suspension of operations in Argentina, Brazil and South Africa due to the the COVID-19 outbreak, AngloGold Ashanti has now restarted production in these countries. The company’s sole mine in Argentina, Cerro Vanguardia, successfully restarted milling operations on 6 April 2020. The operation has now ramped up capacity and will initially process stockpiles, allowing production to remain near planned levels with a significantly smaller staff complement. The mining operation had been suspended since 21 March 2020 as a result of countrywide COVID-19 related restrictions on travel and border clo... more

Australian junior miner Southern Gold Limited has completed field work in the Jinan and Neungju Basins in South Korea, which has confirmed new gold mineralised areas that warrant follow up work. The intensive reconnaissance sampling program involved 238 new samples being taken and submitted for analysis. Several rock chip and float samples returned anomalous grade gold results. Work included field traversing and extensive rock sampling. This process has succeeded in finding multiple untested vein systems in addition to very small-scale historical mine workings. The two regions investigated were the Neun... more