Category: Features

Image: Grange Resources.     BY CAMERON DRUMMOND   GROWTH projects are underway across many of Tasmania’s larger operations, but greenfields exploration has remained stagnant. Now, the State Growth Department is investing $2m over four years in a drilling grant initiative, a move it hopes will help encourage a new minerals exploration boom.   Tasmania's mining industry is starting to rebound, with several potential projects now in the pipeline. Mining is the Island State’s largest export industry, accounting for more than 50 per cent of earnings, or nearly $2 billion in the 2017 financial year. Tasmania’s three large operating mines include Rosebery (zinc, lead, gold, copper and silver), Savage River (magnetite, which is converted into iron ore pellets at Port...

Mark Creasy and Galileo Mining managing director Brad Underwood. Image: Galileo Mining.     BY CAMERON DRUMMOND   MARK Creasy-backed Galileo Mining is one of the newest exploration companies to list on the ASX, focused on mining battery metals such as copper, nickel, cobalt, platinum and palladium. Cameron Drummond spoke with managing director Brad Underwood about the company’s drilling plans this year, and his take on WA’s position as a leader in battery minerals production.     Q: What is your professional history? I have been working as a professional geologist for over 15 years. However, before then I spent some time prospecting for opals and gold and making no money in the process. I realised that a steady pay...

All images: Silver Lake Resources.   BY CAMERON DRUMMOND   BOOSTED by a cash balance of $87 million, junior gold producer Silver Lake Resources is poised to add a fourth mining centre, Aldiss, to its Mount Monger operations after successfully executing a three year strategy to optimise value from existing production.   Mount Monger, south of Kalgoorlie in WA, is home to a highly-endowed gold camp with multiple mines and a history of replacing reserve life. Following the major gold discoveries at Kalgoorlie in 1893, prospectors found gold 50km southeast of the town near Mount Monger in 1896. The main production period started in 1916, when several mines were developed close to the Mount Monger homestead. Some of these were...

BY ELIZABETH FABRI   AN uptick in mining activity, advances in automation, and improved collaboration; the industry has many reasons to celebrate at this year’s Queensland Mining & Engineering Exhibition (QME). The biennial event is set to be one of its biggest to date – more than 35 per cent larger than QME 2016.   Running across three days in July, QME is set to deliver another impactful year of presentations and networking opportunities for the mining industry and its supply chain. The free-to-attend trade event provides a platform for the industry to engage, interact and experience innovative new mining products and machinery; meet face-to-face with the industry’s leading suppliers; witness live demonstrations; network with peers, and of course, hear...

Images: Port Waratah Coal Services. BY ELIZABETH FABRI   PORT Waratah Coal Services exports declined marginally in the 2017 calendar year, however there have been other issues under spotlight; a big question mark over the future of its long-running Carrington operation – and more recently – scrapped plans for its Terminal 4 project.   In November, Port Waratah Coal Services (PWCS) was blindsided by a NSW Department of Planning draft report which stated it would explore options to move its Carrington coal terminal to another location. Carrington and Kooragang are PWCS’s bread and butter, and two of the three coal terminals that make up the Port of Newcastle (the third being operated by Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group). PWCS – the...

All images: Independence Group.   BY REUBEN ADAMS   THE March quarter was a mixed bag for Independence Group, but the miner’s medium to long term fundamentals are sound. The flagship Nova operation continues to ramp up and generate good cash flow, while a $50 million exploration program and downstream processing studies could deliver massive cash flow generation in the years to come.   Independence Group (IGO) is transitioning into a cash-generative business, as growing free cash flow from its operations – especially Nova – results in an ever-shrinking debt pile. Building cash reserves is an important part of the IGO strategy. It gives the company flexibility for potential acquisitions, or development options should a $30m exploration program on its...

Vitrinite team members with a core sample taken from their Karin deposit. Image: Vitrinite.   BY ELIZABETH FABRI   BOWEN Basin locals may be quick to talk down another coal boom, but there is no question confidence is returning to the region. An upturn in coal prices is boosting new exploration and development, M&A activity, mine expansions, and prompting companies to reopen shuttered operations. But can recent momentum be sustained?   Optimism has returned to the coal-rich Bowen Basin in central Queensland. In late 2016 recovering coal prices signalled hope – dampened only slightly when Cyclone Debbie rocked the region in 2017. And by early this year many Bowen Basin miners were wearing a smile again. Take Anglo American; the miner...

All images: Heron Resources.  BY REUBEN ADAMS HERON Resources’ Woodlawn zinc-copper development is on track to begin commissioning in late 2018. Once in production, the high-grade, long-life Woodlawn will be well placed to participate in a zinc market facing a significant supply shortfall. Reuben Adams spoke with Heron Resources chief executive Wayne Taylor.   It must be nice to see Woodlawn in development.   It is – it has been a while coming. We got to a place where we had all the studies done and, as a lot of companies do, found the major hurdle was getting the money to make it happen on the ground. We got that done in September last year, so that was a significant...

Centennial fuels about 40 per cent of NSW’s coal-fired electricity. All Images: Centennial Coal.     BY CAMERON DRUMMOND   IF 2017 was a year of design for Centennial Coal, then 2018 is the year of implementation. The company is tracking well in enhancing its social licence to operate, integrating productivity improvements and new mining systems, operational excellence and production growth, and automation and digital transformation.   Owned by Thai-based Banpu, Centennial Coal is one of the largest underground thermal coal producers in NSW, employing more than 1400 personnel across five operating coal mines producing more than 12 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). It fuels 40 per cent of the State’s coal-fired electricity and exports about 40 per cent of...

BY ELIZABETH FABRI   ALL signs indicate Newmont Mining could dethrone Barrick Gold as the world’s largest gold producer this year. Newmont’s Australian division has been a key player in the race, kicking goals across its three operations – KCGM, Tanami, and Boddington.   Back in 2007, Newmont’s vice-chairman at the time, Pierre Lassonde, told reporters at the Kalgoorlie Diggers and Dealers conference that he hoped Newmont would overtake Barrick Gold (its joint venture partner in KCGM) in the gold space. In 2016, Newmont president and chief executive Gary Goldberg told Bloomberg this wasn’t an area of focus; instead the value that is added to projects and growing margins. “We’re not about getting bigger, it’s about growing margins,” Mr Goldberg...