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Hostile takeover bid rebuffed by would-be target

Hostile takeover bid rebuffed by would-be target

A proposed takeover bid by Cauldron Energy for Energia Minerals could be over before it began, with Energia’s major shareholder Uranium Equities stating that Cauldron’s offer substantially undervalued the company. In a bold, unprecedented move, Cauldron Energy announced its intention to undertake an off-market takeover bid for Energia Minerals. Shortly after the announcement was made, Energia’s directors published a letter to shareholders urging them not to take any brash action in response to the announcement. Cauldron’s highly conditional offer for all ordinary Energia shares was made public on 18 March. Were the deal to proceed, it would see the potential new entity gain a substantial foothold in Australia’s expanding uranium industry. In its announcement, Cauldron Energy outlined the ground the...

Fresh funding for gold exploration

Fresh funding for gold exploration

Gold explorer Bulletin Resources has secured $600,000 from a strategic investor to fund exploration and resource expansion at its WA tenements. The money was received via a share placement of 10.9 million ordinary shares at $0.55 per share, which is a 22 per cent premium of the market price. The company would use the capital for drilling and expansion at the Lamboo and Golden Crown gold projects in the Kimberley. Bulletin managing director Martin Phillips was delighted with the outcome of the capital raising. “We are encouraged by the high level of interest being shown in our project and remain committed to progressing discussions on our financing strategy,” he said. “We look forward to updating the market on the results...

Buried treasured discovered in historic Moonta project data

Buried treasured discovered in historic Moonta project data

ASX-listed Adelaide Resources’ exploration efforts at the Moonta copper-gold project in South Australia have received a significant boost through the digitation of massive volumes of more than 50 years of exploration data collected by major miners. Adelaide Resources reported that it had begun the process of digitally capturing past records with the goal of identifying prospects that could contribute to the Moonta project’s growing mineral inventory. It estimated that the cost of repeating diamond and reverse circulation drilling completed by one past explorer alone would be more than $20 million – illustrating the importance of the existing data. The company stated that significant modern exploration of the broader Moonta project began in 1959, dominated by major mining houses including Western...

Positive results bring new opportunities for gold explorer

Positive results bring new opportunities for gold explorer

GOLD-focussed explorer Ramelius Resources has announced completion of a mineral resource estimate for its Water Tank Hill deposit in WA’s Mount Magnet, with plans to start the mining operation process. The Water Tank Hill satellite deposit, opposite the company’s gold mine, is estimated to contain 63,000 ounces of gold. Together with the St George resource, Ramelius has a total resource of 125,000oz at a grade of 5.2 grams per tonne of gold which can be accessed by the St George decline. “Ramelius believes that there are now sufficient resources within close proximity of the St George decline to justify commencing a mining study to demonstrate the economic viability of a mining operation,” a company statement said. The study for Water...

Surveys find significant copper and gold targets

Surveys find significant copper and gold targets

TESTING has identified significant copper and gold exploration targets at the Horseshoe Lights mine in WA. The initial report identified a volcanic-hosted massive sulphide copper and gold deposit at a depth of 200m and the potential new zone of mineralisation begins 400m south of the main site, extending more than 800m. The mine’s owner Horseshoe Metals commissioned the report from Resource Potential and, while yet to be fully completed, it has already identified the area as having major resource potential. When compiling the report, geophysicists used data gathered during the last two-and-a-half years, as well as historical information of the area to identify exploration targets for the next stage of drilling, to provide the best possible understanding of the geology...

Dance craze dismissal prompts safety review shake-up for miners

Dance craze dismissal prompts safety review shake-up for miners

FIFTEEN employees and contractors were dismissed apparent safety breaches after performing or watching the Harlem Shake dance on site at WA’s Agnew underground gold mine. The video of the employees and contractors performing the internet craze was subsequently posted onto popular video sharing site YouTube. The Harlem Shake internet meme involves groups of people erratically dancing to the popular song of the same name for about 30 seconds and posting the result to YouTube. It has been estimated that since 2 February, when the first Harlem Shake video was posted to YouTube a further 40,000 videos have been posted, receiving more than 175 million views. The dismissed Agnew mine employees reportedly advised The West Australian newspaper that those participating did...

Integrated business still a galaxy away

Integrated business still a galaxy away

LITHIUM producer Galaxy Resources’ plan to develop a vertically integrated lithium business has faced a substantial set-back, following the suspension of operations and sacking of staff at its Mt Cattlin mine in WA due to high operating costs. The Ravensthorpe mine was developed to act as an integrated feedstock provider for Galaxy’s Jiangsu lithium carbonate plant in China, but was placed on suspension in July 2012 because of inventory build up. In mid March Galaxy announced the operation’s 37 remaining staff members would be made redundant and the mine closed until further notice. Galaxy managing director Iggy Tan attributed the suspension to the high Australian dollar and its influence on operating costs. “Given the current exchange rate and the adverse...

Not all downhill for copper project

Not all downhill for copper project

A review of Rex Minerals’ Hillside copper project on the Yorke Peninsula has resulted in an optimised mine plan that will deliver a higher production profile and lower start-up capital costs. The mine plan will form the basis for the Hillside bankable feasibility study (BFS) later in 2013; it suggested the combination of a new interim open pit design and multiple ore stockpiles, to allow for higher grade material to be delivered to the processing plant. Based on this model, Rex reported that the average grade delivered to the processing plant between its third year and tenth year would be about 0.6 per cent, plus gold and iron by-product credits. During this period, annual copper production would be about 80,000t...

Not all downhill for copper project

Not all downhill for copper project

A review of Rex Minerals’ Hillside copper project on the Yorke Peninsula has resulted in an optimised mine plan that will deliver a higher production profile and lower start-up capital costs. The mine plan will form the basis for the Hillside bankable feasibility study (BFS) later in 2013; it suggested the combination of a new interim open pit design and multiple ore stockpiles, to allow for higher grade material to be delivered to the processing plant. Based on this model, Rex reported that the average grade delivered to the processing plant between its third year and tenth year would be about 0.6 per cent, plus gold and iron by-product credits. During this period, annual copper production would be about 80,000t...

New infrastructure to unlock Galilee Basin coal reserves

New infrastructure to unlock Galilee Basin coal reserves

AUSTRALIA’s largest rail freight company Aurizon is teaming up with Gina Rinehart’s joint venture business GVK Hancock to develop a 60 million tonne per annum port and rail project to unlock coal reserves in Queensland’s Galilee Basin. The two companies have signed a non-binding term sheet for the development, which could represent a $6 billion investment. Under the proposed framework, Aurizon would acquire a majority 51 per cent interest in Hancock Coal Infrastructure, which owns GVK’s rail and port projects. GVK received Commonwealth environmental approvals for a greenfield rail operation and a coal terminal at Abbot Point last year. GVK chairman Dr G V Krishna Reddy said in a statement that the deal with Aurizon represented one of the most...

High-grade results pile up at Westralia

High-grade results pile up at Westralia

EMERGING gold explorer Dacian Gold is one step closer to defining economic ore reserves at its flagship Mt Morgans project after unveiling new high-grade drill results mid-March. A broad-spaced diamond drilling program has been testing for extensions at the south end of the Westralia gold deposit – part of the company’s wholly owned Mt Morgans gold project – 40km west of Laverton in the Goldfields region of WA. The drilling confirmed the existence of high-grade gold 450m below the existing resource boundary at Westralia, with the mineralisation remaining open at depth. Significant intersections included 17.08m grading 7.5 grams per tonne gold from 218.7m, and 0.63m grading 32.7g/t gold from 375.6m. “These very broad-spaced diamond drill intersections confirm our view that...