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BY ELIZABETH FABRI SANDFIRE Resources has become a cornerstone investor in base and precious metals explorer Adriatic Metals, after pouring $2 million into its IPO early May. The investment will give Sandfire a 7.7 per cent stake and strategic partner status in Adriatic, which owns the Vares project in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Adriatic is now the first ASX-listed company with exposure to the emerging mining scene in the formerly war-torn country. Its Vares project comprises a historic open-cut zinc/lead/barite and silver mine at Veovaca mined between 1983 and 1987, and the undeveloped Rupice deposit. Adriatic said it would benefit from Sandfire’s significant technical expertise to fast track the feasibility and development of both Veovaca and Rupice. Sandfire also has the…

The LX6 shares the same underlying technology as the PRO4 and IM360 but with a smaller footprint platform. SURFACE and underground mining equipment supplier Immersive Technologies has launched the latest addition to its medium fidelity simulator range, the LX6. The brand new medium fidelity simulator platform offers the same value for early stage training as the high-fidelity simulators such as the PRO4, and is ideal for machine and site familiarisation, emergency response training and compliance training. Compatible with a wide range of equipment modules or Conversion Kits® available from Immersive Technologies, the LX6 allows sites to expand their training throughput and extend the utilisation of existing simulator equipment Conversion Kits®. The deployment of medium fidelity simulators such as the LX3…

All images: Evolution Mining. BY ELIZABETH FABRI WITH an absence of distressed sellers in the gold industry, Evolution is putting the brakes on acquisitions – for now – instead focusing on organic growth and achieving debt free status. If gold and copper prices remain where they are today, Evolution Mining could be debt free by the end of the calendar year, according to executive chairman Jake Klein. In the last two and a half years the miner has slashed more than $687 million in debt from its balance sheet and returned $190 million to shareholders in dividends. What’s more, group All-In Sustaining Costs (AISC) were cut by 20 per cent to $784 per ounce in the last 12 months, making Evolution…

The Bald Hill processing plant took just seven months to be commissioned. All images: Tawana Resources. BY CAMERON DRUMMOND AUSTRALIA’S newest lithium mine, the Bald Hill joint venture (JV), kicked off production in March. With a burgeoning electric vehicle market spearheading demand for lithium-ion batteries, Tawana Resources is already pushing full steam ahead with expansion plans. Lithium production has commenced at the Bald Hill lithium-tantalum mine in the Eastern Goldfields region of WA. Bald Hill, a 50:50 joint venture (JV) between operator Tawana and Singapore-listed Alliance Mineral Assets Limited (AMAL), is the first Australian mine to commence spodumene production since Galaxy Resources’ Mt Cattlin in 2016. Bald Hill was originally a tantalum project operated by Cannington Mines between 2002 and 2005.…

All images: Iluka Resources. MINERALS sands miner Iluka has been a bit of a sleeper in the resources rally. Minimal debt, great assets and excellent management – coupled with the best market conditions in five years – has Iluka well placed for a year of delivery at its Sierra Rutile, Jacinth-Ambrosia and Cataby projects. Reuben Adams spoke with Iluka Resources chief financial officer and head of Strategy and Planning Doug Warden. Q. During Iluka’s 2017 full year results conference call chief executive Tom O’Leary said “we’re not looking to push prices so hard that we invoke substitution and a shrinking of the overall global demand profile, as happened earlier in the decade”. How will you ensure that price increases are sustainable,…

An operator stands next to plant machinery on a bauxite plateau at Rio’s Amrun project, Far North QLD. Image: Rio Tinto. BY CAMERON DRUMMOND GROWING Chinese demand is driving big investment into the bauxite-rich northwest tip of the Cape York Peninsula, with almost 30mtpa of extra supply due to come online by the end of 2019. An estimated 53 per cent of Australia’s vast bauxite resources come from the Cape York Peninsula in Far North QLD. The region’s operating bauxite mines are known for their high quality ore; determined not just by the aluminium content, but also by minerals such as iron oxides and titanium oxides, as well as the low amount of reactive silica which reduces processing costs. The…

All images: Newmont. BY ELIZABETH FABRI FRESH from completing a $US120 million expansion at its Tanami operation, Newmont is spending big on a new power project that will see Tanami shift to natural gas from a current reliance on diesel fuel. Newmont has a lot to be proud of at its Tanami gold mine in the Northern Territory. Since 2012, Tanami has more than doubled gold production and cut costs by two thirds. In August, the miner completed a mine expansion to increase production by 80,000 ounces per year, lower all-in sustaining costs to between $US700/oz and $US750/oz, and add a further three years to mine life. Newmont’s Australia production was now expected to reach between 1.5 million ounces and…