Northern Star partners with Sandvik for underground fleet investment

BY ELIZABETH FABRI   ASK any analyst for their best performing commodities of the year, and nickel will be on the list. The base metal is enjoying a stellar year – its price has increased 75 per cent in the last 12 months – as it reinvents itself as a commodity of the future.   A new cohort of nickel juniors are advancing exploration in Australia to capitalise on rising prices. At the end of June, nickel was hovering around the $US15,000 per tonne mark; a sizable increase from the $US8931 it was fetching a year prior. And if forecasts are anything to go by, demand for the metal is expected to increase by a further 50 per cent to...

IN a year when many gold producers experienced the negative effects of an unstable gold price, West Africa-focussed Perseus Mining doubled its total revenue for the financial year. The company’s total revenue for the period ending 30 June was $293.7 million, up from $145.7 million for the previous year. “Our financial performance in financial year 2013 was very solid, especially taking into account the recent volatility in gold price and technical challenges that needed to be overcome during the year at our flagship operation, the Edikan gold mine in Ghana,” Perseus managing director Jeff Quartermaine said. Despite this, the company experienced a drop in net profit after tax, down from $52.5 million in 2012 to $41.4 million. Perseus stated that...

Hillgrove Resources receives positive final investment decision for Kanmantoo Hillgrove Resources (ASX:HGO) has received formal positive final investment decision (FID) to proceed with stage one development of the Kanmantoo underground copper mine in South Australia. Ove its initial four-year schedule, stage one is expected to deliver 43.5kt of copper in concentrate. Stage one will focus on two of the nine known mineral lodes at Hillgrove that were either drilled or mined as part of the open pit. These lodes remain open at depth and along strike with drilling underway to expand mine life and annual...

IRON ore will prop up Australia’s resource and energy export earnings despite the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, according to a new estimate put forth by the Australian Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. The department’s latest Resources and Energy Quarterly (REQ) forecasts commodity export earnings to hit a record $299b in 2019-2020, an increase of $18b from 2018-2019. The REQ covers a five-year outlook, highlighting long-term structural changes affecting global commodity markets including urbanisation, industrialisation and technological change. This edition includes information on the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the commodity outlook. While oil prices have been falling due to diminishing global demands for air travel, gold prices have been increasing as investors look towards safe options, benefiting...