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WA-based iron ore producer hitting new heights

WA-based iron ore producer hitting new heights

CHINESE iron ore imports surged in September despite widespread predictions of weakening demand and a looming supply glut. Chinese customs data, released mid-October, revealed imports of 74.6 million tonnes were an all-time high, up 8 per cent on August figures and 15 per cent on the same period last year. The country continued to produce steel at record levels of about 2.14mt each day – almost as much as the rest of the world combined – which was a boon for the reinvigorated Australian iron ore sector. While the solid reports and record-breaking production volumes of iron ore heavyweights Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group received much of the spotlight, Perth-based Mount Gibson Iron quietly reported one of...

New Queensland mine setting industry benchmarks

New Queensland mine setting industry benchmarks

SWIMMING against the current of Queensland’s weakened coal industry, BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) celebrated a significant success story when its $1.5 billion, 4.5 million tonne per annum Daunia mine was official opened in September. Daunia, 150km southwest of Mackay, was approved for development in 2011; it began operating in March 2013 and celebrated its official opening in September — ahead of schedule and $250 million under budget. Construction took about 4.3 million man hours and was achieved without any lost time injuries, according to BMA. Importantly, the open cut mine would be capital and cost efficient, with BMA planning to use existing rail and port infrastructure. A low stripping volume would also contribute to its cost competitiveness. BMA’s 5.5mtpa...

Burgeoning rare earths company’s high hopes for global success

Burgeoning rare earths company’s high hopes for global success

TECHNOLOGY has undergone exponential growth in the past decade; technology such as smart phones, iPods and LED televisions have integrated seamlessly into daily life, and with new developments continuing, this ingenuity shows no signs of slowing. At the core of many of these new technologies is a group of lesser known elements: millions of years old, the rare earth elements (REEs) are tiny, magnetised particles that provide the essential functional component of manyof today’s most revolutionary compact electronics and energy sources. Composed of 17 chemical elements — including 15 lanthanides elements, plus yttrium and scandium — most REEs were discovered in Scandinavia, and were often named in accordance with their place of discovery. Despite their ‘rare’ title, REEs are not...

Trusted mining parts and service equipment supplier boasts extensive African experience

Trusted mining parts and service equipment supplier boasts extensive African experience

FOUNDED in 1996 and incorporated in WA, Hyspec Mining Services has become the premier supplier of replacement hydraulics parts and service equipment to the mining and exploration industry in Africa. For more than 17 years Hyspec has assisted mining contractors, drilling companies and mine support businesses to reduce operational costs, improve equipment availability and increase production – 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Hyspec provides replacement hose assemblies and associated parts from more than 65 mine site based workshops to cater for the wide range of heavy duty mining and drilling equipment operating on mine sites. Hyspec workshops are fully fitted out, complete with stock, machines and tools, and can be either client managed or Hyspec managed. The...

Environmental and engineering services for tailored waste management solutions

Environmental and engineering services for tailored waste management solutions

INTERNATIONAL consulting company Knight Piésold is an environmental and engineering service provider supplying to the mining, power, water, transportation and construction sectors. With a team of more than 900 experienced professionals in offices around the globe, Knight Piésold delivers high quality, specialised services and innovative solutions that respect social, environmental and economic responsibilities. Within the mining industry, Knight Piésold’s expertise has been used on hundreds of projects worldwide, including both open cut and underground projects. The company specialises in tailings and waste management, with a particular focus on waste characterisation, tailings disposal, heap leach pads and environmental services. The safe and effective disposal of mining waste presents both technical and environmental challenges. Knight Piésold recognises the uniqueness of each mining...

