Category: Features

By Rachel Dally-Watkins 22 June, 2015 WITH the commencement of mining operations in late 2014, Australian Bauxite has ushered in the first new Australian bauxite mine for more than 35 years. The Bald Hill mine is also Tasmania’s first ever bauxite mine, and the first in a pipeline of projects to ship gibbsite trihydrate bauxite with low silica contamination that can be processed into alumina at low temperature to customers in China and India. Australian Bauxite chose its projects based on three contributing factors, according to managing director Ian Levy. The result is tenements that all contain good quality bauxite,...

By Reuben Adams Friday, 19 June 2015 NINE WA resources industry workers took their own lives during a 12 month period between 2013 and 2014 – the catalyst for a parliamentary inquiry into fly in, fly out mental health launched by the state’s Education and Health Standing Committee in August last year. The Queensland government has also started a similar investigation. The WA inquiry, due to report on 18 June, will scrutinise the contributing factors that may lead to mental illness and suicide amongst FIFO workers. It covers the current legislation, regulations, policies and practices for workplace mental health in WA; current initiatives by government, industry and community; and recommended improvements. In Queensland, the parliamentary Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources Committee...

By Rachel Dally-Watkins Friday, June 19 2015 LAST year, Rio Tinto sold a rare 1.21 carat Fancy Red diamond from its Argyle mine in WA’s remote East Kimberley for a record price. Although the company wouldn’t disclose just how much the stone sold for, it did state that the collection of 54 pink and red diamonds achieved the highest price per carat since the yearly tender process began 30 years ago. In that time, Argyle Diamonds has earned a strong reputation as the world’s only reliable source of pink diamonds – and while the pink and even rarer red diamonds make up only a small percentage of the mine’s production, Argyle has become synonymous with rare and illustrious gems –...

Jane Goldsmith Friday, June 19 2015 THE final quarter of the 2015 financial year has been one of Evolution Mining’s biggest to date, with the mid-tier gold producer landing three significant deals – including a couple which earned it international prominence – in just 35 days. In late April, the company announced its first deal: a binding $400 million agreement with Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris and his company La Mancha Group International to acquire La Mancha’s Australian-based Mungari operations. Ten days later, it confirmed a smaller but highly strategic exploration joint venture with Goldfields explorer Phoenix Gold to develop five Kalgoorlie-based tenements. On 25 May, the company then told shareholders it had consolidated a US$550 million agreement with Barrick Gold Australia Pacific...

By Rachel Dally-Watkins 21 May, 2015 THE resources industry is a mainstay of the Queensland economy, contributing $77.6 billion during 2013-2014 and accounting for one in five jobs in the state. The Queensland Resources Council (QRC), which represents explorers, miners, contractors, mineral processors, oil and gas producers and electricity generators with interests in the state, estimated that the resources industry supported 17,000 businesses during 2013-2014 with direct spending of $37.5 billion. It also contributed $2.5 billion in royalties, and employed 442,000 full time employees (directly and indirectly). “Queensland is the leading exporter of coking coal in the world; currently, both coking coal and thermal coal...

By Rachel Dally-Watkins 18 May, 2015     WITH a theme of optimising performance and maximising productivity, the upcoming Iron Ore 2015 conference and exhibition is particularly timely. The iron ore price has halved in the past year as a result of increased supply and falling Chinese demand, dropping below US$50 per tonne (for the first time in a decade) in early April before a slight upswing taking it closer to US$60/t by May. Iron Ore 2015 chair and CSIRO Mineral Resources Flagship portfolio leader – carbon steel Dr Ralph Holmes said given...

Decmil: diversifying to meet new demand SERVICE providers across Australia are re-evaluating their business strategies as traditional sources of income in iron ore and LNG continue to slide. According to project delivery major Decmil, companies that diversify, both geographically and across different market sectors, stand the best chance of withstanding tough conditions. Decmil’s half year results, released in early February, demonstrated how challenging current conditions are, as well as the benefits of active strategy adjustment. The company reported a 48 per cent increase in revenue to $389.8 million for the six months ended 31 December 2014 – although lower construction margins saw earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation and net profit after tax decline by 7.4 per cent and...

By Jane Goldsmith 11 May, 2015 CANADIAN miner Crocodile Gold is ramping up production at its Australian operations, in conjunction with the rising US dollar and slowly stabilising gold price. The mid-tier miner produced 59,676oz of gold in the first quarter of 2015, marking an 11.4 per cent rise from its year-on-year results and its seventh consecutive quarter producing above its 53,000oz guidance. Crocodile has three mines in Australia – Cosmo gold in the Northern Territory, and Fosterville and Stawell in Victoria – and substantial land packages including the focal exploration project, Enhanced Big Hill at Stawell. In the company’s first quarter report, chief executive Rodney Lamond said Crocodile was well positioned to meet full-year targets. “As a result of...

April 23, 2015 Jane Goldsmith spoke with Yellow Rock Resources chief executive Vince Algar to discuss Australia’s developing vanadium market and the metal’s promising role in flow batteries and renewable energy storage. Q. What is Yellow Rock’s background story and how did your tenement package develop? A. The company listed back in 2007 as a uranium company, hence the name.  We began with a couple of assets, including one called Nowthanna Hill, which we still have. Then we also picked up a few larger leases in the Northern Territory. Between 2007 and 2010, we picked up the Gabanintha project, near Meekatharra. At the time, there was a...

Bronwyn Barnes is the Chamber of Minerals and Energy’s Outstanding Woman in Resources Award winner for 2015. Jane Goldsmith and Rachel Dally-Watkins spoke to Ms Barnes about her diverse executive career to date.   Q. What is your educational background? In 1988, I earned a Bachelor of Arts in French and Medieval History from the University of Western Australia, and in 1992, received my Graduate Diploma of Business (Management) from Edith Cowan University. I’ve done several other awards and course throughout my career – I studied Corporate Reputations, as well as Company Law at Edith Cowan; Leadership at the Creative Leadership Centre in San Diego; and in 2012, I completed a Company Directors course at the Australian Institute of Company...

  “Our approach has been to meet market demand; our history of production clearly reflects that we do not seek to push product into the market if there’s no demand.”   By Mark Scott 17 April 2015 AFTER a soft few years in the mineral sands market, producer Iluka Resources is set to boost production in 2015 in a sign of confidence in renewed demand. Iluka produces two titanium dioxide feedstocks – rutile and synthetic rutile – as well as zircon from its operations in WA, South Australia, Victoria and the US. The company’s results took a hit...