Category: Features

AUSTRALIAN diversified explorer Cauldron Energy is celebrating a 300 per cent upgrade to the Bennet Well resource within the company’s WA-based Yanrey uranium project. On completion of a 7146m drilling program, Ravensgate Resources – an independent consultant group – calculated an increased JORC-compliant resource of 15.7 million pounds at 270 parts per million uranium. Studies have indicated grades above 250ppm eU3O8 would be economic for a likely in-situ leach-style mining operation at Yanrey. Cauldron head of operations Simons Youds said the resource upgrade had confirmed a substantial new high-grade uranium district at Yanrey. “The majority of this large region, perspective for uranium deposits, is controlled by Cauldron,” he said. “This, and the fact that the strike extensions of what we...

WITH its Spinifex Ridge molybdenum-copper project yet to get off the ground, dual-listed resources company Moly Mines has turned its focus to the adjacent Spinifex Ridge iron ore project. The discovery of iron ore just 500m from the company’s molybdenum deposit in WA’s Pilbara region was described by Moly’s former managing director Derek Fisher as a “happy accident”: one that has allowed the company to maintain a strong financial position in challenging times for the resources sector. Molybdenum-copper project In 2008, Moly was on the verge of developing its Spinifex Ridge molybdenum-copper project, 50km northeast of Marble Bar. The company planned to construct and operate a 20 million tonne per annum open pit mine and processing plant, but later scaled...

MUTINY Gold has obtained financial backing from a North American investor that will enable the Perth-based miner to develop its Deflector copper-gold deposit into a project in WA. The company is in the final stages of negotiation for the US$2 million share placement, but noted in a statement filed with the ASX that its suitor wished to remain anonymous. “We have had, and continue to have, strong support from the parties negotiating to provide funding for the Deflector project,” Mutiny managing director John Greeve said. “These negotiations are now entering the final stages and completion will be a key milestone for the company in the development of this project.” The placement was structured as a convertible loan, whereby the price...

AN innovative new map series has been released by RACAD Cartography that covers the major Queensland and NSW coal basins and Northern Queensland’s potential uranium deposits, including the Mount Isa Inlier. The map series is updated monthly and includes operating mines, advanced projects and exploration tenements with existing and proposed infrastructure such as rail and ports. Although formatted to be displayed as a wall map, the series is a PDF easily kept on a user’s computer desktop so it can be accessed in an instant with no site login or clumsy web interfaces. Each sheet is a layered, searchable PDF at a scale that allows users to locate specific leases and their relationship to existing mines and infrastructure. Users can...

Kalgoorlie is the premier gold producing region of Australia, with a long history of mining and discovery of substantial gold deposits. The region’s ‘golden mile’ has produced more than 50 million ounces of gold alone, and KCGM’s Super Pit continues to generate about 800,000oz of gold each year. The Aphrodite gold project, 65km north of Kalgoorlie in the Eastern Goldfields region, consists of five granted mining leases as well as adjacent areas subject to a farm-in agreement. The project lies close to key infrastructure – including a major gas pipeline, road, rail and an airport – and is about 350km south of Esperance Port. Aphrodite Gold acquired the project from Apex Minerals in November 2009 for $7.2 million in cash...

THE Goldfields Mining Expo (GME) bills itself as the premier trade event for the mining industry in WA, and the biennial exhibition continues to grow. This year, along with the display of goods and services visitors have come to expect, GME will focus on employee satisfaction as the mining industry continues to struggle with skills shortages. The agenda includes a recruitment day and programs designed for the mining community, specifically women and families, as GME looks at ways to attract and retain workers in mining. The event is set to run from  October 30 through to November 1 at the Kalgoorlie Boulder Racecourse. Admission to the expo is free. It drew more 3000 visitors in 2010, attracting people from all...

THE last two years have been largely favourable for Perth-based Grange Resources, with the miner going from strength to strength in terms of production and revenue. Grange’s business centres on the extraction of magnetite iron ore from its Savage River mine in Tasmania and the production of pelletised iron ore at its associated plant. However, the company is now in the process of developing a second iron ore mine – Southdown, near Albany in WA – which is anticipated to be about four times the size of the Savage River operation. On top of its recent successes Grange has also acquired a new chief executive and managing director, Richard Mehan, who has worked in the industry for more than 30...

DESPITE potential softening in the resources market, Centennial Coal has been on a buying spree of rolling stock during the past year. The NSW-based company, acquired by Thailand’s Banpu two years ago, is also continuing with expansion at a number of its mine sites. Centennial, which supplies domestic and overseas markets, has grown to fuel about 40 per cent of NSW’s coal-fired electricity generating capacity, according to the company. It owns seven underground and open-pit mines outright, and operates four others under joint venture agreements in the north and west of NSW. The miner has a total annual production capacity of more than 19 million tonnes of thermal and coking coal. In the past 13 months, Centennial has bought a...

As part of the Aditya Birla Group and backed by Indian metals powerhouse Hindalco, Aditya Birla Minerals enjoys a strong position in the Australian copper market. Established in 2003, Aditya Birla swiftly acquired the Nifty operation in WA and the Mt Gordon operation in Queensland. Since then, the company has turned around the fortunes of these projects, resulting in improved operational efficiency and increased production. This year, both Nifty and Mt Gordon continue to enjoy average month-on-month increases in ore production and operational performance. As for many miners, the 2011 to 2012 financial year was a combination of high points and challenges for Aditya Birla. Even though the company enjoyed slightly higher average copper prices in US dollar terms than...

SUPPLYING a large proportion of the world’s metallurgical coal demand, Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT), 38km south of Mackay in Central Queensland, is Australia’s second-largest bulk export coal terminal. Following the completion in 2009 of the terminal’s 7X expansion, DBCT has a nameplate capacity of 85 million tonnes per annum. It exports primarily hard coking coal from Queensland’s Bowen Basin, in addition to smaller amounts of pulverised coal injection (PCI) and thermal coal. The terminal’s key international markets are Asia, Europe and Brazil, with a significant amount of coal destined for Japan, Korea, China and India. DBCT has the capacity to accommodate about 770 ships every year, each carrying an average of 110,000t of cargo. The terminal is owned by...

SINCE listing on the ASX in 2005, Australian metallurgic coal producer Cockatoo Coal has made the transformation from a junior explorer to an emerging coal producer and is pushing ahead with plans to further establish itself as a significant, independent coal company in coming years. Despite widespread flooding affecting operational performance in 2011, Cockatoo achieved record production levels at its flagship Baralaba coal mine in Queensland. For the year ending June 30, 2012, 600,171t of coal was produced at the Bowen Basin pulverised coal injection (PCI) mine: a significant increase from the same period a year earlier, when coal production was just 181,081t. Achieving a record profit before tax of $22.1 million including a $13.3 million gross profit from coal...