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By Jane Goldsmith “Go down to the village and tell your dear friends; as sure as the bright stars do shine; there’s somethin’ that’s goin’ to happen today; oh, daddy, don’t go to the mine.” Marty Robbins, Dream of the Miner’s Child OVERLOOKING the Hodgkinson River in Far North Queensland, Mount Mulligan is a natural spectacle, with miles of vertical sandstone cliffs bordering a deeply cut valley. However, it is best known as the site of Queensland’s worst-ever mining disaster. Coal discovery When coal was discovered at Mount Mulligan in 1907, the region’s existing metal miners saw the potential for cutting costs by using locally produced coking coal. The Irvinebank Mining Company, in need of coal for its tramway, locomotives,…

AUSTRALIAN miner Independence Group soared ahead of production guidance at its three main operations for the second half of 2014, putting it on track for a strong financial year despite lower commodity prices. The WA-focused gold and nickel miner announced it had exceeded guidance at its Tropicana gold operation, Long nickel operation and Jaguar copper-zinc mine for the half-year to December 2014. Tropicana produced 257,543oz of gold in the half-year, more than 10,000oz ahead of guidance, of which Independence took a 30 per cent share (77,263oz). At Long, the group produced 5135t of nickel during the period, while Jaguar produced 25,126t of zinc in concentrate and 4807t of copper in concentrate. Independence managing director Peter Bradford said the three operations…

RECORD production at its Mt Magnet operation drove Ramelius Resources to exceed its December 2014 quarter production guidance by 13 per cent. The company achieved total production for the period of 24,241 fine ounces of gold, up from guidance of between 19,450oz and 21,450oz of gold. Of this, the Mt Magnet operation in WA’s Murchison Goldfield produced 23,235oz, beating the expected output of between 19,000oz and 21,000oz of gold. The Coogee/Burbanks operations also performed well above the expected 450oz of gold, producing 1006oz. “This is the third quarter running that guidance has either been achieved or exceeded, with lower unit costs driving a substantial increase in our cash position even after accounting for exploration and corporate expenditure,” Ramelius chief executive…

THE Queensland Government has approved a $900 million coal mine expansion proposal in the Darling Downs after pledging to block an earlier proposal for the site during the 2012 election. New Hope Group’s planned New Acland Stage 3 Project would extend the life of the 4.8 million tonne per annum open cut coal mine to about 2029; the mine is currently expected to continue operations until 2017. In the lead-up to the 2012 Queensland election, LNP leader Campbell Newman said he would not support New Hope’s original expansion plan due to its impact on agricultural land and local townships. However in December, deputy Premier Jeff Seeney announced the Queensland Coordinator General had approved the new proposal, subject to 137 strict…

A proud mining history spanning more than 125 years has helped Broken Hill become Australia’s first National Heritage Listed city. Federal Environment minister Greg Hunt presented the honour to a crowd of locals in front of the Heritage Listed town hall in late January. “Australia’s Silver City, Broken Hill, is of outstanding heritage value to the nation for the significant role the city and its mining operations have played in Australia’s development towards a modern and prosperous nation,” Mr Hunt said. Broken Hill mayor Wincen Cuy said the listing acknowledged the town’s “outstanding significance to the nation” for its role in wealth creation, industrial relations and unionism, community resilience and ingenuity. “It is a proud moment for our community,” Mr…

MINERS will need to embrace innovation, cost containment and productivity to survive the volatile markets of 2015, according to a recent Deloitte report. Released in January, the Tracking the Trends 2015 report noted miners would contend with price volatility, geopolitical turmoil, rising costs, declining grades, a lack of access to financing and sluggish global economic growth in the year ahead. It came as industry analysts downgraded forecasts for already-struggling commodity prices for 2015, with coal and iron ore tipped to drop to five-year lows in coming months. The report warned against a short-term view of supply after companies began shutting down marginal operations, reducing their focus to a handful of commodities and pulling out of greenfield development in 2014. “Combined…