Author: admin

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...

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...

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...

THE past year has been one of significant change for Wesfarmers Resources’ Curragh mine. The company saw production soar nearly 18 per cent in three months at its primary after completing a $286 million plant expansion — part of its strategy to respond to volatility in the world coal market. Wesfarmers hoped to increase production at Curragh, which covers about 12,600 hectares in the coal-rich Bowen Basin in Central Queensland. The company predicted the improvements would increase its export capacity to between 8 million tonnes per 8.5mtpa from the previous 6.5mtpa. During the June quarte   new facilities online, Curragh set a company record, producing metallurgical coal at a rate of 780,000t per month. The mine’s output for the period totalled...

FOR emerging gold producer Millennium Minerals, 2012 has been a momentous year: the company completed construction and commissioning of its flagship Nullagine gold project, and officially transition to the status of producer when it poured first gold from the project on September 30. The Nullagine project centres on a 1.33 million ounce gold resource contained within a series of deposits — Golden Eagle, Bartons, Shearers, Otways, All Nations, Little Wonder, Golden Gate, Falcon, Condor, Harrier, Crow and G-Reef —that are subject to granted mining leases. Golden Eagle is the largest deposit: about 10km south of the township of Nullagine, it contains 62 per cent of the Nullagine project’s total mineral resource inventory. A bright future Millennium acquired a significant package...