Strategic alliances promoting best practice between Australia and Africa

Strategic alliances promoting best practice between Australia and Africa

THE vast African continent boasts resources of more than 60 metal and mineral products and about 30 per cent of the planet’s mineral reserves – including a wealth of gold, platinum group elements, diamond, uranium, manganese, chromium, nickel, bauxite and cobalt deposits – and has become an increasingly popular target for exploration and development by Australian mining companies. South Africa, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have typically dominated the industry, however Gabon, Namibia, Botswana, Angola and Sierra Leone have all entered the field, becoming increasingly reliant on mining as a major area of foreign currency income. Mozambique, Nigeria and Madagascar have also shown great potential for base metal and industrial mineral deposits, with the...

Philanthropic gesture a major coup for WA universities

Philanthropic gesture a major coup for WA universities

MINING tycoon Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest and his wife Nicola have made one of the biggest-ever single philanthropic donations in Australian history, giving $65 million in cash to WA’s five tertiary institutions. According to The Australian Financial Review, $50 million of the gift would go towards setting up the Forrest Foundation: an organisation to fund 25 international PhD students and six post-graduate scholarships per year, in a “modern Australian version of the Rhodes scholarships to Oxford”. Scholarship recipients will be called Forrest scholars and fellows. The gift was a particular boon for the University of WA, with the remaining $15 million to be used to construct a new accommodation block adjacent to the university, to be named Forrest Hall. Mr Forrest,...

Copper-gold assay results to trigger resource upgrades

Copper-gold assay results to trigger resource upgrades

POSITIVE assay drill results at West African Resources’ wholly-owned Sartenga copper-gold discovery within the Boulsa project are expected to lead to both tonnage and grade resource upgrades by the end of the year. Two diamond drill rigs are in operation at the Burkina Faso project, focussed on defining higher grade breccia zone along the south-eastern margin of the deposit, where strong copper, gold and molybdenum grades have been indicated. Recent results include 231m grading 0.6 per cent copper equivalent from 100m, with a 21m interval from 201m grading 1.1 per cent copper equivalent, and will be used to upgrade the 174,000t copper and 651,000oz gold inferred resource announced in June 2012. Definition air core drilling also began at the Moktedu...

Pilbara exploration pays dividends for mining major

Pilbara exploration pays dividends for mining major

EXPLORATION at the Corunna Downs project has yielded large quantities of iron ore for Atlas Iron, bolstering the company’s recent success in the Pilbara. The first five holes drilled in the 18-hole program intersected up to 60 per cent iron at 42m, with 56.6 per cent iron found at 146m and 56.9 per cent iron at 114m. Corunna Downs is part of the company’s North Pilbara greenfields exploration program and has a resource estimate of 25 million tonnes at 56.5 per cent of iron. Atlas Iron managing director Ken Brinsden said the project would become a major part of the company’s iron ore portfolio. “In a matter of a few months, the team have delivered our first resource at Corunna,...

PNG mine takeover closes 100 community projects

PNG mine takeover closes 100 community projects

THE Papua New Guinea Government has seized ownership of the giant Ok Tedi copper and gold mine, resulting in the closure of an associated charitable trust worth about $96 million in projects for the local community. In September, PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill forced through a bill giving the state complete ownership of Ok Tedi, on the Fly River in Western Province, replacing shares owned by the PNG Sustainable Development Program (PNGSDP) – which supported local programs with profits from the mine – with shares owned by the government. PNGSDP reported that 100 development projects worth about $96 million had been closed down by late October, including support for schools, hospitals and aid posts across the country, as well as...

Funding secured for African iron ore project

Funding secured for African iron ore project

PERTH-based miner Sundance Resources has raised $40 million from Noble Resources and an investor consortium to proceed with its Mbalam-Nabeba iron ore project in Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As part of the deal, Noble will invest $20 million though unsecured convertible notes, at a 10 per cent interest rate, which can be converted into a 30 per cent stake for a future marketing firm for the project. Noble will also receive 200 million options, excisable at 12 cents a share if the marketing firm does not proceed. The investor consortium – comprising Blackstone, the DE Shaw Group and Senrigan – would invest the other $20 million through a convertible note issue, which could later be used...