Author: admin

Images of flake (left) versus spherical natural graphite (right). Syrah’s BAM strategy will initially focus on precursor (unpurified, purified spherical graphite) and finished BAM product (coated spherical graphite). Image: Syrah Resources. BY ELIZABETH FABRI ASX-listed Syrah Resources will become a battery anode material (BAM) producer, after purchasing a US industrial site to establish downstream processing facilities. The $US1.225 Vidalia industrial site in Louisiana covers 25 acres and has an existing 50,000 square foot building. Once developed, the commercial plant will process graphite from Syrah’s Balama project in northern Mozambique to produce BAM for anodes in lithium ion batteries. The 60,000tpa capacity plant will have an initial output of 20,000tpa using proven technology and processes. Syrah managing director and chief executive…

All images: OZ Minerals. BY ELIZABETH FABRI THE final stage of construction has now kicked off at OZ Minerals Carrapateena copper mine, with just over a year left on the clock before commissioning begins. We chat with OZ Minerals managing director and chief executive Andrew Cole about Phase 2 of the construction campaign, power plans for the mine, and exploration potential further afield. Q. Can you describe the work undertaken at Carrapateena to date? Phase 1 construction at Carrapateena is on schedule and in early April, we received approval from the South Australian and Commonwealth Governments for the Carrapateena project, which cleared the way for mobilisation of Phase 2 of construction from mid-April as scheduled. The work we’ve undertaken is…

Quartz vein outcrop on Connors Arc’s Aurora Flats. Image: Orion Minerals. BY ELIZABETH FABRI EVOLUTION Mining has agreed to acquire Orion Minerals’ Connors Arc gold exploration project, which is strategically positioned near Evolution’s existing Mt Rawdon, Mt Carlton and Cracow operations in central QLD. The acquisition includes an upfront cash payment of $1.5 million, followed by two payments of $500,000, and a 2 per cent net smelter return royalty over gold produced from the project, with payments capped at $5 million. Evolution Mining vice president Discovery Glen Masterman said Connors Arc was a technically compelling project with multiple and extensive alteration zones, which could be indicative of multiple preserved epithermal gold systems. “The Connors Arc acquisition is in line with…

SAG and ball mills at Cadia. Image: Newcrest. BY CAMERON DRUMMOND NEWCREST has lowered its gold production forecast to reflect the temporary suspension of operations at its Cadia gold project in NSW. Cadia’s production guidance was downgraded to between 560,000oz and 600,000oz for FY18, down from between 680,000oz and 780,000oz. An embankment slump of Cadia’s Northern Tailings Facility had occurred in March, halting production at the mine. Mining was suspended, with processing recommencing at a restricted capacity from 29 March due to limitations of the capacity of the Southern Tailings Facility. In April, the gold miner announced it had received approval from the NSW Department of Planning and Environment to use the first 200m of the old Cadia Hill open pit…