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Exploration results show size and scale

Exploration results show size and scale

AUSTRALIAN miner Iron Road has announced a half a billion tonne resource upgrade at its Central Eyre Iron Project (CEIP) in South Australia. The total mineral resource, which covers the Murphy South, Boo-Loo and part of the Rob Roy areas, now stands at 2.6bt grading 16 per cent iron, 54 per cent silicon dioxide, 13 per cent aluminium oxide and 0.08 per cent phosphorous. Iron Road believes the upgrade, which is part of an ongoing drilling program, demonstrates the size, scale and potential long-term production life for the project. In 2009, Coffey Mining established a global exploration target of between 2.8bt and 5.7bt of magnetite gneiss grading between 18 per cent and 25 per cent iron at the project. Managing...

Success in Guinea for bauxite explorer

Success in Guinea for bauxite explorer

A definitive feasibility study has proven successful for Alliance Mining Commodities (AMC), which expects to be named the world’s fifth-largest bauxite producer after announcing positive results for its 90 per cent-owned Koumbia project in Guinea, West Africa. The company stated that the results confirmed “the financial and technical viability of a world-scale, long-life bauxite operation” at the site, which measures 728 square kilometres and is in the Boké Bauxite Belt. With a mine life of 40 years, Koumbia is expected to produce a high-grade measured and indicated resource including 305 million tonnes grading 48 per cent aluminium oxide and an inferred resource of 250Mt grading 48 per cent aluminium oxide, with low reactive silica of 1.7 per cent and high...

No deflection for copper-gold find

No deflection for copper-gold find

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...

Equity raising to help project weather unforseen storms

Equity raising to help project weather unforseen storms

IRON ore company Gindalbie Metals has announced a $62 million equity raising to strengthen its balance sheet so it can contribute to the commissioning of its flagship Karara project in WA if necessary. The equity raising comprises a $40 million fully underwritten placement to institutional and sophisticated investors, and a proposed additional conditional placement of $22 million to major shareholder Ansteel that would allow Ansteel to maintain its 36 per cent interest in Gindalbie. The offer price for the institutional placement, which was successfully completed in early December, was 25.5 cents per share – a 13.6 per cent discount to the last closing price of Gindalbie’s shares before the placement. First magnetite concentrate has been produced at Karara and the...

Drilling returns extensive muti-commodity results

Drilling returns extensive muti-commodity results

DIVERSIFIED multi-commodity explorer Tasman Resources has announced the drilling of a third hole at its Vulcan project, 30km north of Olympic Dam, about 550km north-northwest of Adelaide in South Australia. Drilling resumed at the iron oxide-coppergold- uranium (IOCGU) project, which is operated as a joint venture with Rio Tinto Exploration, in September 2012. The hole, VUD 11, intersected more than 620m of IOCGU-style highly altered and brecciated rocks – which included a 12m intersection of massive hematite – and was the third to be completed as part of the JV’s exploration program. As the rocks contain only minor amounts of copper sulfides, Tasman reported that it expected assays, when received, would be relatively low. VUD 11 is inclined at -70...

Venturing to Pilbara’s north pays off for explorer

Venturing to Pilbara’s north pays off for explorer

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...

Resurrection of coal mine closer to reality

Resurrection of coal mine closer to reality

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...

Pathways for future expansion

Pathways for future expansion

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...

End of an era for QLD icon

End of an era for QLD icon

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...

Expert mapping company aims for beauty and function

Expert mapping company aims for beauty and function

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...

Mining insurance made easy with expert advisors

Mining insurance made easy with expert advisors

OBTAINING insurance for a mine site can be a complex process, but Affinity Insurance makes it easy for contractors to understand what types of cover they may need, how to get it, and how much it will cost – giving them options to make the right decision on how to best insure their business. According to the family-owned firm, owners of mobile plant and equipment were often unaware that they could insure the resultant loss of profits, or extra costs incurred, when hiring temporary equipment if their own was damaged. “Companies that contract to mine sites can protect their assets and the income linked to their machines if they use the right insurer,” a company spokesperson said. Affinity Insurance can...