Category: Features

THE production guidance for the Cloncurry-based Dugald River mine is set at 175,00t of zinc in concentrate for 2019, despite extreme wet weather and flooding events in North Queensland during the first quarter. MMG chief executive officer Geoffrey Gao said the impact of severe flooding events around Dugald River and the Cloncurry to Townsville rail corridor in February temporarily impacted production and concentrate transport during the quarter. “Alternate trucking arrangements and the opening of a temporary rail transfer facility at Hughenden has restored access to Townsville port,” Mr Gao said. MMG began loading onto rail at a temporary rail transfer facility at Hughenden, about halfway from Cloncurry to the Townsville Port, on April 15. Following track repairs, rail operations are…

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…

AS the largest single deposit of uranium in the world, and one of its most significant deposits of copper, gold and silver, BHP’s Olympic Dam is one of the globe’s premier poly metals mines. The underground mine consists of about 450km of underground roads and tunnels, and ore is transported via a fully-automated subterranean rail network to the crushing, storing and ore hoisting facilities. The mine has a fully integrated ore to metal processing facility that utilises two grinding circuits used to extract high quality copper concentrate from sulphide ore through a flotation extraction process. Olympic Dam’s metallurgical complex includes a grinding and concentrating circuit, a hydrometallurgical plant that uses solvent extraction circuits for copper and uranium, a copper smelter,…

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…

THE three major mining developments in the Pilbara – BHP’s South Flank, FMG’s Eliwana and Rio Tinto’s Koodaideri – are set to replace the aging Yandicoogina operation, with the expansions and developments scheduled to be completed over the next three years. According to Pilbara Development Commission (PDC) chief executive officer Terry Hill, this is an example of the Pilbara continuing to grow and diversify in the mining and resources sector. “The three major mine projects are replacement mines designed to maintain current production levels. We understand that the total construction workforce for these mines will create more than 6,000 jobs,” Mr Hill said. “This will result in increased demand for mining service providers in the construction period and stability in…

IT’S full steam ahead for Rio Tinto’s $2.6b Amrun bauxite mine on the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland. The mine and associated processing and port facilities will replace production from Rio Tinto’s depleting East Weipa mine, and increase annual bauxite export capacity by around 10mt, at a time when higher-grade bauxite is becoming scarcer globally. It’s a major milestone for the operations, which were approved in 2015, with its March commissioning this year well in advance of the target starting date. Rio Tinto made Amrun’s first shipment in December 2018, six weeks ahead of schedule, and at full production, Amrun is expected to dispatch 22.8mt a year, with options to expand. At the peak of construction, 1200 people worked on…

CONFIDENCE in the integrity and safety of the new seawall design for Koolan Island was crucial to ensure a collapse would not happen again, according to Mount Gibson Iron chief executive Peter Kerr. “The new design has a higher factor of safety and is fundamentally different to the original seawall, incorporating an impermeable cement-bentonite seepage barrier within the embankment,” he said. “This in-ground barrier, which is more than 430m long, 1.2m thick, and extends down to bedrock (over 40m at its deepest point), was installed by a specialist contractor (Keller) and protects the pit from tidal water flows, ensuring the structural integrity of the seawall embankment. “The structure also incorporates extensive monitoring instrumentation, including more than 150 sensors that enable…

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…

KIRKLAND Lake Gold’s Fosterville gold mine in Bendigo, Victoria, has been at the vanguard of Victoria’s resurgent gold industry since the discovery of the Eagle zone in 2015. With production for 2018 reaching 356,230oz, and Q1 of 2019 recorded as the most successful quarter of the mine’s history, Fosterville has established itself as a heavy-hitter  outside of the WA dominated gold sector, and one of the country’s most profitable mines. Victoria’s waning gold industry was kick-started when, in 2015, Kirkland Lake discovered exceptionally high-grade gold from deep drilling bellow the Fosterville mine near Bendigo. Since the discovery of the Eagle zone, which contained high-grade visible-gold bearing mineralisation, the mine has improved its overall mineral reserve grade significantly. In 2016, the…

MINING and petroleum is the backbone of Papua New guinea’s economy, and Australian-owned or partly owned operations contribute to the development of the nation’s human resource, economy, infrastructure, while improving the livelihoods and living standards of thousands of communities. At the annual Australia Papua New Guinea Business Forum and Trade Expo in Port Moresby in mid-June,, PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum president Garea Aopi said the industry contributes 26pc of PNG’s GDP and 80pc of the nation’s export revenue. “The sector also provides more than 20,000 jobs to Papua New Guineans, whilst 30,000 more are employed in landowner businesses, and other PNG businesses that support the industry,” Mr Aopi said. “We also deliver strong and sustainable growth in areas…

ANTICIPATION is high for the forthcoming Asia-Pacific International Mining Exhibition (AIMEX), which will feature the most comprehensive free-to-attend conference for the mining sector when it returns to Sydney Olympic Park from August 27-29. Alongside the conference will be a massive supplier showcase comprising more than 500 companies from around the world. The event will attract more than 6000 industry personnel, along with an additional 2000 exhibitor personnel over the three days. Displayers include Alfagomma, Cummins, Hitachi, ESS Engineering Services, Dana Brevini, Trinkor/Hilliard, Svendborg Brakes, Fuchs and Austdac, to name a few. The AIMEX conference, sponsored by Davey Bickford Enaex, has been developed with direct input and consultation from key mining personnel and industry associations, as well as key mining companies.…