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THE Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has given the green light for the development of Toro Energy’s Wiluna uranium project in WA, recommending that the state Environment minister grant approval for development of what would be WA’s first uranium mine. Toro reported that, following the announcement of May 21, the EPA’s decision was subject to a two-week period of public appeal. Any appeals made during the period would be reviewed by Toro, prior to a final decision being made by the minister. If state approval was received, the project would require further approval from the Federal Government. Toro stated that it was aiming to move through the approvals process and make its final investment decision for the project by the end...

SEVERAL major mining companies will soon be trialling the new RedEye cloud-based draft management software designed by Applicate. The first software of its type on the market, RedEye is expected to reduce the drafting workload on projects and increase drawing turnaround time. Using RedEye, mining and energy companies can securely use a local desktop computer or mobile phone to save, access and work with technical drawing files that have been stored on a remote server. Under current safety legislation, mining companies are required to maintain accurate engineering drawings of their physical operating environment on site. This requires many mine sites to have a large number of marked up drawings on hand that have to be updated continually to ensure compliance....

JAPAN-based Fortune 500 company Itochu Corporation will purchase up to 40 per cent of uranium focussed Alliance Resources under a strategic partnership arrangement. Alliance owns 25 per cent of the Four Mile uranium project in South Australia and will use Itochu’s funds to finance its share of development costs. The agreement gives Itochu’s subsidiary Nura 3 the right to purchase an initial 14.9 per cent stake in Alliance or its wholly-owned subsidiary Alliance Craton Explorer under a deferred share rights deed. Itochu will also have the option to subscribe for a further 25.1 per cent interest in Alliance; it can convert the deferred share rights and 25.1 per cent option to ordinary shares under certain circumstances, including the resolution of...

AUSTRALIAN explorer and developer Korab Resources has collated and interpreted extensive historical exploration data for its wholly-owned Ashburton Downs project, with spectacular results. The 380 square kilometre Ashburton Downs project – comprising the North Mount Elephant, Green Elephant, East Elephant and Mount Elephant prospects – lies 25km south of Paraburdoo and 5km west of the Mt Olympus gold mine. Korab supplemented the review with a number of site visits and field surveys to verify aspects of the historical data. The company said the setting and mineralisation style of Green Elephant shown in this data highlighted its potential as one of Australia’s most exciting copper prospects. It contains a significant structure covering an area of about 2sqkm, including some 970,000sqm of...

A merger between Westgold and Metals X, announced in mid-May, will create a diversified explorer and producer with a market value of more than $330 million. Metals X – Westgold’s largest shareholder since 2007, with an existing 26.98 per cent interest – has implied an offer price of $0.22 per Westgold share, representing a significant 33.3 per cent premium to the company’s May 9 closing price. The merger will unify an exciting portfolio of growth assets, including the Renison and Rentails tin projects in Tasmania, the Wingellina nickel and Central Murchison copper-gold projects in WA, and the Rover 1 copper-gold project in the Northern Territory. “Westgold’s board has held the view for some time that the company’s projects are not...

MINING at Altona Mining’s Little Eva copper-gold deposit, 95km northeast of Mt Isa in Queensland has been deemed economical after the company received positive results from a definitive feasibility study (DFS). GR Engineering Services conducted the feasibility study on Little Eva, which is part of Altona’s larger Roseby copper project. “We are delighted to announce the results of the Little Eva definitive feasibility study following the drilling success of 2011. Little Eva is clearly a significant asset. The scale of annual production of 7 million tonnes of ore for 38,800 tonnes of copper and 17,200 ounces of gold would make Little Eva one of Australia’s larger base metal developments,” Altona managing director Alistair Cowden said. “The DFS envisages open pit...

THE prime exploration ground of Peak Hill in Central WA is providing Horseshoe Metals with further success after the explorer and developer reported drill results of up 15.2 per cent copper at its Kumarina project. The third drilling program at Kumarina consisted of seven diamond drill holes completed at its Rinaldi prospect for a total of 1134m, with the holes ranging in depth from 141.8m to 171.8m. Assay results from the last six holes have been received, with five intersecting significant copper mineralisation. Notable intersections included: 14m grading 4.4 per cent copper from 33m, including 4m grading 9 per cent copper  and 1m grading 15.2 per cent copper; and 8m grading 3.11 per cent copper from 17.5m, including 2m grading...

COPPER and gold miner Straits Resources has announced a $30 million equity raising to fund a production ramp up at its Mt Muro gold mine in the Indonesian province of Kalimantan. Prior to the share placement, Straits had been anticipating a cash injection from the sale of its Hillgrove antimony-gold mine. However, Emu Nickel informed the ASX in early May that it had failed to raise the $60 million required to purchase Hillgrove and did not see that it would be able to do so in the foreseeable future. To raise the $30 million, Straits is  offering 48.4 million new fully-paid ordinary shares to sophisticated and professional investors at $0.62 per share. The issue price is an 8.8 per cent...

IN September 2011, shortly after announcing a maiden full-year net profit after tax of $16.3 million, Northern Star unveiled a two-stage plan to increase its total gold production from about 75,000 ounces per annum to 200,000ozpa. Stage one, involving expansion of its flagship Paulsens operation to 100,000ozpa  at a total cost of $10 million, is due for completion in the second half of 2012. Additional feed for this expansion will be sourced from a combination of open pit material and increased underground ore production, as well as oxide and transitional ore from the company’s neighbouring Ashburton project. Stage two will comprise a feasibility study aimed at establishing a standalone operation at the 1 million ounce Ashburton sulfide resource, with Northern...

DESPITE a somewhat rocky Australian share price in recent weeks, the future looks bright for gold producer Alacer Gold. Strong financial results for the company’s first quarter this year included a jump in net profit to $54.2 million, compared to a $92 million loss in the same quarter last year, and an adjusted net profit of $27 million compared to $13.6 million last year. In the company’s recent quarterly report, Alacer president and chief executive officer Edward Dowling said the miner’s attributable mining gross profit was $56.4 million, representing a margin of $576 per ounce. The company recently increased its 2012 production guidance to between 396,000 and 410,000oz, but also revised its cash cost guidance up to between $745/ oz...