Australian mineral exploration company, Corazon Mining Limited has announced a high grade copper mineralisation from a recently completed surface rock-chip sampling program at the Mount Gilmore Cobalt-Copper-Gold Project in New South Wales Australia. Corazon has secured the right to earn up to 80% of the Mt Gilmore Cobalt-Copper-Gold Project from private company Providence Gold and Minerals Pty Ltd and is currently completing due diligence. The surface rock-chip sampling being reported was undertaken by Providence; these results have been received by Corazon and as such additional disclosure is required by the Company. Rock-Chip Sampling Program A total of 76 rock-chip samples…
Carrapateena in South Australia is shaping up as a major copper-gold project. In a statement last month, the proponent (OZ Minerals) made clear its commitment to the project. The ore-production rate is to be increased over what was previously planned; work on a decline will commence next month (mining will be underground); and final processing will take place at Whyalla, a regional city approximately 200 kilometres south of the minesite. All going well, construction will commence next year, with first production in 2019. Estimated capital cost: nearly A$1 billion (over US$700 million). OZ Minerals says that the choice of Whyalla…
The Government has approved two proposals from Rio Tinto to develop new deposits in the Pilbara, Western Australia, prolonging the life of existing mining operations. Announcing the approvals, State Development Minister Bill Marmion said the projects would deliver both short and long-term benefits for the State. "This is great news for the resources sector and will create opportunities for workers and contractors who are doing it tough in the current climate," Mr Marmion said. "These approvals will allow Rio Tinto to maintain its current level of production at two sites, Yandicoogina and West Angelas." The Minister has given approval for…
Mineral Resources of Perth is a mining company, but it is also a mining-services company, offering services in fields such as crushing and pipeline design and construction. The company is developing a new transport system for taking iron ore from its Iron Valley mine in the Pilbara region to Port Hedland for shipping. The system is an elevated rail line. Mineral Resources says that it occupies a “niche between heavy rail and conveyor”, adding that it is “significantly less capital intensive than traditional heavy-haul rail” (see further information). The system will be open to third-party users. It has the potential…
Sand mining on North Stradbroke Island is to substantially cease by 2019, with the Queensland Parliament voting in favour of the phase-out to allow the creation of new, sustainable jobs. The North Stradbroke Island Protection and Sustainability and Other Acts Amendment Bill 2015 to end sand mining was passed in the Queensland Parliament early today (Thursday). Environment Minister Dr Steven Miles said it was a good result for the environment and would ultimately open up new and exciting opportunities for the island community, leading to positive economic outcomes. “Today marks the start of a new chapter for North Stradbroke Island,”…
The company developing a greenfield coal project at present may appear to be brave, but at least three such projects are at an advanced planning stage in Australia. The first is Meteor Downs South in Queensland. This will be a small, low-cost operation, entailing open-cut mining and simple processing. It will produce thermal coal (used for electricity). Subject to final approval by the proponents (a Chinese company and a Japanese company), construction will commence by the end of the year. The second is a much larger, Chinese-driven project: Hillalong, also in Queensland. With an estimated capital cost of A$600 million,…
Doray Minerals Limited has entered into a farm-in Agreement with Rox Resources Limited to explore the highly prospective and underexplored Mount Fisher Gold Project which is located in the north-eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. The Mt Fisher farm-in represents another strategic exploration project for Doray, with a large contiguous land package over an underexplored greenstone belt with already identified gold mineralisation, and adds to its highly prospective Horse Well JV and Western Gawler farm-in in South Australia. Doray’s Managing Director, Allan Kelly, said Mount Fisher represented a very attractive exploration opportunity for Doray, given the many similarities with the multi-million…
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,…
