Category: Legacy

WA-based gold exploration and development company Excelsior Gold has certainly lived up to its name – ‘excelsior’ being Latin for ‘ever upward’ – as it moves rapidly to re-establish operations at its exciting Kalgoorlie North gold project in the WA goldfields, about 45km north of Kalgoorlie. The project covers granted mining and prospecting leases across 25km of the Bardoc Tectonic Zone greenstone belt. Historic production from the Bardoc mining centre, in the central part of Excelsior Gold’s tenements, occurred at the underground Zoroastrian mine between the late 1890s and early 1900s, and at the Excelsior and Zoroastrian open pits between 1987 and 1991. Excelsior Gold managing director David Hamlyn said that when the company acquired the project in 2009, it…

ADELAIDE-based exploration company Quasar Resources has announced it will resume development at the Four Mile uranium project in South Australia despite a key shareholder voting against the proposed start-up plan. Quasar, which holds a 75 per cent interest in the project, voted in favour of a 16-month program that will see in-situ recovery mining operations begin at the prospect in the second quarter of 2013, with first uranium sales scheduled for the third quarter. As part of the plan, uranium capture and processing will take place at facilities operated by Quasar affiliate Heathgate Resources, which owns the adjacent Beverly uranium mine. Alliance Resources, which owns the remaining 25 per cent interest in the Four Mile project, voted against the start-up…

WHITEHAVEN Coal has received approval from the NSW Planning Assessment Commission for its Maules Creek project and intends to go into production “as soon as possible”, the company announced. On the same day, the miner revealed plans to indefinitely suspend its operations at another Gunnedah Basin project, Sunnyside, citing lower coal prices as a major factor behind the move. Whitehaven managing director Tony Haggarty said he welcomed the Commission’s decision but noted that the project still needed approval from the federal Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water Population and Communities. “The Maules Creek project is one of the best coal development projects in the world, with a large reserve of high-quality coal, a low stripping ratio of 6.4:1, relatively low capital…

INVICTUS Gold has announced a two-for-one  renounceable rights issue at $0.04 per share, undertaken to raise $2.88 million for exploration at two projects and to fund the acquisition of a third. The company’s largest shareholder, Impact Minerals, has committed to taking up its entitlement of $1.28 million worth of shares and agreed to underwrite the balance of the  for up to $1.6 million, subject to its own capital raising. Turkey is the focus of much of the fundraising. According to a news release from Invictus, the company intended to further explore and drill its Himmetdede South project in the country. The 7 square kilometre prospect, 50km north of Kayseri, is adjacent to the Himmetdede deposit owned by Turkish company Koza…

AS the world’s more accessible copper deposits become depleted, miners are turning to block cave mining: a highly-productive, low-cost underground method by which deep copper deposits are carefully collapsed under their own weight. While this comparatively new technique is expected to become the most widespread form of copper mining by 2020, the Northparkes gold and copper operation – a joint venture between Rio Tinto (80 per cent) and Sumitomo (20 per cent) – trailblazed block caving in Australia more than 15 years ago. Northparkes is one of Rio Tinto’s smallest copper operations, but its importance to the future of efficient and sustainable underground copper mining outweighs its size. The company has continued to refine and develop its block caving process,…

BOASTING large-scale operations in Australia and Brazil, BHP Billiton remains one of the world’s leading iron ore producers. The company’s principal Australian operations are based in the Pilbara region of northern WA and comprise a complex integrated system of` seven inland mining operations (Jimblebar, Area C, Mt Whaleback, Ore Body 18, Ore Body 24, Yandi, and Yarrie, all 85 per cent owned by BHP). More than 1000km of rail connects these operations to stockyards and two separate port facilities at Port Hedland. BHP Billiton had a strong half year ending December 2011 and it reported record iron ore production in WA as one of the major catalysts for the increase. The commodity earned the company US$12.149 billion for the 2011…

NESTLED in the heart of the Peruvian mountains more than 2400m above sea level is one of the world’s most famous archaeological sites. Built by the Incas in 1450, Machu Picchu, 80km northwest of Cusco on the eastern slope of the Andes, is a creation of ancient, awe-inspiring stone ruins, surrounded by Amazonian jungle. For centuries the ‘lost city’ of Machu Picchu which sits high above the Urubamba River, remained undiscovered and hidden from the world, with only a few locals privy to its existence. It wasn’t until 1911 that American explorer Hiram Bingham stumbled upon the ruins during a South American expedition. Yet the history of Machu Picchu remains vague. Some researchers believe that the pre-Columbian site was built…

MINING security bonds were introduced in WA in the late 1980s as insurance against companies not adequately rehabilitating mine sites. As the bonds covered only a fraction of mine rehabilitation costs, successive WA Governments were forced to contribute the majority of funds; an unsustainable model, as mining interests in the state continue to soar. Under new State Government legislation announced by WA Mines minister Norman Moore on August 15, the innovative Mining Rehabilitation Fund (MRF) will be established in place of the bonds system. Under the MRF, mining companies will pay a predetermined amount each year into a pooled fund instead of the entire bond amount up front. Mr Moore said the State Government recognised the current bond system needed…

ESTABLISHED to manage one of China’s largest investments in Australian resources, CITIC Pacific Mining (CPM) is headquartered in Perth. A subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed CITIC Pacific Limited, the largest special steelmaker in China, the company is developing the Sino Iron project in WA: the largest magnetite mining and processing operation under construction in Australia. The CPM website stated that the project at Cape Preston, 100km southwest of Karratha, would add value WA’s economy through significant downstream processing, employment, community benefits and international technology transfer, while balancing social and environmental considerations. Once the project is completed, CPM will become the first Chinese-owned mining company to ship iron ore products from WA to China. “The Sino Iron project is a result of…

ACCORDING to the Australasian Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health (ACRRMH), mental health problems in the mining and resource sector cost Australia $221 million annually in lost productivity and workforce participation. That figure is based on a current direct workforce of about 250,000 people, but if it were to include indirect employees within the sector – which brings the workforce to about 1 million – the annual cost of mental illness rises to $885 million. ACRRMH chief executive Dr Jennifer Bowers said she believed the resources sector had failed to recognise mental health as a serious issue and the magnitude of associated costs. She said policies associated with the physical health and safety of employees working on remote mine…

WHEN a major gold mine in WA experienced problems with its conveyor belt system, which was in danger of becoming unstable due to weak ground, Uretek Ground Engineering’s senior engineer Tom Bailey was called by the mine’s engineers to deliver a solution to the problem. With previous experience dealing with many similar problems at mines such as the Glennies Creek Hunter Valley coal mine, Mr Bailey knew how to achieve the best solution. The Uretek team first logged the precise depths and dimensions of the underground footings of the affected construction elements. The footings were massive: the slab holding the motor drive for the belt pulley system measured 25 metres by 12m and 1.5m deep, built onto 12m deep spoil…