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THE head of gold producer Ramelius Resources has used the company’s 10th anniversary to call for a more realistic approach to exploration activities from government and industry. Managing director Ian Gordon said the outlook for Australian gold producers was grim unless the government provided some sort of incentive for further exploration. “Australia’s pool of pure gold producers is rapidly dwindling through a combination of resource exhaustion, low levels of exploration and a high level of merger and acquisition activity,” he said. “For Australia to maintain a viable gold industry, it needs mid-tier independents and juniors to maintain exploration momentum. “That momentum will stagnate and shrivel unless there is some urgent rewriting of tax relief or investment incentives, whether just for…

MINING operations in Tasmania’s Tarkine region face renewed opposition from conservationists with the announcement of Federal Court action against the approval of Nelson Bay River mine. Environmentalist group Tarkine National Coalition (TNC) announced the move on 5 April against Federal Environment minister Tony Burke’s approval of the Shree Minerals mine. TNC campaign coordinator Scott Jordan said Mr Burke had endorsed the mine without knowing the potential impact on the endangered local Tasmanian devil. “The TNC believes that the minister has erred in law, and is challenging the decision to approve the mine despite known impacts on the Tasmanian devil, a Commonwealth-listed endangered species,” Mr Jordan told The Advocate. “We will argue that Minister Burke has not acted in accordance with…

A $1.3 billion takeover of Sundance Resources has fallen through after China’s Hanlong Mining struggled to finance the deal. Africa-focussed Sundance ended the talks following a string of problems; its first warning came when Hanlong failed to provide it second round of $5 million funding within the required time frame. “Sundance has decided to terminate the scheme implementation agreement because the funding condition was not met and after being informed by Hanlong that it was unlikely to meet the other required conditions,” Sundance stated. Executives from Hanlong had previously been accused of insider trading, market manipulation and tax allegations and the company’s chairman Liu Han was recently detained in prison after suspicions of harbouring a fugitive. Sundance announced it was…

THE delayed sale of its Youanmi gold project has forced Apex Minerals to secure a $1 million facility with an interest rate of more than 50 per cent. Hong Kong-based Infinity Fame agreed to buy Youanmi in February for $15 million and has taken a $500,000 stake in Apex while the due diligence period is finalised on the project, 82km from Sandstone in the Murchison region of WA. The $1 million loan adds to $4 million Apex already owes Multiplex heir Andrew Roberts’ AR Management. The company was already paying 20 per cent interest on its previous loan and agreed to a 22.5 per cent interest on its new one-year facility, which included a $300,000 arrangement fee. If Apex is…

THE US$553 million sale of BHP Billiton’s diamond business has concluded, comprising the company’s interest in the Canadian Ekati diamond mine and diamond marketing operations. Dominion Diamond Corporation (formerly Harry Winston Diamond Corporation) paid a purchase price of US$500 million, with additional purchase price adjustments of US$53 million. Under the sales agreement, which was initially announced in November 2012, Dominion will assume all of BHP’s obligations under Ekati’s environmental agreement with the governments of Canada and the Northwest Territories, as well as impact and benefit agreements with indigenous groups and pension liabilities linked to the mine’s defined benefit scheme. BHP employees at Ekati in Yellowknife and diamonds marketing in Antwerp have become employees of Dominion Diamond under the agreement. Announcing…

LOCAL opposition to Barrick Gold’s massive Pascua-Lama gold and silver mine in Chile has prompted the Copiapo appeals court to suspend construction on the project while complaints are addressed. The project, on the Chile-Argentina border in the Andes Mountains, has attracted complaints of “environmental irregularities” from the country’s Diaguita indigenous communities and various environmental groups, who claim it is destroying glaciers and harming the local water supply. Barrick reported it would suspend activities while it worked to “address environmental and regulatory requirements to the satisfaction of Chilean authorities”. The company stated that construction activities in Argentina, where the majority of the project’s critical infrastructure is located – including the process plant and tailings storage facility – would not be affected.…

URANIUM explorer Toro Energy created WA history in early April, receiving final environmental approval from the Federal Government for its Wiluna uranium project in the state’s Mid West. The project is the first of its kind in WA and just the sixth in Australia, with an estimated worth of $269 million. The prospective mine comprises two deposits, Lake Way and Centipede, 30km south of the town of Wiluna. Centipede, adjacent to Toro’s on-site processing plant, will be the first site to be developed, with first production anticipated by the end of 2015. The mine is expected to process 1.3 million tonnes per annum, producing approximately 780t of uranium oxide concentrate, based on up to 14 years of mine life. Toro…

WA magnetite miners can now apply for an up to 50 per cent rebate on royalties paid in the first year of production, Premier Colin Barnett recently announced. Speaking at the official opening of the Karara project in the state’s Mid West last month, Mr Barnett said the rebate would be considered on a project-by-project basis, and would return to the full royalty rate of 5 per cent after the first year. The concession, which would be available for the next three years, would provide a major boost for the developing WA magnetite ore industry and promote the nation to Chinese investors, he said. “Western Australia has vast magnetite resources and this ore is preferred by many Chinese steel mills,”…

ALLEGED corruption in the Doyles Creek exploration licence approval process is being investigated by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), with the possibility of charges for those involved. Disgraced former NSW Mining minister Ian Macdonald was in charge of the license, approved in December 2008 and granted without competitive tender to former union associate John Maitland against departmental advice. According to The Australian, the granting of the mining exploration licence delivered Mr Maitland and his associates a $48 million profit from the sale to NuCoal, after only investing $165,000. Mr Macdonald’s former chief of staff Jamie Gibson told the ICAC the approval process was unusual, The Australian reported. “He wanted it done quickly and he wanted it done in-house,”…

ADELAIDE-based Resources and Engineering Skills Alliance (RESA) has warned of continued productivity deterioration unless Australia’s mining industry lifts performance and skill levels. A review of the mining labour productivity index has shown severe decline since its peak between 1995 and 2002, while other market sectors have continued to climb. RESA chief executive Phil de Courcey said there had been little analysis of why the mining sector was behind in the productivity game compared to other industries, and that “more critical research into the underlying causes” was required. Current skills in the sector, as well as those skills which were lacking or in short supply, remained the biggest impediment to lifting productivity, Mr de Courcey said. “This lack of required skills…