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$20m fund aims to kickstart new jobs in Mount Isa The Queensland Government has allocated $20m to address the loss of up to 1,200 jobs after Glencore announced the closures of its underground copper mine and copper concentrator and the nearby Lady Loretta zinc mine. The fund, part of a $50m support package for Mount Isa, will focus on projects that can start up quickly to create jobs and enhance Mount Isa’s attractiveness as a place to live and work.  The package also includes up to $30m to accelerate resources projects in the North West Minerals Province, led by Queensland Treasury and the state's department of resources.  Queensland State...

First vanadium pentoxide from QLD industrial waste: QEM and UQ collab QEM (ASX: QEM) and The University of Queensland (UQ) have teamed up to produce the first high-purity vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) from an industrial waste stream in Australia. In June last year, QEM announced an agreement with Incitec Pivot Limited (ASX: IPL) to collect vanadium-bearing spent catalyst from IPL’s Mount Isa sulphuric acid plant and process this waste into high-purity vanadium pentoxide (V2O5), an essential component of the electrolyte used in vanadium flow batteries. QEM also entered a similar agreement with Sun Metals Corporation Pty Ltd’s Townsville zinc refinery in March last year. Currently the spent catalyst removed...

Mineral Resources says diversification key to revenue increase Mineral Resources (MinRes) (ASX: MIN) has announced its financial results for H1 FY24, reporting strong operational performance across all businesses.  The miner says revenue was up 7% to $2.51b, with underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $674m.  A diversified business model was key to the solid financial results, despite weaker lithium prices, according to the miner. ?  MinRes managing director Chris Ellison says “incredible progress was made on Onslow Iron over the half”.   “We currently have more than 2,000 people working on the project, with first ore-on-ship on target for June 2024,” he said.  “Our unique ‘build, own,...

Stage 2 mining to commence at Jeffreys Find gold mine, toll mill contract for minimum 300kt ore Auric Mining (ASX: AWJ) will commence stage two of mining the Jeffreys Find gold mine near Norseman, WA, in early March, with first parcel of ore expected in mid-April this year. BML Ventures Pty Ltd of Kalgoorlie, Auric’s joint venture partners, has executed a contract with FMR Investments Pty Ltd to toll mill a minimum of 300,000t of ore at the Greenfields mill in Coolgardie this year. Auric Mining managing director Mark English commented on this....

Dianne copper mine project granted $1.3m by QLD Government Revolver Resources Holdings Limited (ASX: RRR) has secured a $1.3m grant from the QLD Government’s Critical Minerals and Battery Technology Fund for its Dianne copper mine project in northwest Queensland. The grant received will be directed towards advanced technical studies and site-specific engineering designs for the project starting next month. These include $800,000 for the SX/EW processing engineering design and $500,000 for site engineering design. Revolver managing director Pat Williams says the company is very pleased...

Ad Standards rejects activist claim against Bravus Australia’s advertising regulator has rejected a complaint about Bravus’ website by anti-coal activists and the taxpayer-supported Environmental Defenders Office. An Ad Standards Community Panel found Bravus’ website did not breach the Australian Association of National Advertisers Code on the Bravus website. The complaint was brought by the Environmental Defenders Office on behalf of the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC). This dismissal followed the Community Panel’s initial rejection of the complaint in December 2023, which the Environmental Defenders Office then appealed. There are no further avenues for appeal. A Bravus spokesperson said the company was pleased the complaint had been dismissed as it was a misuse of process and taxpayers’ money by...

Fortescue records its second highest first half iron ore shipments as profits rise Fortescue (ASX: FMG) shipped 94.6mt of iron ore in H1 FY24, the second highest first half shipments in the company’s history.  Fortescue’s near-record shipments helped the miner increase its net profit after tax (NPAT) by 41% over the prior corresponding period to $5.04b (US$3.3b).  Fortescue Metals chief executive Dino Otranto says “Fortescue’s performance in the first half of FY24 has been excellent, with the team achieving our second highest first half shipments while maintaining our strong focus on safety and keeping our costs low”.   “This contributed to...

Rio Tinto to become Australia’s biggest industrial buyer of renewable power  Rio Tinto has signed Australia’s largest renewable power purchase agreement (PPA) to date to supply its Gladstone operations in Queensland, agreeing to buy the majority of electricity from Windlab’s planned 1.4GW Bungaban wind energy project.  The latest agreement, which follows last month’s announcement of a PPA for the Upper Calliope solar farm in Queensland, will make Rio Tinto the biggest industrial buyer of renewable power in Australia.  Under the new PPA with Windlab, Rio Tinto will buy 80% of all power generated from the Bungaban wind energy project over 25 years.   The project, which...

Gold miner Ramelius Resources posts record revenue Gold miner Ramelius Resources Limited?(ASX:RMS) has posted a record half-year revenue of $348.5m as the company benefited from higher prices and lower costs coupled with a 5% increase in gold production over the previous corresponding period (pcp). The increased gold production, buoyed by contributions from the Penny gold mine as well as the addition of the Symes gold mine at the Edna May hub, saw the company increase its net profit by 42% to $41.2m for the half year. The reported all-in sustaining costs (AISC) for the half-year was $1,899/oz, 7% lower than the pcp. The miner expects AISC to decrease further...

$140m injection to build Pilbara Hydrogen Hub The Federal and WA Governments have agreed on building a $140m hydrogen hub in the Pilbara, WA, supporting almost 1000 direct and indirect jobs. Construction on the Pilbara Hydrogen Hub will begin this year with a target timeframe of mid-2028 to become operational. It will be major centre for hydrogen production and export, with the potential to become an international gateway to Australian-made green steel and iron. A planned pipeline could enable hydrogen production of around 492,000tpa, enough to decarbonise existing ammonia production on the Burrup Peninsula. WA...

Dematic powers WesTrac Tomago spare parts warehouse WesTrac has successfully implemented a Dematic Automated Piece Picking System at its Tomago warehouse in NSW. As one of the world’s largest authorised Caterpillar® equipment dealers, this new picking system along with its Autostore™ system (resembling a large Rubik’s cube) supports the mining and construction industries in WA, NSW and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) WesTrac warehouse operations manager Natalia Trewin says its Tomago warehouse is the central distribution centre for 17 regional branches, as well...