Category: Features

DESPITE a long history digging up gold and coal across its major mining hubs – Bendigo, Stawell, the Gippsland Basin and Latrobe Valley – Victoria currently ranks the least or second least attractive destination for minerals investment. Yet the State is the METS capital of the country; and through Government backing more investment is expected to flow into the region. A proud advocate of mining in the State, Victorian Resources minister Wade Noonan spoke to Elizabeth Fabri about the importance of mining and the programs in place to promote growth.   Q. While Victoria doesn't top the list for mining investment in Australia it does have a proud history. How important is mining to the State economy?   The mining...

All images: Newcrest.   BY ELIZABETH FABRI   ON the back of one of its most eventful years to date, including an earthquake at its Cadia operation in April, Newcrest Mining remains in a comfortable position – on track to achieve its annual production guidance for the fourth consecutive year while advancing greenfields exploration overseas.   The Newcrest executive team made some big decisions in 2016. The global gold miner signed an agreement to sell its 50 per cent stake in its PNG Hidden Valley facility at a $10m loss, let go of its Marsden copper gold project in NSW, put its Ridgeway underground mine at Cadia into care and maintenance, and welcomed a new investment to its portfolio --...

By Reuben Adams YANCOAL Australia will become one of Australia’s largest pure-play coal producers if its $US2.45 billion purchase of Rio Tinto’s Coal & Allied goes forward. 78 per cent-owned by Chinese State-owned Yanzhou Coal Mining Co, Yancoal Australia currently produces thermal and metallurgical coal each year for export, operating four sites and managing five others across NSW, Queensland and WA. After a healthy 2012, when it posted profits of $404.6m, Yancoal has struggled along with the rest of its coal industry peers – posting annual losses of $832m (2013), $353.5m (2014), $291.2m (2015), and most recently $227.1m (2016). Yet there could be light at the end of the tunnel; Yancoal is looking to snap its losing streak on the...

All images: Galaxy Resources. By Elizabeth Fabri IF there was one company that best exemplified the lithium boom of the last 12 months, Galaxy Resources would be it. In 2016, its share price rose 330 per cent, making it the highest performing stock of the ASX-200. This year, Galaxy maintains its position in the spotlight as production ramps up at its newly commissioned Mt Cattlin project. The Mt Cattlin mine has been operated by Galaxy Resources since 2009, but was put on care and maintenance in 2013; a huge blow for the nearby Ravensthorpe community with 37 staff and 65 contract redundancies. But after more than three years, times were looking up for the WA mining town with the revival...

All Images: Atlas Iron. By Cameron Drummond ATLAS Iron has crawled itself back from near extinction after the price of iron ore plummeted in 2015, which subsequently forced the company to suspend its mining operations and restructure company debt after heavy financial losses. Perth-based Atlas Iron listed on the ASX in 2004, and has since grown into a mid-sized iron ore mining and exploration company. It currently operates three projects: Wodgina, Abydos and Mt Webber – all in the northern Pilbara region of WA – shipping at a run rate of about 15 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). After a rocky 2015 when the company nearly went bust, Atlas is looking to be debt free by the end of the...

All images: Southern Ports Authority. By Elizabeth Fabri WHEN multiple entities join forces to combine their expertise and knowledge great things can happen. The Southern Ports Authority, an amalgamation of the Port Authorities at Albany, Bunbury and Esperance, has propelled further production efficiencies, safety measures and annual trade of more than $15.6 billion since its formation. The merger between the three ports kicked off in October 2014 after much deliberation by the WA Government following a comprehensive review. The 2010 review delved into all matters concerning port operations, performance and governance to ensure all of the State’s ports were able to keep up with the demands of the rapidly growing economy. It was decided that port infrastructure would be optimised by...

The Gruyere deposit is one of the most significant of its kind in the Yamarna Belt.           All Images: Gold Road Resources.   By Cameron Drummond   COMPLETED in 2010, a study by the Geological Survey of WA suggested the Yamarna Belt shared geological similarities with the Kalgoorlie Terrane greenstone rocks, and studies by previous explorers such as Ausgold supported that claim. Gold Road Resources’s 5000 square kilometres of tenements in the Yamarna Belt already contain a number of discoveries dating back to 2009 when the company made its first find, Central Bore. Central Bore is contained within Gold Road’s North Yamarna tenements, with a JORC 2012 resource of 180,000 ounces (oz) of gold grading at...

Mt Carlton project. All images: Evolution Mining.   By Elizabeth Fabri   BETWEEN six and eight projects is an ideal number of assets to have within a portfolio to remain a globally competitive mid-tier gold company, Evolution Mining chief executive Jake Klein has said. This strategy has seen the company become Australia’s second largest ASX-listed gold miner, and recently complete an $880 million economic interest in the Glencore Ernest Henry operation. Since Evolution’s establishment in late 2011, through the merger of Catalpa Resources and Conquest Mining and acquisition of Cracow and Mt Rawdon, the miner has carefully followed this portfolio tactic. “With quite a few assets you need to be a good seller as well as a good acquirer to be successful...

Kalgoorlie Super Pit. Image: KCGM.   By Elizabeth Fabri   THERE is no region in Australia quite like the Goldfields. Defined by its rich history and social fabric, the province has become synonymous with gold and nickel mining, with new projects still opening each year to exploit the wealth of resources that lie beneath the surface. The late nineteenth century gold rush of the WA Goldfields is a tale that has been passed on from generation to generation, from the discovery of gold in 1892, to the 530km pipeline C.Y. O’Connor engineered in 1903 to supply water to the region. The historic region has stood the test of time and continues to be the beating heart of WA mining. “There’s...

MMG Dugald River mine portal entrance. Image: MMG. By Elizabeth Fabri MINERALS & Metals Group’s (MMG) zinc powerhouse Dugald River couldn’t enter production at a more convenient time. With a little over a year left on the clock, the project was now more than 40 per cent complete and on track to achieve first production early 2018 amid a global zinc deficit. Located in Queensland, 85km northeast of Mount Isa and 65km northwest of Cloncurry, Dugald River sits on one of the world’s largest undeveloped zinc-lead-silver deposits. The $1.4 billion project had been on the drawing board for some time, but wasn’t progressed until July 2015 when an updated development plan was approved. Not wasting any time, MMG began construction in...

Image: Department of Primary Industry and Resources, Northern Territory Government. By Elizabeth Fabri FAMED for its red earth and desert landscapes, the Northern Territory is arguably Australia’s most ‘under-explored’ mining region with only a handful of major mines operating across the 1,346,200sqkm expanse. But with government backing and major projects in the pipeline, things are looking up for the country’s top end. The Northern Territory, also known as the ‘Red Centre’, contains a wealth of minerals, including Australia’s largest deposits of uranium, zinc-lead, bauxite, gold, phosphate and manganese. In 2015/16 the territory produced $3.05 billion worth of minerals, of which gold accounted for 29 per cent and manganese 27 per cent of the total value. Employment was on the rise, with...