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Australian Mines’ Sconi cobalt project.  Image: Supplied. BY CAMERON DRUMMOND AUSTRALIAN mines has tapped investors for $20 million in a heavily-oversubscribed capital raising for its Sconi cobalt-nickel-scandium play in Northern QLD. The funds will be used to continue trial mining and undertake a bankable feasibility study, due to be completed in April 2018. The budding cobalt miner is also constructing a demonstration-size processing plant capable of producing commercial-grade samples of cobalt sulphate, nickel sulphate and scandium oxide. These samples will be used to progress negotiations with potential off-take partners and financiers, the company stated. In March, a Sconi pre-feasibility study (PFS) reported a mineral resource of 514,000 tonnes (t) of nickel, 54,500t of cobalt and 1950t of scandium, making it…

Year-on-year Gold Demand Trends: Q3 2017. BY REUBEN ADAMS SOFT jewellery sector demand and lower inflows into exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in Q3 2017 are blamed for the lowest level of global gold demand since Q3 2009. According to the World Gold Council’s latest Gold Demand Trends report, the 9 per cent year-on-year drop to 915 tonnes (t) was attributed to a 3 per cent fall in global jewellery demand, as India’s new GST and tighter anti-money laundering regulations deterred buyers. Inflows into gold-backed ETFs grew by just 19t compared with the remarkable 144t influx in Q3 2016. Investors continued to favour gold’s risk-hedging properties, but the greater focus was on buoyant stock markets, the report stated. Alistair Hewitt, Head of…

Emeco has expanded its business at a critical time in the market.   Image: Emeco. BY CAMERON DRUMMOND MINING equipment supplier Emeco Holdings will expand its market share with the $69.8 million purchase of national supplier and maintenance provider Force Equipment. The acquisition will provide Emeco with a further 179 high-quality and low-hour machines, taking its fleet total to 897, and doubling its WA presence. The transaction price is about 2.96 Force’s FY17 EBITDA of $23.6m, with Emeco funding the purchase via an $80m equity raising. Emeco managing director Ian Testrow said the buyout of Force was a part of the company’s strategy to becoming a world leading provider of equipment rental. “The acquisition of a market leading business like Force…

Image: The Russian Presidential Press and Information Office. BY REUBEN ADAMS MINERS are confident that China’s unprecedented $US1.3 trillion infrastructure investment program, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), is the vehicle to drive massive medium to long term demand for iron ore. Short term forecasts, however, paint a less-than-rosy picture. “Among the range of possibilities we consider, our base case remains that Chinese steel production is yet to peak,” BHP Market Analysis and Economics VP Dr Huw McKay wrote in September. “The most likely timing of the peak is the middle of next decade.” Australia’s iron ore majors have a consensus positive outlook – and a key driver is the Belt and Road Initative (BRI), a China-led strategy to increase…

Hundreds of industry workers descended on WA State Parliament on 10 October to protest the royalty increase.  All images: The Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA. BY ELIZABETH FABRI THE WA Labor Government is licking its wounds after WA Liberals announced it will block its controversial gold royalty increase proposed to fix the State’s finances. Announced back in September in the State Budget, the royalty involved a 50 per cent increase from the current rate of 2.5 per cent to 3.75 per from January next year, when the Australian gold spot price is above $1200. The royalty increase received strong opposition from companies and industry groups such as the Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA (CMEWA), which launched a hard-hitting advertising…

METS Ignited general manager industry implementation Ian Dover presenting at the cluster launch. BY ELIZABETH FABRI THE Queensland Government has launched its METS Ignited Bowen Basin Cluster Program set to create more than 3000 additional mining technology jobs in the next decade. The Mackay pilot program was announced earlier this year as part of the State Government’s Roadmap and Action Plan, part of its $420 million Advance Queensland initiative. The program is a joint initiative with METS Ignited, and aims to promote collaboration to solve real business problems and in turn deliver more jobs and business opportunities. “Local miners will identify their challenges, and local mining technology companies will collaborate on innovative solutions to bolster the North Queensland economy,’’ Member…