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Award-winning company positioned for future mineral sand benefits

Award-winning company positioned for future mineral sand benefits

WA’s annual Diggers and Dealers Conference is widely recognised as one of the most important gatherings on the mining industry’s calendar. A celebration of mining achievements, technology progress and new mineral discoveries, Diggers and Dealers attracts a delegation of hundreds of mining and exploration companies, brokers, bankers, investors, financiers and mining service industries from across the Southern Hemisphere. Beyond the traditional powerhouse companies and their acclaimed projects however, the forum gives the opportunity for junior explorers to display their own burgeoning projects, and to gain recognition within the wider Australian and international mining arenas. Having won the Diggers and Dealers Best Emerging Company award at the 2013 conference gala dinner in Kalgoorlie, Sheffield Resources is one such company that has...

Conference centres on vital resource

Conference centres on vital resource

WATER scarcity affects more than one in six people around the world. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the mining industry accounted for 4 per cent, or 489 gigalitres, of water consumption by industry in 2009; with metal ore mining the largest consumer at 298GL. The 2013 AusIMM Water in Mining Conference will address the management of this precious resource, during two days in Brisbane from 26 November. The conference will feature a three-day technical program, presenting more than 50 papers, as well as a trade exhibition, several workshops and multiple networking opportunities. Conference chair Professor Chris Moran said the event’s goal was to provide a platform for open and engaging discussion and collaboration between industry experts. “The idea...

Terminal expansion to maximise Bowen exports

Terminal expansion to maximise Bowen exports

EXPORTING the coal produced by six Bowen Basin mines, the Hay Point Coal Terminal (HPCT) handled 34,336,380t of coal during the 2013 financial year – significantly shy of its 44 million tonnes per annum nameplate capacity. However, with the highest throughput in the last three years achieved in June, at 4.1 million tonnes, the necessity of increasing the terminal’s capacity is evident. Owned by the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) and operated by the North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation (NQBPC), the Hay Point Coal Terminal – together with the DBCT Management-operated Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal – is within the Port of Hay Point, one of the world’s largest coal export ports. “The majority of coal exported through the port is...

Spanish acquisition to maximise metal demand

Spanish acquisition to maximise metal demand

A predicted tungsten shortage has prompted Plymouth Minerals to acquire an 80 per cent stake in Aurum Mining’s Morille project for $420,000. Morille is a 5796-hectare brownfield exploration and development site in Spain’s northwest, comprising five investigation permits with multiple historic underground and open pit tungsten and tin mines. Plymouth was confident it would recover high grade minerals in the area, as it historically produced high grade tungsten concentrate until a fall in the commodities price forced the mine to close in 1985. Plymouth managing director Adrian Byass said he looked forward to developing the project with partner Aurum Mining. “The Morille project brings together the specialty metal and development skills of the Plymouth board and management and combines them...

Government backs major Territory project

Government backs major Territory project

THE Northern Territory Government has awarded Major Project Status to TNG’s Mount Peake vanadium-titaniumiron project. The classification formalises the government’s support for the project and allows TNG to move forward with securing funding from investors. Construction of the project is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2014, with production starting the year after. Mount Peake has an estimated mine life of 20 years and would deliver 15,300t of vanadium oxide, 375,000t of titanium dioxide concentrate and 1.13 million tonnes of iron oxide each year. TNG managing director Paul Burton said he was delighted to receive support from the NT Government. “Mount Peake is a large long-life project that will bring a range of important benefits to indigenous communities...

Existing infrastructure makes tin project viable

Existing infrastructure makes tin project viable

A pre-feasibility study has shown the Mt Garnet tin project to be technically and economically viable, with the utilisation of existing Mt Garnet concentrator infrastructure. The Consolidated Tin Mines project, near Cairns in Northern Queensland, is on track to reach production by the end of 2014. The project area contains the Gillian, Pinnacles and Windermere projects, with a combined resource of 7.3 million tonnes grading 0.60 per cent tin. Consolidated Tin managing director and chairman Ralph De Lacey said the study “demonstrates the economics of a robust and significant tin project”. “Unlike other projects, Mt Garnet boasts existing infrastructure and near surface ore, which are the drivers of low capital and operating costs,” he said. “The has confirmed...

