Category: Features

The slide in lithium prices has forced many miners to cut production, including international company Galaxy Resources. But it’s confident its cautious strategy now will hold it in good stead when the market picks up again. DESPITE the recent slump in the world lithium market, Galaxy Resources remains optimistic and excited about the future, with the company committed to unlocking and creating superior returns for shareholders from its existing assets. The international ASX-listed company holds lithium production facilities, hard rock mines and brine assets in Australia, Canada and Argentina, wholly owning and operating the James Bay lithium pegmatite project in Quebec, Canada, and Mt Cattlin in Ravensthorpe, WA, which produces spodumene and tantalum concentrate. The miner recently announced that work...

IMAGE Resources' 100pc-owned, high-grade, zircon-rich Boonanarring mineral sands project, 80km north of Perth, exceeded nameplate capacity in the second month of operation in January 2019. The company achieved profitability in Q1 and was cashflow positive in Q2. At Q3, the company had produced 201.4kt heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) for the year, with full-year guidance lifted to 260-280kt HMC, which the company said reflected the “better than expected operation performance”. The company’s ore processing rates had benefited significantly from the installation of a larger trommel at the feed preparation plant in August, which allowed for an 11pc increase in Q3 to hit 874kt. Image Resources managing director, Patrick Mutz, said that the success of the project in its first year of...

Australia’s mines pose some of the most challenging, toughest workplace scenarios for vehicles, and so they must be equally tough to a scale not seen in any other industry. MINESITES would grind to a halt if it were not for 4WD light vehicles. And the people operating those vehicles must be suitably qualified. Driver incompetence has been a leading cause of 4WD accidents on site, but this can easily be rectified with driver training. Accidents on a minesite are in the public eye more than ever, and mine operators come under more scrutiny than just about any other industry. Each mine operator will have a specific set of rules that govern the way vehicles operate onsite, and will have a...

WA nickel miner, Western Areas, has had a strong start to FY20 as it continues ramping up toward production at Odysseus, hitting all major guidance targets across its Forrestainia operations, while reporting some exciting results from its extensive exploration portfolio. For the September quarter, Western Areas reported mill production at 5259t (FY20 guidance between 21,000 and 22,000t), at a cost of $3.06 (FY guidance oat $2.90/lb to $3.30). Its net cash flow was up $21.6m to $165.9m, receiving a $33.1m boost from the sale of Kidman Resources to Wesfarmers. Nickel prices have surged to a five-year high, jumping almost 70pc since the start of the year, peaking at $US18,153/t off the back of increased interest in nickel for the EV...

ACCORDING to the Queensland Resources Council (QRC), the resources sector added $74.3b to the State’s economy in 2018-2019 – and with new mining developments underway, the economy is set to grow even further in 2020 and beyond. QRC Chief Executive Ian Macfarlane said the sector already supports more than 316,000 jobs across the state, earns 80pc of Queensland’s exports and generates more than $5b in royalties for the State Government. “Queensland’s resources sector is now supporting one in every seven jobs, and one in every five dollars for Queensland’s economy,” Mr Macfarlane said. “That means from Burleigh Heads to Brisbane and from Mackay to Mount Isa, the resources sector is powering local economies and employing local people. “This year’s figures...

PORT Waratah Coal Services owns and manages both the Kooragang and Carrington Coal Terminals, which have a combined capacity of 145mtpa, and employs about 350 people across the 24/7 business. At October 31, exported 92,021,793t of coal from both the Carrington and Kooragang terminals, up from 90,454,527t at 2018, with Carrington contributing 12,190816t. and Kooragang contributing 79,878,238t. Fires temporarily closed the rail network that supplied both the port of on November 12, and the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) said that there was no damage to assets and services gradually began to resume operation from 7:45 until the morning of November 13. “ARTC continues to monitor conditions regarding train operations on its network in NSW and is working with operators...

DEMAND for nickel has increased on the back of the growing electric vehicle (EV) industry, and BHP is now pushing forward at its Nickel West operations in Western Australia. Nickel West has made significant progress in FY2019 on its transition to become a leading supplier to the battery materials market – from selling zero nickel to the batter market in 2015 to selling more than 75pc of its production to global battery material suppliers this year. BHP’s operational review for the September quarter showed production on site increased by one per cent to 22kt, reflecting higher volumes at the Kalgoorlie smelter following the fire in September last year. The company has commenced construction of a nickel sulphate plant at the...

SINCE acquiring the Century Zinc mine from MMG in 2016, New Century Resources has brought the site back into production and is set to ramp up to 12mtpa by March 2020. The focus has been on the existing ore reserves to produce zinc in the lowest cost quartile globally – with substantial mineral resources on the mining leases (including more than 2,200,000t of JORC compliant zinc metal equivalent resources located within mineralised tailings, and around 1,000,000t of JORC compliant zinc and lead resources in the Silver King, South Block and East Fault Block base metal deposits) offering a the potential for mine life extension and metal production increases from the mine’s operations. The mine concentrate continues to achieve relatively low...

AFTER uncertainty in the sector in recent years, Tasmania’s mining industry is seeing something of a renaissance with new mines opening, an aggressive Mining for the Future policy that would make illegal protesting an indictable offence, and greenfields exploration seeking out the next big find. The industry has the backing of the Hodgman Liberal Government, which is promising to provide stability and certainty, and to assist miners moving forward. Mr Barnett said that the Liberal Government was determined that there would be no more land-lockups, likening the current movement to the anti-forestry movement. “More than half of Tasmania is already in reserves,” he said. “And yet the Greens call for more.” The resources industry employs about 5600 people in Tasmania,...

AUSTRALIA’S newest coking coal mine, the $1.76b Byerwen coalmine, officially opened on September 17. Currently operating at 3mtpa, it will ramp up to its nameplate capacity of 10mtpa coking coal after a significant site expansion. The open cut mine in the Northern Bowen Basin, about 20km west of Glenden, has employed about 1000 people during construction and the mine will have a permanent workforce of more than 500 people during operations. The mine comprises four mining areas with a total of 18 open-cut pits, two coal handling and preparation plants, two train loading facilities, including rail loop and spur lines, connected to the existing line to Abbot Point, and an augmented power supply. It is a JV between QCoal and...

IT’S a new era for Newmont Goldcorp, with Tom Palmer taking up the reins as the company’s chief executive officer in October 1. And while it’s business as usual for the world’s leading gold company, Mr Palmer said he planned on building on Newmont’s proven growth strategy. “Newmont remains focussed on keeping our people safe, while growing our profit margins through operating, technical and financial discipline,” he said. To do so, Mr Palmer plans to advance the company’s most profitable projects while investing in exploration across cycles. Newmont Goldcorp has strong and sustainable portfolio of operations, projects and exploration prospects in the gold sector, with about 90pc of the miner’s reserves located in the Americas and Australia, and other projects...