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By Samantha James AUSTRALIAN iron ore prices crossed the $50/t threshold in February, a price not seen for more than three months. Prices were sub $40/t across December and January but a rally in Chinese steel demand in February was attributed to the end of China’s lunar holiday and the restart of steel production. However, Argonaut Securities analyst Helen Lau said it was a seasonal uptick, and that an upsurge in demand for construction steel products would be hampered by excess supply. “Low steel inventory, seasonal demand rebound after Chinese New Year and increasing utilization rate at blast furnaces has resulted in a rebound in steel and iron ore price,” she said. “We believe this rebound in steel prices and...

By Samantha James FIRST gold pour at the Thunderbox gold mine in WA was achieved ahead of schedule in mid-February 2016, with ramp up set to double Saracen Mineral Holdings’ annual gold production to more than 300,000 ounces. Saracen owns the producing Carosue Dam open pit and underground gold operations, the Thunderbox open pit mine and recently refurbished Thunderbox carbon in leach (CIL) plant, as well as gold and nickel exploration and development projects in WA. The company is completing several studies into the viability of developing underground projects to extend the life of mine at Carosue Dam. In early February 2016, Saracen announced that commissioning of the Thunderbox CIL plant and the first mining of the Thunderbox open pit...

By Samantha James THE inevitable mothballing of coal mines around the world will force the industry to question who is responsible for the rehabilitation of the abandoned sites, and what best practices can reduce the long term impact on native environments. When left untended, open pits below groundwater level fill with rain and groundwater to become pit lakes, and large regions with abandoned, un-reclaimed areas turn into lake districts. Above groundwater, pits are left as large holes in the landscape known as final voids; they prevent rehabilitation of native plants and animals or reuse as agricultural land. NSW is feeling the impact of final voids keenly, with more than 500 derelict mines across the state. Further issues are anticipated with the...

By Rachel Seeley AS the world’s second largest zinc resource, the McArthur River Mine (MRM) is a key operation in Glencore’s portfolio. Rachel Seeley spoke to MRM general manager Sam Strohmayr about the environmental challenges being met at the operation. Q. Please provide a brief overview of the McArthur River Mine. Glencore’s McArthur River Mine (MRM) is located in the remote Gulf of Carpentaria, 900km southeast of Darwin. MRM is a world-class zinc-lead mine with a long future ahead of it. It is an important part of the Territory’s resources history and continues to make a big contribution to the Territory and the nation. Originally discovered in 1955, the Here’s Your Chance zinc-lead deposit was not commercially mined for 40...

By Rachel Seeley 2015 was a year of change for North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation, as it responded to tough trading conditions faced by customers by becoming more cost competitive. Ready access to transport corridors and shipping channels, as well as its close proximity to the state’s mining, industrial and agricultural sectors and Asia’s growing markets, means that North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation’s (NQBP) is ideally positioned for sustainable growth. Already accounting for more than half of the state’s tonnage and with a total asset base of $626 million, NQBP’s seaport facilities handle a range of bulk cargoes including coal, bauxite, sugar, molasses, grain, petroleum, fertiliser and general cargo. NQBP is one of Australia’s largest port authorities, responsible for the...

By Samantha James WA junior Perseus Mining has announced an all-scrip bid worth $85 million to take over London-listed Amara Mining, aiming to pool the companies’ respective West African gold assets. Perseus and Amara agreed to a recommended scheme of arrangement in late February which would see Amara shareholders own 35.1 per cent of the merged company – a mid-tier gold producer worth about US$242.3 million. The merger would combine Perseus’ producing Edikan gold mine in Ghana (90 per cent ownership) and Sissingue development project in Cote d’Ivoire (86 per cent) with Amara’s Yaoure gold project in Cote d’Ivoire (90 per cent) and Baumahun project (100 per cent) in Sierra Leone. An optimised pre-feasibility study at Amara’s flagship 7.3 million ounce Yaoure...

By Samantha James ON the back of a multi-billion net loss for the second half of 2015, BHP Billiton will implement a new operating model to “create a more agile company”. BHP Billiton chief executive officer Andrew Mackenzie said changes to executive ranks and operating units, including the restructure of BHP's minerals production operations, would be a continuation of the company’s “simplification journey”. “ are made possible by the recent demerger of South32 and well-timed asset divestments, and reflect our continued commitment to improve productivity,” he said. “At the core of the new model will be assets dedicated to safety, volume and cost enabled by functions integrated globally and largely co-located with the assets. “Both assets and functions will...

By Samantha James BHP Billiton has been forced to cut dividends by more than half and rearrange executive ranks after its underlying profits slumped to their lowest in decades in the second half of 2015. The company reported a net loss of US$5.7 billion and its underlying profit slumped to  US$412 million for the reporting period ending December 2015 – well below market expectations of US$720 million profit. It also slashed its dividend to US$0.16 under a new policy that would pay out 50 per cent of underlying attributable profits each half. At this time last year the company’s dividend was US$0.62; it is the first time BHP has cut its dividend since 1988 and the lowest payout it has...