Category: Headline

AS one of the oldest and largest private sector coal companies in the world, Peabody Energy has experienced it all; from world wars and depressions to global financial crises. The US company has come a long way since the 1880s, when Francis S. Peabody used his cart and two mules to deliver coal from established mines to homes and small businesses throughout Chicago. With 9 billion tonnes of proven and probable coal reserves, Peabody has a considerable global presence servicing 30 countries across six continents. In 2012 alone, the company sold 248.5 million tonnes of coal to electricity and industrial plants worldwide. Despite a $430 million loss from reduced pricing, Peabody was able to increase its Australian sales volumes by…

BELEAGUERED junior Reed Resources is flagging a move away from gold after a resource estimate confirmed its Barrambie project was one of the world’s highest grade titanium deposits. Just weeks after Reed was forced to close its gold mine in WA’s Murchison region, the company announced a total indicated and inferred resource for Barrambie of 47.2 million tonnes grading 22.2 per cent titanium, 0.63 per cent vanadium and 46.7 per cent iron oxide. The company stated that Barrambie – south of Meekatharra in WA – was the world’s second highest grade hard-rock titanium deposit. The estimate included assay results from 782 reverse circulation and 36 diamond holes drilled by Reed between 2007 and 2008. Barrambie was modelled to about 60m…

WA miner Phoenix Gold looks set to make a tidy profit from its Blue Funnel gold mine as the project continues to progress on schedule. Ore processing has begun under a toll milling agreement with FMR Investments at its Greenfields Mill in Coolgardie. If the project continues to meet expectations, the total cash flow from the mine will be more than $3 million, based on the conservative gold price of $1350 per ounce. Stage one of the project is expected to recover 85,800t at 3.52 grams per tonne of gold. With the project requiring relatively small start-up and cash costs of $981/oz of gold recovered, Phoenix should make a healthy profit, which managing director Jon Price said would help in…

QUEENSLAND’S newest metallurgical coal mine has opened four months ahead of schedule and about US$250 million under budget. BHP Billiton Coal president Dean Dalla Valle was joined by Queensland Premier Campbell Newman and joint venture partner Mitsubishi to open its US$1.4 billion, 4.5 million tonne per annum Daunia coal mine in central Queensland. Construction of the Daunia mine started in 2011 and was completed in July. Mr Dalla Valle said the continued ramp up of Daunia and scheduled commissioning of the Caval Ridge mine – due for completion next year – would increase the capacity of BHP’s Queensland coal business to 66mtpa by the end of 2014. The company had received more than 30,000 applications for about 900 positions at…

BHP Billiton’s Pilbara-based rail drivers have rejected a three-year pay offer after union demands for pay rises, cheap rent, and extra annual leave were not met. The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), which had substantially strengthened its presence in the Pilbara in the past year, said the offer was turned down by about 60 per cent of the 350 workers because BHP had not assured annual pay rises of between 4 and 5 per cent. Negotiations were set to resume in the coming weeks. BHP initiated talks with the CFMEU in May last year, following the union’s landmark 2011 win, which allowed it to bargain on behalf of workers at the miner’s Pilbara operations. As of August, the…

THE Roy Hill iron ore project is on schedule to start production next year and begin exporting in the third quarter 2015, according to project director Sanjiv Manchanda. Business News reported that although the project still needed to secure its debt funding, Mr Manchanda had declined to elaborate; instead outlining the progress achieved on the $10 billion project. “The centre line for the rail has been cleared, dredging has been completed at Port Hedland, and the dedicated airstrip at the mine site – which is the longest in the Pilbara and capable of handling 737 aircraft – is complete and operational,” he said. Mr Manchanda said the four rail camps of 300 rooms each were operational, and the 2000-room mine…

PRIME Minister-elect Tony Abbott has restated Australia is “open for business”, as the Coalition prepares to kick off a swathe of business-friendly reforms. Likely finance minister Andrew Robb said the Abbott Government would also “reboot” the mining boom and boost jobs “massively” by kick-starting mining investment. “Under Labor, it was finished because of the cost (and) uncompetitiveness that we’ve now got,” Mr Robb said. “We will change that.” Mr Abbott promised to introduce legislation in Parliament to scrap the mining and carbon taxes within 100 days of being elected, which Australian Minerals Council chief executive Mitchell Hooke labelled “a positive first step”. Mr Hooke also lauded the Coalition’s plan to streamline environmental approvals through a “one stop shop”. “The industry…

JUST three years after listing on the ASX, copper and gold explorer Horseshoe Metals is galloping towards success, following a 40 per cent increase in the copper resource for its flagship Horseshoe Lights project. The resources were added to the mineral resource estimate for the Kumarina project, established in and March, the company now boasts an overall copper metal inventory of 148,000t within WA’s highly prospective Peak Hill Mineral Field. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary Murchison Copper Mines, Horseshoe Metals holds a 100 per cent interest in both Horseshoe lights and Kumarina, which cover 297.1 square kilometres of mining tenements north of Meekatharra. Horseshoe Lights The Horseshoe Lights project comprises 16 tenements across 79.98sqkm. The deposit was discovered in 1946 an…

WHILE not a traditional mining powerhouse like its neighbouring states, the Northern Territory has become a significant contributor to the Australian economy. Despite Australia’s well-publicised mining downturn, the Territory continues to post constant growth in the sector. The Frasier Institute recently surveyed hundreds of mining-related companies around the world and ranked the NT above traditional mining heavyweight WA for the best area in which to mine and invest. The importance of mining in the NT cannot be overstated: the sector was the largest economic contributor in 2012, injecting $2.5 billion into the local economy. The minerals and energy sector contributes 20 per cent of the gross state product and directly employs 5000 people. Minerals Council of Australia NT executive director…

WORKERS at Northparkes gold and copper mine have been reassured of their jobs by new owner China Molybdenum, after it purchased Rio Tinto’s 80 per cent stake in the operation for US$820 million. The deal – which still has to be ratified by shareholders and regulators – is the company’s first foray into copper, however Rio Tinto chief financial officer Chris Lynch said it would give the NSW mine a strong future. “The sale of Northparkes represents great value for our shareholders and demonstrates our continued focus and discipline in the way we allocate capital across the group,” Mr Lynch said. “Northparkes is a successful business but is not of sufficient size to be a good fit with our strategy.…

FORTY years after its closure, the Rum Jungle uranium mine continues to plague the Northern Territory with disagreements about responsibility causing cleanup delays. The Commonwealth Government has taken over the site’s rehabilitation and allocated $14 million to speed up the process – on top of the initial $8.3 million spent since 2009 – to be spent across the next three years. “The work undertaken over the past four years to develop a conceptual rehabilitation plan for Rum Jungle is detailed in the Northern Territory Government report, Former Rum Jungle Mine Site Conceptual Rehabilitation Plan,” Federal Resources and Energy minister Gary Gray said. “It is our intention to create a landscape that is safe for people and wildlife and significantly reduces…