Author: Chloe Coutinho

Muckanippie kicks off titanium drilling Petratherm (PTR) (ASX: PTR) has commenced drilling at its Muckanippie titanium project in South Australia. The 4,000m drill program will assess at a regional scale the Rosewood and Claypan Prospect titanium rich heavy mineral sands (HMS) mineralisation. Drilling is also planned over high titanium-vanadium bearing source rock horizons for primary vanadiferous titanomagnetite (VTM) style mineralisation. PTR Chief executive Peter Redi says the company is extremely pleased to have drilling now underway. “The critical minerals, titanium and vanadium, have been identified over large areas and in a variety of target forms which is testament to the fertility of the Muckanippie area,” he said. “This...

Federal Government backs rare earths The Federal Government is putting Dubbo, NSW at the heart of its plans to grow Australia’s critical minerals and rare earths industry by providing further support for miner Australian Strategic Materials Limited (ASM) (ASX: ASM). The Dubbo project will produce critical minerals such as zirconium, niobium and hafnium as well as several rare earth elements. Rare earths are critical to the energy and defence industries...

Alcoa: rubber hits the road on tyre recycling Old tyres are being given a new life thanks to an innovative recycling project involving Alcoa Australia and Tyrecycle’s newly established East Rockingham, WA, facility. The “off-the-road” (OTR) haul truck tyres that have reached the end of their operational life are being sent from Alcoa’s bauxite mines in the Peel and South West regions to the local Tyrecycle facility where they are processed to create a crumbed rubber product. The resulting product can be used for a...

Gold booming for Rumble Resources Rumble Resources (ASX: RTR) has announced a 76% increase to its mineral resources estimate (MRE) for the Western Queen gold project. The project now boasts an upgraded MRE of 4.42mt at 2.02g/t of gold for 286,600oz with indicated resources of 2.39mt at 2.11g/t of gold for 163,800oz, a 142% increase compared to the August 2021 MRE. Diamond drilling completed in June 2024 prompted a comprehensive lithostructural review and reinterpretation of the Western Queen gold project, which led to the remodelling of the MRE. Rumble managing director and chief executive Peter Harold says the company...

Queensland new-to-industry intake gets women into mining Two trailblazing women have swapped the salon and vet hospital for new careers at the New Acland mine in Queensland. Jodi Keane-Venz, a former hairdresser and teacher and Ella Graham, a former vet nurse, started work at New Acland Coal in August. The duo is part of a new-to-industry intake, which required no prior knowledge of the mining industry. Mrs Keane-Venz, an Oakey based hairdresser for the past 30 years says she jumped at the opportunity to swap the scissors of the salon for the roads of the New Acland mine. “My husband and sons have worked in...

Westgold reaps record post-merger results Westgold Resources (ASX: WGX) produced a record 77,369oz of gold from its expanded portfolio, achieving an average sale price of $3,723/oz for Q1 FY25. The Q1 FY25 result is based on three months of production from the Murchison (52,889oz) operations, but only two months of production from the Southern Goldfields operations (24,480oz). This follows the company’s move to increase FY25 production guidance to 400,000-420,000oz, a substantial increase from its 220,000-235,000oz FY24 guidance. Westgold managing director and chief executive Wayne Bramwell says Q1 FY25...

QCoal scholarship helps students achieve their dreams A scholarship fund that’s provided almost $300,000 to help build regional Queensland’s next-generation tertiary workforce has opened its door to applications for its 10th annual scholarship. Marking a decade since it first launched, the QCoal Foundation Scholarship provides a James Cook University (JCU) student with $10,000 each year for three years to offset the costs of studying. Students studying medicine, dentistry, geology, speech pathology, veterinary science, engineering and other disciplines at JCU have all benefitted from the scholarship over the past decade. First year speech pathology student and 2024 QCoal Foundation Scholarship...

Australia waves hello to ocean energy Clean renewable energy from harnessing ocean waves can be a critical enabler in helping Australia achieve its Net Zero targets — and we are uniquely well-placed to lead in this space, a new report shows. Commissioned by the Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre and led by a team of researchers at The University of Western Australia’s Ocean Institute, the Ocean Wave Energy in Australia report details the opportunities, application, integration and development of an ocean energy industry in Australia. With the world’s largest and most consistent national wave...

Sandvik introduces industry’s most advanced narrow vein underground drill Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions is introducing Sandvik DD212i, its first intelligent i-series narrow vein drill and the industry’s most advanced underground drill of its type. Sandvik DD212i is a compact single-boom jumbo with a new carrier and updated design, offering improved productivity, drilling accuracy, intelligence, versatility and easy integration? into operations. Optimal in narrow vein and medium-sized drifts, Sandvik DD212i ensures more tons and maximum profitability, as well as operational efficiency with precise electronic positioning and instrumentation...

Renewables at their Zenith as Liontown lifts lithium with hybrid power project WA Energy Minister Reece Whitby officially opened the Kathleen Valley hybrid power system, ushering in a new age of emissions free mining for the energy transition. The power system is the largest operating off-grid power system in Australia, designed, funded, built, owned and operated by Zenith Energy for Liontown Resources (ASX: LTR). The 95MW Kathleen Valley hybrid power system incorporates the nation’s largest off-grid wind farm utilising the largest land-based wind turbines in the country....

WesTrac expands autonomous training centre to shape future workforce Leading Caterpillar® dealer WesTrac will complete the construction of new facilities at the WesTrac Technology Training Centre in Collie, WA, by November, offering further world-leading training opportunities. Speaking during a visit to the facility by WA Premier Roger Cook, WesTrac chief executive Jarvas Croome said the State Government supported the project by providing $1m from the Collie Futures Industry Development Fund. “It is fantastic to have Roger Cook at the WesTrac...