Category: Features

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...

Doray managing director Leigh Junk. Images: Doray Minerals.   BY CAMERON DRUMMOND   A YEAR on from taking the reins at Doray Minerals, managing director Leigh Junk has overseen a well-executed turnaround strategy, with the company shifting its focus to the ramp up of its new Deflector operation and extending its resource base.   Q: What changes have you made at Doray since taking over as managing director?   When I started as managing director a little over a year ago, the company had almost $70 million in debt and two operations that were not performing to expectation. The growth and drive for the company in the short term had to come from its operations. For the company to be...

All images: MMG.  BY ELIZABETH FABRI FIRST zinc concentrate production began in November last year at the $US570 million Dugald River mine. Since then, the MMG team and its contractors have been working at warp speed to reach the next milestone; commercial production. We spoke with Dugald River general manager Pierre Malan about how a “leap of faith” during the downturn enabled the project to be achieved ahead of schedule and under budget.   Q. How is ramp up progressing and how close you are to reaching commercial production?   The project has been going really well. With commissioning ahead of schedule last year, we are, overall, still tracking under budget and ahead of schedule. Late last year we started...

All images: Evolution Mining.   BY ELIZABETH FABRI   WITH an absence of distressed sellers in the gold industry, Evolution is putting the brakes on acquisitions – for now – instead focusing on organic growth and achieving debt free status.   If gold and copper prices remain where they are today, Evolution Mining could be debt free by the end of the calendar year, according to executive chairman Jake Klein. In the last two and a half years the miner has slashed more than $687 million in debt from its balance sheet and returned $190 million to shareholders in dividends. What’s more, group All-In Sustaining Costs (AISC) were cut by 20 per cent to $784 per ounce in the last 12...

The Bald Hill processing plant took just seven months to be commissioned. All images: Tawana Resources.     BY CAMERON DRUMMOND   AUSTRALIA'S newest lithium mine, the Bald Hill joint venture (JV), kicked off production in March. With a burgeoning electric vehicle market spearheading demand for lithium-ion batteries, Tawana Resources is already pushing full steam ahead with expansion plans.   Lithium production has commenced at the Bald Hill lithium-tantalum mine in the Eastern Goldfields region of WA. Bald Hill, a 50:50 joint venture (JV) between operator Tawana and Singapore-listed Alliance Mineral Assets Limited (AMAL), is the first Australian mine to commence spodumene production since Galaxy Resources’ Mt Cattlin in 2016. Bald Hill was originally a tantalum project operated by Cannington Mines...

All images: Iluka Resources.   MINERALS sands miner Iluka has been a bit of a sleeper in the resources rally. Minimal debt, great assets and excellent management – coupled with the best market conditions in five years – has Iluka well placed for a year of delivery at its Sierra Rutile, Jacinth-Ambrosia and Cataby projects. Reuben Adams spoke with Iluka Resources chief financial officer and head of Strategy and Planning Doug Warden.     Q. During Iluka’s 2017 full year results conference call chief executive Tom O’Leary said “we're not looking to push prices so hard that we invoke substitution and a shrinking of the overall global demand profile, as happened earlier in the decade”. How will you ensure that price...

An operator stands next to plant machinery on a bauxite plateau at Rio’s Amrun project, Far North QLD. Image: Rio Tinto.   BY CAMERON DRUMMOND   GROWING Chinese demand is driving big investment into the bauxite-rich northwest tip of the Cape York Peninsula, with almost 30mtpa of extra supply due to come online by the end of 2019.   An estimated 53 per cent of Australia’s vast bauxite resources come from the Cape York Peninsula in Far North QLD. The region’s operating bauxite mines are known for their high quality ore; determined not just by the aluminium content, but also by minerals such as iron oxides and titanium oxides, as well as the low amount of reactive silica which reduces...

All images: Newmont.   BY ELIZABETH FABRI   FRESH from completing a $US120 million expansion at its Tanami operation, Newmont is spending big on a new power project that will see Tanami shift to natural gas from a current reliance on diesel fuel.   Newmont has a lot to be proud of at its Tanami gold mine in the Northern Territory. Since 2012, Tanami has more than doubled gold production and cut costs by two thirds. In August, the miner completed a mine expansion to increase production by 80,000 ounces per year, lower all-in sustaining costs to between $US700/oz and $US750/oz, and add a further three years to mine life. Newmont’s Australia production was now expected to reach between 1.5...

All images: Hillgrove Resources.   BY ELIZABETH FABRI   AFTER a near death experience in 2016, Hillgrove Resources is on the rise with company finances looking healthier and a number of growth opportunities on the horizon.   Two years ago, Hillgrove Resources was in financial distress as it struggled to overcome cash shortfalls during a significant downturn in the copper market and underperformance at its flagship Kanmantoo mine. During the $70 million cutback of Kanmantoo the company’s financial position left it with no choice but to restructure costs, which included a 10 per cent wage deferral, and renegotiated contract and creditor arrangements. Hillgrove Resources Kanmantoo general manager Lachlan Wallace, who headed up the mine during this time, said 2016 was a...

BY CAMERON DRUMMOND   BEING an exploration company has many hurdles, but the payoffs can be huge with a highly motivated and experienced team at the helm. This, according to Cervantes Corporation managing director Marcus Flis, is the philosophy behind his company’s interest in the historic Payne’s Find gold field.   Q: What is your professional history? The big end of town was my training ground. Multi-commodity exploration with CRA Exploration. Membership of “task forces” was a highlight of that experience. Later, work with Newmont Australia gave me very specific experience in various styles of gold deposits. I was called back by Rio Tinto to head up a task force in the Hamersley Basin, following which I was appointed Global...