Category: Legacy

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…

SPANNING more than 7 million square kilometres, Australia is famous for its remoteness: 18 per cent of the country is classified as arid desert, and a further 44 per cent is classified as dry grassland. Australia is highly urbanised, with the majority of the population settled within the more temperate climates of the southeast and southwest coasts. In recent years however, Australia’s populace has become more rural, with people moving to the previously less-inhabited areas of the red centre and far north to live and work. This interesting migration pattern is thought to owe particularly – perhaps exclusively – to the rise of the resources industry. Resources and regional Australia The resources industry is recognised for its intrinsically hazardous nature:…

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…

A new x-ray technique developed by the CSIRO could save the Australian gold mining industry hundreds of millions of dollars each year, by detecting gold that would otherwise go unseen. The technique uses powerful x-rays to rapidly and accurately detect small amounts of gold in ore samples and is much more effective than traditional chemical analysis methods. The CSIRO, together with Canadian electron accelerator and manufacturer Mevex, undertook a pilot study on the use of gamma-activation analysis (GAA). The technique involves scanning mineral samples – typically weighing about 500 grams – using high-energy x-rays similar to those used in medical imaging. The x-rays activate any gold in the sample, and the activation is then picked up using a sensitive detector.…