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MUTINY Gold has obtained financial backing from a North American investor that will enable the Perth-based miner to develop its Deflector copper-gold deposit into a project in WA. The company is in the final stages of negotiation for the US$2 million share placement, but noted in a statement filed with the ASX that its suitor wished to remain anonymous. “We have had, and continue to have, strong support from the parties negotiating to provide funding for the Deflector project,” Mutiny managing director John Greeve said. “These negotiations are now entering the final stages and completion will be a key milestone for the company in the development of this project.” The placement was structured as a convertible loan, whereby the price…

WA-based minerals explorer Venturex has achieved success in WA’s Pilbara region through its Sulphur Springs copper-zinc project and has announced results for recent drilling at its Whim Creek development. The completion of a reverse circulation drilling program at Sulphur Springs, 160km southeast of Port Hedland and 50km west of Marble Bar, confirmed high-grade extensions to the Western Lens copper-zinc mineralisation. The project’s indicated and inferred mineral resources have been upgraded to 12.83 million tonnes grading 1.5 per cent copper, 4.1 per cent zinc, 0.2 per cent lead and 17.6 grams per tonne of silver. As a result, the total mineral resource for the Pilbara copper-zinc project rose to 26.37mt grading 1.2 per cent copper, 3.4 per cent zinc, 0.3 per…

EMERGING coal producer OGL Resources has announced it will proceed with plans to access facilities at the Port of Brisbane to handle, store and transport up to 1.5 million tonnes of coal per annum. The announcement came after the company completed a successful feasibility study that confirmed the proposed development at the port was economically and practically feasible. The former timber processor will now work with the port authority to create a commercial access/operation agreement for its exclusive use of the facility. The agreement will permit OGL to re-open the Ebenezer mine and export an initial 600,000t increasing to 1.5mtpa through existing port infrastructure. OGL managing director Allan Fidock said the arrangement would allow the company to produce a high-quality…

DESPITE commodity price volatility, the resources sector is continuing to support the state by attracting global investment and creating thousands of jobs. According to the State Government’s Local Content Report, November 2012, 85 international companies that support resources project activity have expanded into WA in the past two years; nearly half of these operate in the oil and gas industry. The UK and US each have 16 additional companies working on projects in WA, while Norway has 11 and China has 8. WA Commerce minister Simon O’Brien said the report highlighted that offshore companies continued to be positive about the state’s resources sector. “The arrival of more international companies brings a number of benefits to the state – including knowledge…

RIO Tinto’s Blair Athol mine in Central Queensland has been officially shut down after nearly 30 years in operation and producing nearly 250 million tonnes of thermal coal. Coal was discovered at the Bowen Basin site in 1864, but it wasn’t until 1984 that the first shipment of coal was exported (to Japan as part of a 72mt contract). In the last five years, Rio Tinto has gradually scaled back the 12mt per annum operation, 24km northwest of Clermont, as the main coal seam was mined out. According to the company’s Clermont region general manager operations Dawid Pretorius, the mine had a workforce of more than 400 people at its peak and was an “economic powerhouse for the region”. “Rather…

AN innovative new map series has been released by RACAD Cartography that covers the major Queensland and NSW coal basins and Northern Queensland’s potential uranium deposits, including the Mount Isa Inlier. The map series is updated monthly and includes operating mines, advanced projects and exploration tenements with existing and proposed infrastructure such as rail and ports. Although formatted to be displayed as a wall map, the series is a PDF easily kept on a user’s computer desktop so it can be accessed in an instant with no site login or clumsy web interfaces. Each sheet is a layered, searchable PDF at a scale that allows users to locate specific leases and their relationship to existing mines and infrastructure. Users can…