Category: Companies

Renascor Resources recently received an enormous funding boost from Dutch export credit agency (ECA) Atradius for its Siviour graphite mine in South Australia. Emma Davies spoke with managing director David Christensen about how this unique support covers a large amount of the capital costs of the project and places the company in an excellent, low-risk position moving forward. Q. Can you please explain how Renascor was able to secure backing from the Dutch export credit agency (ECA) Atradius for its Siviour graphite mine in South Australia? Renascor Resources’ plan to turn Australia’s largest graphite resource into a producing mine by 2021 has been greatly boosted by Atradius’ recent funding support. We have received in-principle support for up to 60pc of…

THE CSA Copper mine has had almost continuous production since 1871 and, owned by Glencore through Cobar Management Pty Ltd, it produces more than 1.1mt of copper, as well as more than 185,000t of copper concentrate per annum at around 27pc copper metal, which is exported to smelters in India, China and South East Asia. In March of this year, rumours circulated that Aurelia Metals Limited was interested in acquiring CSA Mines. During Aurelia’s March quarter conference call, the company expressed that CSA could potentially be a strategic fit and that further consolidation in the Cobar region was attractive following Aurelia’s successful acquisition of Peak gold mine in 2018. In April Aurelia released a statement confirming that preliminary discussions with…

AUS Tin Mining Limited is well on the way to achieving its goal and vision of becoming a major Australian tin producer. In April this year, the company recommenced production at the high grade Granville Tin Project north of Zeehan in Tasmania, and intends to expand the life of the mine through exploration. Aus Tin Mining chief executive Peter Williams was pleased that production is ramping up at the project. “Having completed construction of the new tailings storage facility (TSF) in January 2019, and the transition to owner mining in March, Level 2 operations are ramping up, and recently the Company commenced processing of skarn material that is the predominate ore source at the mine,” Mr Williams said. Granville is…

IT’S been a hectic 2019 for emerging Australian lithium developer Core Lithium (ASX: CXO), and it’s not even the second half of the year. Core has taken major steps forward in its goal toward becoming Australia’s next lithium producer, focusing on high quality lithium spodumene concentrate through the mining and processing of high grade spodumene pegmatites located at its wholly-owned Finniss Lithium Project, in the Bynoe pegmatite field in the Northern Territory. Core’s flagship asset is also conveniently within one hour’s drive of Darwin Port, Australia’s closest harbour facility to Asia. The company is initially developing one of Australia’s highest-grade lithium resources at the Grants Deposit and is actively assessing the additional development potential of a number of recently discovered…

BHP’S US$3.6 billion South Flank project is expected to replace the Yandi mine as it reaches the end of its economic life in the early to mid-2020s. The project would provide sufficient feed to sustain the current level of iron ore production from the company’s Pilbara mines, and with an 80mtpa output by 2021, it will be the single largest annual production iron ore mine that BHP has even developed. BHP South Flank project manager Simon Thomas said South Flank would provide an increase in BHP’s West Australian Iron Ore (WAIO) operations average iron ore grade, and subsequently result in higher-quality lump and fines products. “South Flank will allow us to increase the quality of our products, satisfying rising demand…

AS Australia’s greenfield outcropping and sub-cropping deposits become increasingly scarce, miners are digging deeper than ever before, exploring new options on green and brownfields tenements. To do this, they must be able to look further underground to map the subterranean deposits before expensive exploratory drilling programs can take place. Geophysical technology allows explorers to do just that – giving explorers high resolution 3D models of up to 3km below the surface. According to Independence Group (IGO) chief geophysicist, Andrew Fitzpatrick, “the new frontier is exploring undercover”. Mr Fitzpatrick spoke with the Australian Mining Review about the way IGO has been using geophysical methods and technologies on the company’s Nova deposit, and its satellite Albany Fraser copper-nickel project in WA. The…

THE town is Emerald by name, and, if Japanese miner Sojitz has its way, will also be emerald by nature. Located in Queensland’s Bowen Basin, it’s  has been the hub of mining operations by the trading conglomerate ever since it bought an interest in the Minerva coal mine in 1994. By 2010, ownership had increased to 96pc, enabling the company to directly own, operate and manage the business. In 2018, it also announced plans to develop the nearby Meteor Down South coal mine in a joint venture with U&D Mining. Now, 25 years down the track from that initial foray, Sojitz continues to expand its presence in the region by acquiring the mothballed Gregory Crinum coking coal mine from BHP…

THE ambitious diversification and rebranding of CopperChem to Round Oak has been no small task. The unlisted subsidiary of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company (WHSP) is in the process of establishing itself as an emerging base and precious metals producer, off the back of a series of acquisitions that have expanded its interests past its copper-producing roots to include zinc and gold. In the Past 12 months, the company’s portfolio has grown to include the Jaguar copper-zinc operation in WA, Cloncurry and White Dam gold operations in Queensland and South Australia respectively, and the Stockman and Barbara projects in Victoria and Queensland. In 2018, revenue for the company was at $18.7m, up from $18.4m in the previous year. In…

WA’S South West holds three gateway ports that connect it to the rest of the world – the Ports of Albany, Esperance and Bunbury  – and Southern Ports is their custodian. Unlike role-specific organisations such as the Hunter Valley Coal Collective which focuses its energies on getting one commodity (coal) to one port (Newcastle). Southern Ports manages multiple ports, customers, industries and multiple products. This gives it a unique and multi-faceted role in the supply chain. Its principle role is to facilitate trade through the commercial management of the ports, and to return a dividend to the government of Western Australia. As FY19 comes to a close, Southern Ports will celebrate another successful year. From the beginning of FY19 to…

BOTH the 2019 half year results and March quarter results for South32 bode well for the year ahead, with chief executive Graham Kerr confident of an achievable production guidance for 2019. “For the full year we’ve increased production guidance at Illawarra Metallurgical Coal by 7 per cent with production guidance unchanged for all other operations,” he said. “We’ve also lowered unit cost guidance for most operations as we maintain operating discipline and benefit from a stronger US dollar.” Saleable production at Illawarra for the March quarter increased by 68 per cent and 2033kt to 5Mt in the nine months ended March 2019, and was set to produce 6.5kt as it started on the extraction of new panels at both Appin…

FULL year financial results for 2018 showed Yancoal’s Australian operations are performing well, with a record annual total saleable coal production of 50 million tonnes (32.9mt attributable) up 59 per cent from 31.5mt (or 18.5mt attributable) in 2017. Yancoal’s coal mining operations produce a mix of premium thermal, semi-soft coking, and PCI coals, together with mid-to–high ash thermal coals. To maximise pricing opportunities, Yancoal also has the diversity of product types and mining operations to blend Run-of-Mine (“ROM”) and washed coal (“Saleable”) to meet specific customer needs. ROM production was 17.3mt – up 9pc compared to the previous corresponding period (PCP) – and saleable coal production was up 2pc over the PCP at 13mt. Yancoal chairman Baocai Zhang stated that…