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More than 5,500 jobs as Queensland fast-tracks 2 Townsville-Mount Isa projects The Queensland Government has declared two major projects in the Townsville-Mount Isa Corridor, both with the potential for more than 5,500 jobs, as “prescribed projects”, allowing the State’s Coordinator-General to fast-track them with local governments and regulators. Project Green Poly will create one of Australia’s first integrated mine-to-manufacturing polysilicon supply chains, with the $7.8b investment expected to create 4,400 jobs around Townsville during construction and operation of a facility that will run for 30 years or more. The Eva copper mine project near Mt Isa and Cloncurry will add a new stream of copper mining and smelting, boosting local supply for solar, wind and battery energy manufacturing. The mine...

Significant nickel anomaly defined at Mt Sholl A significant nickel anomaly has been defined at Raiden Resources’ (ASX: RDN) Mt Sholl project in the Pilbara region of WA. First Quantum Minerals carried out an infill soil sampling program over the northern parts of Mt Sholl where previous work defined broad nickel in soil anomalism. Raiden and First Quantum has a memorandum of understanding, with First Quantum sole funding all the base metal related activities at Mt Sholl. This sampling defined a very high-grade nickel in soil anomaly that extends over several kilometres along a west-northwest trending corridor. A peak value of 1770ppm nickel was encountered with multiple...

Fortescue’s electric excavator reaches 1mt milestone Fortescue’s (ASX: FMG) recently deployed electric excavator has moved 1mt of material since it became operational three months ago. In December 2023, the excavator was deployed at Fortescue’s Cloudbreak mine in WA and since then, it has been running at partial capacity while the site team familiarised themselves with the new machine. Now operating at full speed, its performance continues to steadily improve with the excavator performing better than its diesel equivalent, at times. The site team will now focus on ensuring a consistent performance. Fortescue chief executive Dino Otranto says this is an exciting milestone for the company. “This is such an exciting...

Develop edges closer to production restart at Woodlawn Develop (ASX: DVP) has taken a key step towards securing project funding and production restart at its Woodlawn mine in NSW. After acquiring Woodlawn in mid-2022, Develop begun an aggressive exploration and infill drilling program to extend the mineralised lenses at depth and along strike, convert the inferred resources to indicated and drill test electromagnetic conductors. This work resulted in the addition of 4mt of resources, including a further 60,000t of copper and 235kt of zinc metal. Woodlawn now has a mineral resource estimate of 11.3mt at 1.8% copper, 5.8% zinc, 2.1%...

Newly-listed Litchfield Minerals well underway with Silver King drilling prep   Critical minerals explorer Litchfield Minerals Limited (ASX:LMS) has announced that preparations for its maiden drilling program are well underway at the Silver King prospect within the Mount Doreen tenement, about 350km from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. This significant step follows the company's successful listing on the ASX on March 15 and marks the commencement of its planned drilling and exploration program, targeting notable copper, silver, and lead occurrences. In a recent development, the maiden Induced Polarisation (IP) survey conducted in May 2023 has delineated a discrete, strong chargeable zone near the historic copper workings. This finding suggests a potential vertical, pipe-like structure that could extend to significant...

Collinsville ready to ride as community ‘pump’ bike track build date announced Collinsville in Queensland will be “pumping” thanks to Bowen Rail Company and construction of a new $300,000 bike track for local bike riders, scooter enthusiasts, and skateboarders. Whitsunday Regional Council has announced that works on the Darcy Munro Park Pump Track will begin on 2 April, with stage one of the four-stage circuit expected to be ready for locals young and old to showcase their riding, cornering, and jumping skills by early May. Bowen Rail Company has fully-funded the first stage of the bike track, which is a circuit designed for users to apply a...

BCI Minerals signs offtake agreement with Chandra Asri BCI Minerals (ASX: BCI) has signed a binding offtake agreement for the supply of salt from the Mardie salt and potash project on the West Pilbara coast in WA. Over the next three years, BCI will supply Mardie salt to a subsidiary of Indonesian-based PT Chandra Asri Pacific Tbk. Subject to certain conditions being met, Chandra Asri has the right to extend the term for a further three years. In year one, BCI will supply 300kt of salt, with this figure increasing to 600kt in years two and...

FMG completes world first use of ammonia as marine fuel Fortescue (ASX: FMG) has completed the world’s first use of ammonia, in combination with diesel in the combustion process, as a marine fuel onboard the Fortescue Green Pioneer, in the Port of Singapore. The vessel was loaded with liquid ammonia at Vopak Banyan Terminal on Jurong Island for the trial. In completing this trial, the Fortescue Green Pioneer has received approval from the Singapore Registry of Ships and ‘Gas Fueled Ammonia’ notation by classification society DNV to use ammonia, in combination with diesel, as a marine fuel. The Fortescue Green Pioneer began its journey toward...

Approval received for Port of Brisbane hydrogen hub Lion Energy (ASX: LIO) has obtained approval from the Queensland State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA) for its Port of Brisbane hydrogen hub. This facility will be able to generate and dispense green hydrogen and load compressed hydrogen onto tube trailers for transport to other sites and depots. The hydrogen hub is geared towards heavy mobility fleets with an early focus on supplying hydrogen to domestic public bus fleets, truck fleets and fuel cell gensets for the mining and construction industries. This approval represents a key milestone for the project which can now proceed to the construction...

SMEs to unlock critical minerals potential with CSIRO R&D program Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in the critical minerals industry have been invited to apply for a research and development (R&D) program. Created by CSIRO, the Innovate to Grow program helps SMEs acquire valuable business insights and strategic plans to leverage R&D to meet their business needs. The program is sponsored by the Australian Critical Minerals Research and Development Hub, a collaboration between CSIRO, Geoscience Australia and ANSTO. Australian Critical Minerals Research and Development Hub manager Lucy O’Connor says SMEs play an important...

South Australian mining exports increased to more than $5b in 2023 Mineral and petroleum exports have increased by 14.3% to more than $5b in 2023, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Of the $17.9b in exports recorded in 2023, the resources sector contributed $5b, however, this doesn’t include an additional $2b in confidential energy and mineral goods. More than $3b came from iron and steel, refined copper and lead — highlighting the significance of the energy and mining sectors driving South Australia’s export growth. Furthermore, iron ore exports reached almost $1.2b for the year. South Australian Energy and Mining Minister Tom Koutsantonis...