Author: Chloe Coutinho

IGO shifts focus to lithium among uncertainty in markets IGO (ASX: IGO) will focus heavily on its lithium business, embracing expected volatility in the market as demand and supply imbalances play out. Presenting at the company’s 2024 Strategy Day, IGO managing director and chief executive Ivan Vella says the global energy transition is happening, with electrification at its core. “To drive the transition, the world is going to need to discover and deliver a lot more battery materials,” he said....

King and McDonald go head-to-head at Minerals Week 2024 Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King delivered a speech at the Minerals Week 2024 Conference in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, arguing that the Federal Government is especially focused on critical minerals and rare earths industries. “No government in recent memory has put the resources industry at the centre of its policy making in the way that the Government has,” she said. “In June last year, I released the Critical Minerals Strategy, which provided the blueprint for our approach...

Top talent recognised at Women in Resources National Awards Two Queensland women have received national recognition for their outstanding contribution to the resources sector at the BHP (ASX: BHP) Women in Resources National Awards. Gold Coast based FIFO engineer, Ashara Moore, and support manager, Kanae Dyas, were honoured at the awards presented by the Minerals Council of Australia. Ashara Moore, who works at BHP’s Saraji mine in Central Queensland, was named...

Critical minerals Federation mine to open in NSW Aurelia Metals’ (ASX: AMI) Federation critical minerals and high-tech metals mine is opening in NSW, after receiving development consent in 2023 for operations until 2036. The mine will be located near the historical mining town of Cobar, NSW, and will support more than 140 skilled jobs while providing a $143m investment boost to the region. Production for the mine is estimated at 600,000tpa of high-grade zinc, gold, copper and lead. The mine is projected to produce 4.0mt of ore containing approximately 328,000t of zinc, 192,000t of lead, 12,000t...

Federal government approves largest solar salt project The Federal Government has granted environmental approval for BCI Minerals’ (ASX: BCI) Optimised Mardie project (OMP) in the Pilbara region of WA. The OMP will be the largest solar salt project in Australia and the third largest globally, producing 5.35mtpa of high-quality industrial salt for export with an operating life expected to exceed 60 years. The approval allows operations to commence and enables further construction in the northern area of the project footprint. BCI Minerals will commence operations by filling...

Kincora secures new ground on Australia’s premier porphyry copper-gold province Kincora Copper (ASX: KCC) has been awarded the Nyngan West, Nyngan South and Nevertire South projects in central west NSW. These new projects double Kincora’s position on the Macquarie Arc’s Northern Junee-Narromine Belt (NJNB) and provide continuous landholding along more than 100km strike of the Arc. This consolidates the immediate extensions of the Nyngan and Nevertire projects held in partnership with AngloGold Ashanti Australia. Kincora president and chief executive Sam Spring says...

Flight of capital risky for Australian mining: Northern Star’s Stuart Tonkin Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST) managing director Stuart Tonkin spoke on the company's record FY24 at the WA Mining Club August luncheon. The gold producer saw record cash earnings in FY24 of $1.8b plus revenue of $4.92b, crediting these results to the strong operational performance across its Kalgoorlie and Yandal production centres in WA, plus its Pogo production centre in Alaska. Looking forward, Mr Tonkin says one of the biggest threats...

New fee for mineral title objections A differential fee model for lodging mineral title objections before WA’s mining wardens will take effect on September 16. The introduction of the fee follows a significant increase in the number of objections to mineral title applications brought before the mining wardens over the past three years, which required the appointment of a second Perth mining warden. The new general fee of $430 will effectively support partial cost-recovery to fund the second warden and additional administrative staff. Like other courts and tribunals in WA,...

Rugby league stars sign on to support the mining industry Rugby league’s biggest stars have thrown their support behind the mining industry in a bid to promote the benefits mining jobs have on local communities and the economy more broadly. Jobs for Mining Communities (JMC), a new advocacy body headed by Grant Wechsel and Darren Lockyer, has launched a Queensland-wide campaign to promote mining’s role in powering Australia’s industrial strength and economic prosperity. JMC founder and managing director Grant Wechsel says JMC provides a new platform to...

Pilbara Ports forecasts 1mtpa capacity for Red Hawk  Pilbara Ports has notified Red Hawk Mining (ASX: RHK) that an annual throughput of 1mtpa at the Utah Point Bulk Handling Facility in the Port of Port Hedland, WA, will be available for allocation in 2026.  The forecasted throughput allocation is consistent with Red Hawk’s Pre-Feasibility Study which has export volume in year one of 1.2mt, increasing to 5mtpa over five years.  Red Hawk managing director Steven Michael says the company has...

EQ Resources hits tungsten production records  EQ Resources’ (ASX: EQR) Mt Carbine tungsten operations in Queensland hit a new monthly production record of 9,040mtu for August, with a new daily record of 571mtu.  These results are driven by improving ore grade and equipment upgrades at Mt Carbine and come as the company transitions from contract mining to owner-operator mining in the Andy White open pit.   Improvements include the upgrade to the TOMRA XRT Ore Sorter #2 topped with increased recovery at the gravity plant due to the installation of a scavenger jig.   Mining operations also recorded a higher-grade feed supplied to the...