Author: Alya Malik Faisal

Barrick Mining’s Mark Hill has been appointed group chief operating officer and interim president and chief executive officer, following the departure of Mark Bristow. Mr Bristow is stepping down as president and chief executive after nearly seven years having joined Barrick in 2019 following the company’s merger with Randgold. Mr Bristow led the successful integration of the two companies, and during his tenure, made significant investments in Barrick’s world-class assets to better position the company to maintain profitable gold and copper growth. Barrick chairman of the board John Thornton comments on Mr Bristow’s tenure. “On behalf of the board, I want to thank for his leadership of Barrick. During his tenure, strengthened our portfolio and helped…

New Murchison Gold (ASX: NMG) reports a strong operational start at the Crown Prince gold mine in WA. During its first month of operations, the company successfully mined and crushed 31,000dt of ore at an agreed grade of 3.23g/t (adjusted for recovery) trucked to Westgold Resources’ (ASX: WGX) Bluebird gold processing facility. New Murchison Gold chief executive Alex Passmore comments on the operation. “Since the commencement of trucking ore to Bluebird we have ramped up crushing and stockpiling activities and look forward to first revenue from Crown Prince in October,” he said. “We are continuing to ramp up production from the open pit and are debottlenecking key areas of our process. “The December quarter will see the first full quarter…

Queensland Alumina Limited (QAL) has been fined $1m for causing serious environmental harm following a major chemical release at its alumina refinery in 2022. The release occurred when a pipe in a high-pressure system ruptured. On Monday, QAL was sentenced in Gladstone Magistrates Court and fined after pleading guilty to three offences against the Environmental Protection Act 1994. The offences include one offence of unlawfully causing serious environmental harm and two offences of contravening a condition of its environmental authority. According to the Queensland Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DETSI) no injuries were reported. The incident, however, posed a potential significant risk to residents’ health, as spent liquor contains sodium hydroxide. The incident caused more than $800,000 in…

Monadelphous Group has been awarded new construction contracts with BHP (ASX: BHP) and Fortescue (ASX: FMG) for Pilbara projects. The company has secured a major multidisciplinary construction contract with BHP associated with the Jimblebar train loadout replacement project, located near Newman. The vertically integrated scope includes earthworks and civils performed by Melchor, the company’s civil business, structural, mechanical, piping, electrical and instrumentation work. It also includes offsite fabrication and procurement provided by Inteforge, the company’s fabrication business. Work under the contract is expected to be completed in late 2027. Monadelphous has also been awarded a contract for the construction of Fortescue’s North Star Junction Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) supporting the miner’s commitment to decarbonising its Pilbara operations. The work,…

Thiess has been awarded a two-year contract extension for mining and asset management works at the Iron Bridge magnetite mine in WA’s Pilbara region. The extension, which includes an option to extend a further two years, builds on its successful operations at the Iron Bridge mine since 2022. Under the new agreement, Thiess will expand delivery of mining and asset management services, continuing the long-standing relationship with Fortescue (ASX: FMG). The award supports the ongoing ramp-up of the project – operated by Fortescue in a joint venture with Formosa steel – as it is set to increase its production profile, with the company to mobilise additional fleet and personnel. Thiess group executive chair and chief executive Michael Wright says the…

Gold production in NSW surpassed $4.2b in FY25, more than half the total value of the state’s mineral output, bolstered by record-high global gold prices. Gold mining has been part of NSW’s economic fabric for more than 175 years and will continue to be for decades to come, providing regional employment, delivering billions in royalties and providing the resources that continue to drive local economies and global industries. Together with these record highs for the gold industry, NSW Natural Resources Minister Courtney Houssos, has congratulated Evolution Mining (ASX: EVN) on the 20th anniversary of its Cowal gold operations near West Wyalong. This anniversary marks two decades of production and significant economic contribution to NSW. A major extension of Cowal gold…

Newmont (ASX: NEM) has achieved first gold pour at its Ahafo North project in Ghana, marking a critical milestone towards commercial production. The successful pour confirms both the project’s sound technical design and the disciplined project execution method, positioning Ahafo North as a key asset in the company’s long-term growth strategy, according to Newmont. This achievement follows the completion of key development phases, including ore stockpiling that began in late 2024 and the commissioning of critical infrastructure, such as processing circuits, mining support facilities and a tailings storage facility. The project is currently ramping up toward full operational readiness. Newmont chief executive officer Tom Palmer comments on the milestone. “The first gold pour at Ahafo North represents a major operational…

Bluestone Mines Tasmanian Joint Venture (BMTJV) has selected ABB to deliver a significant modernisation of the main production hoist at the Renison tin mine. The ABB upgrade will replace a legacy hoist system that was installed at the Tasmanian west coast mine in the 1990s. With the mine currently operating at greater depths, hoist modernisation has become essential to maintaining reliability, maximising productivity and extending the life expectancy of critical machinery. The design of the upgrade will focus on space constraints in the existing winder house, using an innovative layout that retrofits new equipment into the current switch room and introduces a new surface-mounted room for control and safety systems. As part of the upgrade, and against a background of…

Vault Minerals (ASX: VAU) has released its three year outlook, targeting FY26 production of 332,000-360,000oz at $2650 to $2850/oz. Higher consolidated gold production is forecast for FY27 and FY28, mainly due to increased plant capacity at the Leonora operations and the production continuation at Sugar Zone in FY28. For Vault Minerals’ Leonora mine, gold production for FY26 is expected to be consistent with FY25, producing 185,000-200,000oz. Over the outlook period, mill throughput is predicted to increase from 5.3mtpa in FY25 to 7.5mtpa in FY28 following completion of the Stage 2 plant upgrade in the second quarter of FY27. At Mount Monger, FY26 gold production is expected to be between 75,000-82,000oz, with the upper end of the range consistent with FY25.…

Catalina Resources (ASX: CTN) has confirmed the presence of a structurally hosted high temperature mineralising system at its Laverton project in WA. Previously announced results, targeting gold, returned intercepts including 18m at 1.16g/t from 127m, which hosted 3m at 3.41g/t (LVRC02). Before the RC drilling, air core drilling intersected 28m at 1.09g/t from 57m (LVAC049). In holes targeted to gold mineralisation, LVRC01, LVRC02 and LVRC03, anomalous multi-elements including antimony, tungsten, arsenic, bismuth, molybdenum and scandium were also intersected, pointing to laterally continuous mineralisation possibly extending to depth. This geochemical fingerprint is characteristic of high-temperature, granite-related gold systems that have supported some of the Goldfields’ largest mines. The REE mineralisation occurs in a flat-lying saprolite rich clay horizon beneath a 15-20m…

Rio Tinto has launched its final Beyond Rare Tender, featuring 52 lots of extremely rare masterpieces of nature, from its Canadian and Australian diamond mines. With Rio Tinto’s Australian Argyle Diamond Mine ceasing operations in November 2020, and the Diavik Diamond Mine in Canada ceasing production in 2026, the final collection of the Art Series pays homage to the life of these iconic mines. The collection, weighing 45.44 carats, is headlined by six ‘Masterpieces’ – diamond sets carefully selected to showcase the pinnacle of production from these two famed mines – together with 39 single diamonds and an additional seven curated sets of diamonds. Rio Tinto Diamonds sales and marketing general manager Patrick Coppens comments on the collection. “It is…