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The directors of Energio Limited have announced the appointment of Joe Ariti as a new director of the company. Mr Ariti is an experienced company director and mining executive with more than 25 years of experience in technical, management and executive roles assessing, developing, managing and financing mining projects and companies in Australia and overseas. He has recently developed a strong background and successful track record in delivering capital market transactions. Mr Ariti is also an executive director of Matrix Metals and has previously held non-executive roles with African Iron, Territory Resources, Swick Mining Services and DMC Mining. The directors of Energio also announced the resignation of Athan Lekkas from his position as a director of the company. The board...

IMPROVED market conditions and boosted production have helped Alcoa to record a US$94 million net profit for the March 2012 quarter, after reporting a loss the previous quarter. At the end of December 2011, Alcoa posted a $191 million loss for that three month period. In its March 2012 report, Alcoa said the company had negotiated its way back to positive cashflow via productivity improvements across all of its businesses, higher realised prices for aluminium and improved volume and mix. “Performance rebounded strongly this quarter due to our proactive cash sustainability actions, our relentless focus on profitable growth and stabilising markets,” Alcoa chairman and chief executive officer Klaus Kleinfeld said. “Challenges remain in this economy, but we approach them better...

EMERGING coal explorer Bandanna Energy has increased reserves at its Springsure Creek project in Queensland’s southern Bowen Basin by 50 per cent, as part of the mine’s ongoing development. The JORC-compliant marketable reserve at Springsure Creek, owned by Bandanna subsidiary Springsure Creek Coal, now stands at 153.5 million tonnes; the new reserve fi gure is an increase from 102.6mt, and derived from JORC-compliant probable reserves of 161.6mt. The increased reserves are underpinned by a recently updated total JORC-compliant resource of 490.5mt for Springsure Creek, comprising 262.3mt of inferred resources and 228mt of indicated resources. The upgrade reserves form part of an underground longwall mine designed by Brisbane-based mining consultants Minecraft Consulting, which declared the new reserve “marketable” following mining and...

MINING in space could be within grasp after Washington-based Planetary Resources outlined plans on April 24 for the mining of Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs). Boasting a ‘who’s who’ of investors and technical advisors – including Google chief executive Larry Page and filmmaker James Cameron – the well-funded explorer is looking to tap into the high concentrations of precious metals and water found on asteroids. “Many of the scare metals and minerals on Earth are in near-infinite quantities in space,” Planetary Resources co-founder Peter Diamandis said. “As access to these materials increases, not only will the cost of everything from microelectronics to energy storage be reduced, but new applications for these abundant elements will result in important and novel applications.” Planetary...

MID tier gold producer Evolution Mining has found more high-grade gold at its Cracow gold mine in Queensland. A drilling program was conducted about 150m north of known mineralisation and has confirmed the presence of a high-grade epithermal gold shoot. Best intersections from the recent diamond drilling program were: 25.4m grading 6.47 grams per tonne gold from 611.6m, 13.7m grading 8.01g/t gold from 539m, and 2.3m grading 61.53g/t gold from 505.2m. The March 2012 quarter brought with it gold discoveries for Evolution, but total gold production fell from almost 90,000 ounces in the December 2011 quarter to 84,122 for the March period. The average gold price achieved also fell, dropping from $1632/oz for the December period to $1604/oz. Cash costs...

JUNIOR exploration company Blackham Resources has secured more than $9 million to fund ongoing exploration at its Matilda gold project in northern WA. New York-based The Lind Partners manages the Australian Special Opportunity Fund, and facilitated an $8.125 million funding agreement between the Australian Special Opportunity Fund and Blackham. Once the agreement has been executed, Lind will give Blackham an initial $250,000 in the form of a $175,000 convertible security and a $75,000 pre-payment for ordinary shares in Blackham. For the next three years, Lind will purchase between $75,000 and $250,000 worth of Blackham shares on a monthly basis. In addition to the $8.125 million funding agreement, Blackham will issue 4.8 million ordinary shares at $0.21 each to sophisticated investors...

EMERGING iron ore company Brockman Resources has intersected direct shipping ore (DSO) mineralisation at its Sirius iron prospect, within the Ophthalmia project area north of Newman in WA’s Pilbara region, confirming the potential of the project. Results were returned for seven of eight reconnaissance diamond drill holes, all of which intersected iron mineralisation. Highlight intersections included 99.15m grading 62 per cent iron, and 70.05m grading 60.6 per cent iron. The previously reported eighth hole intersected 135.45m grading 61.02 per cent iron. Brockman chief executive offi cer Russell Tipper said the results from Sirius supported the company’s confidence that the wholly-owned Ophthalmia could be developed into a potentially viable mine that could operate in conjunction with its flagship Marillana project, about...

A WEEK after discovering course flake graphite at the Argent and Stanley prospects within its Waddikee project, Monax Mining has identified course graphite at a second site within the same deposit. The 2mm flakes, collected near a historical rock chip site, were discovered as part of reconnaissance sampling from the Balumbah prospect; the discovery has confirmed the potential for the Waddikee project, which lies on the Eyre Peninsula. A graphite exploration program undertaken by Monax focussed on assessing historical reports from its wholly-owned Waddikee project, and in a recent statement the company said it was encouraged by the presence of very course graphite within the project area. “Confirmation of a second site of course graphite on the Waddikee project at...