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Image: Red 5. BY EMMA DAVIES RED 5 recently celebrated 30 years of continuous production at its newly acquired Darlot gold mine in the Eastern Goldfields, WA, and with positive results from drilling at its King of the Hills mine, the company looks set for a productive year ahead. The Darlot mine was acquired by Red 5 from Gold Fields in October 2017 and has historically produced almost 3 million ounces of gold – with the company confident the site will continue to produce consistently for years to come. Red 5’s other major operation, the King of the Hills (KOTH) mine, which is acquired from Saracen also in 2017, had seen its resources almost triple to 1.9 million ounces of…

Image: Black Rock Mining BY GERARD MCARTNEY BLACK Rock Mining has been granted two contiguous mineral licences to begin development of the Mahenge graphite mine. Mahenge Resources, Black Rock’s 100 per cent owned Tanzanian subsidiary, announced it was granted the licences by the Tanzanian ministry of minerals on 26 February, which complemented the environmental permit awarded to the company on 5 September 2018. The Mahenge project was expected to have a 32-year mine life, capable of delivering up to 250,000 tonnes per annum of 98.5 per cent graphite concentrate. Black Rock delivered its scoping study in March 2016 and, in June 2016, produced the world’s first 99.1 per cent TGC purity by lab flotation. In May 2018, the company produced…

Image: Glencore BY EMMA DAVIES AFTER pressure from investor signatories of the Climate Action 100+ initiative, global miner Glencore has announced its decision to cap coal production at current levels. In a statement, the Swiss-based coal giant said that it recognised climate change science as set out by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and realised it had a key role to play in enabling transition to a low carbon economy. “To deliver a strong investment case to our shareholders, we must invest in assets that will be resilient to regulatory, physical and operational risks related to climate change,” Glencore stated. “To meet the growing needs of a lower carbon economy, Glencore aims to prioritise its capital investment…

Now in its 38th year, the Minerals Investment Week will look to the future of the industry to discuss the challenges and opportunities that rapidly advancing technology and volatile markets present. Image: Informa BY GERARD MCARTNEY FROM 20-21 March, the Minerals Investment Week will see global representatives from minerals and mining companies meet at Crown Perth to discuss the future of mining. The five conferences participating included the Global Iron Ore & Steel Forecast Conference, the Mineral Sands Conference, the Lithium & Battery Metals Conference, the Asia Pacific Nickel Conference and the Pilbara Copper and Gold Forum. Global Iron Ore & Steel Iron ore and steel industry leaders from around the world will meet to discuss and consider the outlook…

After successfully completing its pilot study at Lake Wells in January, Australian Potash is gearing up to begin producing 150,000 tonnes of sulphate of potash by 2020. Image: Australian Potash BY GERARD MCARTNEY AUSTRALIAN Potash successfully extracted 65kg of 98 per cent purity sulphate of potash (SOP) from its Lake Wells pilot processing facility on 22 January. First production at a pilot level marked a number of important milestones for Australian Potash; a proven processing pathway to delivering a high-grade SOP product, and the gratification of being the first company in Australia to successfully use the field evaporative method. According to Australian Potash managing director Matt Shackleton, the field evaporative method lets nature do all the hard work by pumping…

Ore cart being loaded into recommissioned mine shaft at Morning Star. Image: AuStar Gold BY GERARD MCARTNEY THE recommissioning of two sleeping giants in Victoria’s Eastern goldfields is creating a hive of activity as AuStar Gold restarts production at the Rose of Denmark and Morning Star mines. AUSTAR Gold has breathed new life into the Morning Star and Rose of Denmark mines. The production of gold at the mines is the crown jewel in a series of achievements since 2015 for AuStar Gold. “There has been a number of milestones in the last two years, firstly recommissioning the Morning Star winder and shaft, then recommissioning the processing plant and demonstrating its capability to recover gold effectively,” AusStar chief executive Tom…

AngloGold Ashanti rounded out 2018 on a high as it continues to reap the rewards of its streamlined portfolio. Image: Anglogold. BY GERARD MCARTNEY AFTER a strong first half, AngloGold finished 2018 with a positive return on its strategy of letting go low performing assets. AngloGold’s two Australian mines, Tropicana and Sunrise Dam, performed exceptionally in the 12 months leading up to 31 December 2018, and after a feasibility study was completed, Tropicana would begin underground mining. In 2017, outgoing chief executive, Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan closed the South African Tau Tona mine, and in 2018 completed the sale of the South African Moab Khotsong and Kopanang mines, and reduced ore reserve development amortisation in Brazil. Newly appointed chief Kelvin Dushnisky, who…