Category: Features

The Sierra Rutile acquisition was soon to be finalised. Image: Sierra Rutile.   By Elizabeth Fabri   WHEN new Iluka Resources managing director and chief executive Tom O'Leary stepped into the role in September, the company was grappling with a $20.9 million net loss from the first half of the year. Three months in, and Mr O’Leary is steering the company out of a financial slump and towards a prosperous 2017. It's been a year of change for mineral sands company Iluka. A leadership shakeup, weak US dollar, lower income from its Mining Area C iron ore royalty, higher non production cash costs, and depressed zircon price have all played a part in company performance. In the first half of 2016,...

Mining at Kinsevere in the Democratic Republic of Congo. By Cameron Drummond AFTER the record breaking purchase of the Las Bambas copper project in Peru, MMG has had a reasonably quiet 18 months consolidating and improving existing projects. MMG Limited is a Chinese-owned (China Minmetals 74 per cent) mining consortium listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and ASX with copper, zinc and other base metal projects across four continents. MMG aims to become one of the top mid-tier miners by 2020 by investing in significant exploration and development projects such as the Las Bambas copper operation in Peru, aquired from Swiss-based miner Glencore for $US5.85 billion in 2014. The company also owns the Sepon and Kinsevere copper mines in Southern...

The Argyle pink Jubilee diamond, weighing in at 12.76 carats, was the biggest pink rough diamond ever discovered in Australia. Image: Rio Tinto.   By  Elizabeth Fabri   NOTHING exudes class and timeless beauty like an Argyle diamond. While the majority of the mine’s production are champagne and cognac in hue, on much rarer occasions Rio Tinto will unearth one of its famous pink stones. The spectacular and rare coloured diamonds found at Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine are synonymous with the Kimberley region’s vividly painted landscapes. Since the mine began operating in 1983, Rio Tinto has produced more than 800 million carats of rough diamonds through its 11 million tonnes per annum processing facility, with its name now in lights as...

More than five million ounces of gold has been produced at Telfer since operations recommenced in 2004. Image: Newcrest.   By Elizabeth Fabri   BIDDING farewell to its Hidden Valley and Marsden projects has Newcrest looking to the future, and there is much to celebrate. From increased production at Cadia East, progress at Wafi-Golpu and a potential stake in gold junior SolGold, Newcrest’s sights are set on continued success across its global asset base. Newcrest Mining produced 2.439 million ounces of gold and 83,000 tonnes of copper in FY16, meeting the group’s production and cost guidance for the third consecutive year. The gold giant’s managing director and chief executive Sandeep Biswas described the results as “solid” and identified a number of...

Rio Tinto's Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) project produced more than 13 million tonnes of thermal and semi-soft coking coal in 2015. Image: Rio Tinto.   By Elizabeth Fabri   AS thermal and coking coal prices recover from record lows, the resources industry remains hopeful the worst is now over for NSW’s economic ‘engine room’; the Hunter Valley. The Hunter Valley is Australia’s largest regional area, comprising 11 local governments, about 600,000 residents, and the country’s seventh largest city, Newcastle. Coal mining in the region dates back to 1791, and continues to drive the economy with a number of world-class coal projects spread across the 29,145sqkm expanse. When coal prices took a hit four years ago, the Hunter’s strength was put...

The 20-metre deep box cut being constructed at Carrapateena. By Elizabeth Fabri MOMENTUM is building across the OZ Minerals portfolio as works advance on the second decline at Prominent Hill, and construction begins at the highly anticipated Carrapateena project. In September, OZ Minerals began works on the Carrapateena decline, pushing the miner another step closer to delivering first concentrate in late 2019. On 30 September a host of industry officials, including South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill, visited the site to celebrate the discovery of one of the country's largest undeveloped copper deposits. “Carrapateena has compelling project economics and by starting the decline now, we are further de-risking the project and creating more shareholder value,” OZ Minerals managing director and chief executive Andrew...

The Whyalla steelworks operation. Image Arrium. Photography Sean Kelly.     By Elizabeth Fabri HOME to 68 per cent of the nation’s copper and 25 per cent of the world’s known uranium, South Australia’s resources industry is an irrefutable force. Additional state government support, which aims to kick-start investment and sector growth, reflects its importance. South Australia, affectionately known as the ‘Copper Kingdom’, has been a key contributor to Australia’s mining industry as far back as the 1800s, and today boasts the world’s largest uranium deposit and the country’s largest underground mine, Olympic Dam. In 2014/15 the State’s minerals and petroleum sector had a gross value of product at $5.958 billion and regionally the industry contributed a gross regional product of $6.377bn....

Recently snapping up the Digger of the Year award at the 25th annual Diggers and Dealers conference in Kalgoorlie, Fortsecue Metals Group has been making great progress across its portfolio.  On the back of the recent win, chief executive Nev Power spoke to Elizabeth Fabri about the highlights of his job, Fortescue’s CEO for a Day program, and his views on where the iron ore market is heading. Q. What are your qualifications and background in the mining industry? I grew up on a property in Queensland and home-schooled for the early part of my education before attending high school in Mt Isa. I left school at 15 to join Mount Isa Mines as an apprentice and later went on to complete an engineering degree, and...

The New Acland open cut thermal coal mine. By Cameron Drummond NEW Hope Group has acquired an $865m stake in the Bengalla coal mining operation in NSW, as 2016 sees a glimmer of life return to the coal industry. New Hope Group is an energy company with coal mining business interests and operations at New Acland in QLD and Bengalla in NSW. The company is ranked as one of the 100 largest ASX-listed companies by its market capitalisation of $1.3 billion, and is amongst the top 10 listed companies based in QLD. New Hope is a major employer in the state, contributing $300 million per annum to the South East Queensland economy. Although the coal industry has been challenged through lower prices...

Metals X’s processing plant at its Higginsville Gold Operations. By Elizabeth Fabri THE new financial year is set to be a game changer for diversified resources company Metals X, as it moves towards a spinoff of its gold division and production at its newly acquired Nifty asset. In August Metals X announced its intent to undertake a $115.6 million capital raising and demerge its gold division; a move that would strengthen the company’s position as one of Australia’s top gold miners. With Metals X’s metals division bolstered by its recent takeover of Aditya Birla, the company stated that its base metals division could now stand alone “as a formidable diversified base metals company”. As it stands, Metals X has three operating...

Image: Gez Xavier Mansfield Photography By Elizabeth Fabri HUNDREDS of kilometres from home, far away from the comforts of family and friends lies Australia’s fly-in, fly-out workforce; a high-risk pocket of the population which often suffers through mental health issues in silence. While mining giants drive down injury rates, silent killers such as mental illness are sweeping across the sector affecting more than 30 per cent of the fly-in, fly-out workforce. Fatigue, isolation, alcohol, and unpleasant workplace cultures all contribute, coupled with unavoidable struggles experienced on the home front. But what remains unclear are the pathways miners can take to irrevocably tackle the issue. Each year, more than 2500 people die from suicide in Australia, with three quarters committed by men;...