Author: Kate Christian

Port of NSW: Stoking the Fires

Port of NSW: Stoking the Fires

While China’s unofficial ban on Australian coal continues amid trade tensions, overall export figures from the world’s largest coal port have remained resilient. Late last year when coal ships stopped departing the Port of Newcastle for China, which normally accounts for 20% of exports from the port, it sent shockwaves through the mining industry. During the 2020 September quarter, China’s total metallurgical coal imports plummeted by 14%, while thermal coal imports nosedived 38%, compared to the same period in 2019, according to the Australian Government’s Department of Industry. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, with producers finding new markets, as several other countries in Asia step in to fill the void in demand left by…

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Work Smarter, Not Harder

With a proud history spanning 200 years, Valmet has perfected its high-quality filter fabric solutions over many years. Long term co-operation with suppliers, customers, universities and research institutes has cemented the company as one of the world’s leading suppliers of filter fabrics. Coupled with extensive in-house R&D as well as the wealth of expertise and manufacturing facilities that comes with a global company, it has meant Valmet has remained at the forefront of innovation. This vast experience extends to the high-level solutions that Valmet supplies to the mining industry for all applications, from disc, drum and press filter fabrics to tower press, belt filters and linear screens. Its fabrics are developed to withstand high process temperatures, complex chemical environments, and…

Pembroke: Poised for production

Pembroke: Poised for production

The Queensland Government has given the green light to what will become one of the world’s largest steelmaking coal mines. The granting of mining leases for the Olive Downs Coking Coal Project on September 29 was the last of the major approvals required to allow construction to start at the Bowen Basin mine. The Pembroke Resources project will create up to 500 jobs during construction and more than 1000 new jobs in the region as it is developed to produce about 15mtpa of saleable coal over its 79-year mine life. Pembroke CEO Barry Tudor told The Australian Mining Review the mine would provide a much-needed stimulus during the COVID-19 recovery, while generating about $5.5b in royalties for the Queensland Government.…

BHP Nickel West: Feeding the battery revolution

BHP Nickel West: Feeding the battery revolution

Just six years ago BHP was looking to offload its Western Australian nickel business amid plummeting prices and escalating costs. In 2014 the mining giant announced plans to sell Nickel West so it could focus on its key iron ore, copper, coal and petroleum assets. In the end it decided to keep the operation in its portfolio as a “non-core” asset, but only because it failed to find a buyer at a suitable price. How times have changed. BHP is now rapidly gearing up to become one of the world’s leading nickel suppliers in the batteries sector as it positions Nickel West to feed the electric vehicle “revolution”. There have been several reports of BHP being in talks with electric…

Pilbara Powerhouse

Pilbara Powerhouse

It has been a bumper year for the Pilbara Ports Authority (PPA). which has served as an engine room for the WA economy, achieving a record annual throughput of 717.2mt despite the pandemic. The record volume of imports and exports through the PPA ports of Port Hedland, Ashburton and Dampier was an increase of 3% on the previous year and equivalent to 13,583 Sydney Harbour Bridges. This was largely driven by an increase in iron ore exports off the back of robust demand from China, where about 80% of Australia’s iron ore is sent. Supply disruptions in Brazil, the world’s second biggest iron ore exporter after Australia, also helped to drive the price of the commodity to a six-year high…

Acacia swaps coal for ‘green’ tech

Acacia swaps coal for ‘green’ tech

Acacia Coal Ltd has ditched its coal assets and relisted on the ASX today as an “environmentally- focused” company after acquiring Graphene Technology Solutions. The former coal developer has been rebranded and renamed Sparc Technologies Limited (ASX:SPN) in a reverse takeover deal, which will see Acacia’s core business transition from coal and mineral exploration to the development and commercialisation of “new-world” products. Sparc will initially harness graphene to develop technologies that could revolutionise the mining industry such as improved metals recovery from tailings and environmental remediation. Graphene is a 2D material made of carbon atoms with a unique hexagonal lattice structure that makes it lightweight, thin, strong, super conductive, elastic, anti-microbial, anti-corrosive and hydrophobic, meaning it can separate toxins from…

Diamonds created in lab

Diamonds created in lab

The formation of diamonds in the natural world takes billions of years, huge amounts of pressure and ultra-hot temperatures. Now an international team of scientists, led by the Australian National University and RMIT, have managed to defy nature by creating diamonds in a lab in just a few minutes. The team made two types of diamonds: the kind found on an engagement ring, and another type of diamond called lonsdaleite, which is found in nature at the site of meteorite impacts such as Canyon Diablo in the US. Lead researcher and ANU Professor Jodie Bradby said lonsdaleite, which is 58% harder than regular diamonds, has the potential to be used for cutting through ultra-solid materials on mining sites. “Creating more…

Mining in NE Qld: the gold rush is on

Mining in NE Qld: the gold rush is on

The development of Queensland’s biggest gold mine and a new wave of investment is set to put the historic gold mining towns of Ravenswood and Charters Towers back on the map. Ravenswood Gold is pushing full steam ahead with its recommencement of open pit mining next month (December) in the historic Ravenswood mining district, about 130km south of Townsville. The upgraded and expanded Ravenswood Gold Mine will rejuvenate the old mining town through the creation of 400 new jobs: 250 permanent staff and another 150 workers through the construction phase. It will involve an initial investment of at least $300m with $200m in capital expenditure, to be spent on upgrading the processing plant and development of a tailings dam, as…

Unlocking carbonation potential

Unlocking carbonation potential

BHP is working with leading Australian and international experts to investigate methods to enhance mineral carbonation rates to store more CO2 into tailings through different processes and engineering solutions. An example can be found at BHP’s Mount Keith nickel mine in WA’s Goldfields, home to one of Australia’s biggest tailings dams which also serves as a massive carbon sink. The 5km-wide dam helps lower the operation’s carbon footprint through the natural weathering process of mineral carbonation, where carbon dioxide reacts with mineral rocks such as serpentine to form harmless solid carbonates. This allows for the safe and permanent storage of about 40,000t of carbon dioxide each year, the equivalent of taking 15,000 cars off the road. BHP Nickel West’s Samantha…

Iron-clad future

Iron-clad future

Mount Gibson’s flagship operation, Koolan Island, doesn’t just boast Australia’s highest-grade direct shipping hematite iron ore mine. Hemmed in by the turquoise water of the Buccaneer Archipelago off WA’s Kimberley Coast, Mount Gibson CEO Peter Kerr believes the “amazing location” also offers the best view from a mine site he has ever seen in Australia. Speaking at the WA Mining Club on October 22, Mr Kerr said the “high grade niche mine” has ore reserves of about 18mt with a grading of about 65% Fe. A new airstrip has been built on the central spine of the Rottnest-sized island, where ore is crushed, processed and blended as needed before shipping. The mining fleet includes three excavators and 16 trucks while…

Mining in NW Queensland: The lynchpin of the economy

Mining in NW Queensland: The lynchpin of the economy

Mining has long been a backbone of North West Queensland’s economy but now it will prove crucial to pulling Australia out of the coronavirus recession. Queensland’s mining industry is the state’s most valuable sector, accounts for 40% of all capital expenditure and directly employs nearly 65,000 people with nearly a quarter of them working at mines in North Queensland. The North West Minerals Province (NWMP), centered around Cloncurry and Mt Isa, is one of the world’s greatest mining regions and holds about 75% of Queensland’s base metal mineral endowment including copper, lead, zinc and silver as well as major phosphate deposits. The big players employ thousands with even the Mt Isa mayor, Danielle Slade, getting her first job straight out…