Price drop prompts cost cuts for uranium miner

Price drop prompts cost cuts for uranium miner

FOLLOWING a weakening of the uranium spot price, Paladin Energy has announced measures to cut costs by US$23 million for the 2014 financial year. Paladin operates two uranium mines in Africa – Langer Heinrich in Namibia and Kayelekera in Malawi – and recorded a loss of $US420.9 million for the 2013 financial year due to massive write downs on the value of its assets, caused by the weak uranium price. The company stated that while the lower commodity price didn’t detract from the strong fundamentals of uranium in the mid to long term, it did make the revision of far-reaching rationalisation and optimisation strategies pertinent. Paladin intended to reduce corporate overhead and exploration costs by 24 per cent (US$10.8 million)...

Potash could secure state’s economic health

Potash could secure state’s economic health

THE US state of Michigan could become one of the world’s leading sources of potash, following an investigation into an almost forgotten deposit by West Michigan University’s (WMU) Michigan Geological Repository for Research and Education. After testing geological drilling samples stored at the university, WMU stated that the deposit could herald the start of a new industry in Michigan worth as much as US$65 billion in the long term – surpassing the state’s historical oil and gas production revenues and triggering explosive job growth in Osceola and Mecosta counties. Potash – one of the major components of agricultural fertiliser – is currently only mined at three locations in the US. According to WMU, potash prices were climbing as supplies dwindled....

Off-market takeover of explorer imminent

Off-market takeover of explorer imminent

ADELAIDE-based Minotaur Exploration is reporting positive drill results from its inaugural Osborne copper-gold drill program as it looks to complete an off-market takeover for junior Breakaway Resources. The four-hole, 1240m diamond drill program tested for copper-gold mineralisation south of the Osborne copper-gold mine in the Cloncurry district of Queensland. Assay results from holes at the Brolga prospect recorded 0.39g per tonne of gold associated with quartz-pyrite veining, while results from the Wedgetail prospect included 1.65 per cent copper associated with sulphide-bearing breccia. Minotaur stated that the results confirmed widespread development of copper-gold mineralisation under cover across the region south of the Osborne mine, with numerous targets to be followed up across the project area. On 2 September it reported results...

Wolverine results deliver strong prospects

Wolverine results deliver strong prospects

DRILLING at Northern Minerals’ Browns Range heavy rare earths project has confirmed its “best ever” assay results. Northern Minerals reported that diamond drilling at the Wolverine prospect had found high grade mineralisation that extended westwards at depth, including 2.91 per cent at 29.1kg per tonne total rare earth oxides at 37m. The results confirmed estimates from a 4000m drilling program in August. Northern Minerals managing director George Bauk said the results would not be included in the next resource upgrade but they reinforced the project’s significant growth potential. “Wolverine just continues to deliver, and the fact that these results are some of the best we have ever received is very encouraging,” he said. “These intersections are outstanding in terms of...

Golden find at flagship Turkish project

Golden find at flagship Turkish project

SHARES in British miner Ariana Resources soared recently with the news that the company had identified high grade deposits at its flagship Red Rabbit gold project in western Turkey. The company discovered four high grade gold-silver zones in the Kepez and Karakavak section of the project, which returned grades of up to 383 grams per tonne of silver and 58g/t of gold. Ariana managing director Dr Kerim Sener said the current resource was based on only 6 per cent of the total veins mapped, allowing for significant exploration upside. “These exceptional exploration results reinforce our views on the prospectivity of the wider Kiziltepe area and continue to point towards future resource upside for our planned mine,” he said. “It is...