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Thursday, July 16 2015 By Jane Goldsmith IRON ore analysts are forecasting at least another year of hardship and ‘bottoming’ prices for Australia’s iron ore miners, as finance, mines and petroleum minister Bill Marmion moves to reassure the industry of the government’s ongoing support. Speaking at the opening of the collaborative CSIRO-AusIMM conference Iron Ore 2015, Mr Marmion called for a calm, co-operative approach to price volatility, after a torrid week on international commodity markets. “We are behind you 110 per cent,” he said. “In the face of international volatility, now more than ever is the time...

By Reuben Adams 16 July, 2015 LOCATED 560km north of Adelaide, Olympic Dam is Australia’s largest underground mine, and contains some of the world’s largest deposits of copper and uranium. In 2008, the company completed a prefeasibility study into expanding Olympic Dam into an open cut operation; a $30 billion proposed project, which would have created the world’s largest open cut mine. By 2011 the necessary State and Federal Government approvals were in place; however, BHP announced in August 2012 it would defer the expansion until it could find a less capital-intensive alternative to the open cut plan. In 2014, plans to...

By Courtney Pearson 16 July, 2015 HELD in Australia’s unofficial gold capital and renowned mining hub Kalgoorlie, Diggers & Dealers has grown from a humble 70 delegates to more than 1800 every year. The well-known mining forum began 23 years ago with a focus on gold, but has since expanded to include all kinds of mining. “It started as a show where the dealers were meeting some of the operators and one-day presentations, and it’s escalated slowly and become bigger and bigger,” Diggers & Dealers event chairman Nick Giorgetta said. “It’s been a great success and it’s still regarded as one of the...

By Jane Goldsmith 16 July, 2015 IN March 2014, Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM) poured its 16 millionth ounce of gold from Fimiston open pit –widely known as the Super Pit. This milestone was achieved in time for the company’s anniversary celebrations to commemorate 25 years of activity at the historic site. Since incorporating, KCGM has produced about 800,000oz per annum of gold from an 8.8 million ounces gold reserve, yielding 2g of gold per tonne on average. The Newmont-Barrick joint venture produces about 8 per cent of Australia’s total gold output, and for much of Australia’s contemporary mining history, was the country’s biggest gold producer. KCGM...

23 June, 2015 SINCE listing on the ASX three years ago, Cassini Resources has been on a mission to fast track its Nebo-Babel development in the relatively under-explored West Musgrave area of WA. Managing director Richard Bevan spoke to Rachel Dally-Watkins about the company’s flagship project and its success to date. Q. What is your educational background and how did you get started in the mining industry? A. My background is not that conventional. I actually started in the healthcare profession, so my original educational background is a Bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy. I was part of a healthcare business that was listed on the stock exchange, and since that time I’ve done some management studies and also a range...

By Rachel Dally-Watkins 22 June, 2015 WITH the commencement of mining operations in late 2014, Australian Bauxite has ushered in the first new Australian bauxite mine for more than 35 years. The Bald Hill mine is also Tasmania’s first ever bauxite mine, and the first in a pipeline of projects to ship gibbsite trihydrate bauxite with low silica contamination that can be processed into alumina at low temperature to customers in China and India. Australian Bauxite chose its projects based on three contributing factors, according to managing director Ian Levy. The result is tenements that all contain good quality bauxite,...