UGL to construct Stage 3 of Western Downs battery

Newmont (ASX: NEM) has halted underground operations at its Cadia gold mine following a 4.5-magnitude earthquake in the area last night.In a statement, Newmont said there had been no reported injuries.“Safety procedures functioned effectively and all underground personnel were accounted for and progressively returned above ground,” the company said.Underground operations have been paused while specialist teams undertake inspections and assessments.Two aftershocks of magnitude 2.4 and 2.2 were recorded in the area after the initial earthquake.

After suspending construction of train 2 at the Kwinana refinery, IGO (ASX: IGO) now has little hope for the project’s future, citing uncompetitive energy and labour costs.

Image takes a second glance at gold A promising mineral resource estimate and a buoyant gold price have prompted Image Resources (ASX: IMA) to conduct a comprehensive review of its gold tenements.The strategy review will include potential divestiture or other commercialisation options for Image’s entire gold tenement package which contains a recently announced maiden mineral resources estimate of 2.0mt at 2.1 g/t gold for 139koz gold in the inferred category.Image Resources managing director and chief executive Patrick Mutz says the time is right to assess options for extracting the best value from the gold tenements.“We have been and remain focused on mineral sands mining and processing as our principal business. However, given the continuing buoyant gold price, it is appropriate to determine if any value can be unlocked from these gold assets in the shorter term,” he said.“We will also be evaluating the potential for Image to setup and control a contract mining, ore hauling, and toll-processing model with minimum capital requirements for the Erayinia/King project, to take advantage of the potential operating margins supported by the buoyant gold price.”If Image can extract appropriate value from the gold tenements, funds would be used to either repay remaining debt or for project development capital for the company’s next minerals sands development project.

Rio Tinto’s (ASX: RIO) Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories of Canada has seen its final day of production after 23 years of operation.The mine which has produced more than 150 million carats of rough diamonds was discovered in 1991 beneath Lac de Gras, 220km south of the Arctic Circle.Mining began in 2003, utilising both open pit and underground mining methods to produce predominantly white gem quality diamonds and a small proportion of rare yellow diamonds.A celebration at the mine was attended by Indigenous Government Organisations, government representatives and other stakeholders to signal the formal completion of production.Diavik chief operating officer Matthew Breen says this milestone reflects the significance of the operation in the region.“Diavik has been an inspired collaboration between a modern mining company and Indigenous partners with an enduring legacy of socioeconomic benefits for the North” he said.“We look forward to continuing to respectfully reclaim the land in line with our commitments to, and in partnership with, the Government of the Northwest Territories and Indigenous partners.”Planning for closure has been underway since before production began, with closure objectives covering safety, land use, landforms, water and biodiversity and community capacity.Closure activities will extend to 2029, followed by a period of post-closure monitoring.Rio Tinto says the rough diamonds from the final production phase will be polished and sold through 2026 and beyond via its global customer network.