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A global challenge has been launched by three of the world’s largest mining companies for technology innovators to develop concepts for new large-scale haul truck electrification systems to reduce the time required to charge large trucks and increase overall productivity. BHP, Rio Tinto and Vale, the founding patrons of the Charge On Innovation Challenge, together with Austmine, Australia’s Mining Equipment, Technology and Services (METS) industry body, are looking for innovations to deliver electricity to large battery-electric haul trucks quickly and efficiently. The mining industry requires multi-megawatt scale fast-charging concepts capable of delivering around 400kWh to charge and propel a truck within the truck’s haul cycle of load, travel, dump, return and queue. BHP Minerals Australia president Edgar Basto says he…

With Asia-Pacific being the fastest growing silica sand market globally, a WA company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to supply high-grade silica to a Chinese manufacturer from its flagship project near Geraldton WA. Perpetual Resources Limited (ASX: PEC) has signed an MOU with Guangdong Qinyin New Material Technology Co., Ltd, (Qinyin), covering indicative interest by the China-based company to purchase 400,000tpa of high grade silica from the Beharra Project, which is 96km south of Geraldton, WA, and 300km north of the capital city Perth. Perpetual executive chairman Julian Babarczy said the company is pleased to be entering discussions with Qinyin regarding potential offtake for Beharra. “Qinyin represents such a well-positioned and active participant in the silica sand and…

A QUIET PLACE 2 (John Krasinski, Emily Blunt) A Quiet Place Part II is quite literally a sequel, picking up directly where its preceding chapter left off, extrapolating on the first instalment’s cliffhanger ending, which had resilient  mother Evelyn Abbott (Blunt) killing off inhuman attackers who were threatening her and her kids Regan and Marcus. But there’s a prelude before the story continues, in which the viewer is taken back to the very moment the Abbott clan witnessed first-hand the horrific experience that would forever disrupt and change their lives. Via the flashback, we see how the Abbotts reacted to Earth’s new apex predator – blind, emaciated beings with chitinous armour and an acute sense of hearing – and provides…

Canadian-based First Quantum Minerals Ltd (FQML) is one of the world’s leading copper producers, exporting to customers worldwide. While its focus is on copper, FQML also produces nickel, gold, magnetite, zinc, and other by-products. The company operates mines in several countries and employs around 20,000 people world-wide. With its history dating back to the mid-1990s in Africa, the company has steadily grown, largely through project development and acquisition. In 2010, FQML made four acquisitions, which included Trident/Sentinel in Zambia and Ravensthorpe Nickel in WA. Following a corporate acquisition in 2013, First Quantum assumed an 80% equity interest in the Panamanian company that holds the Cobre Panama concession. Since then it has increased its interest to 90%. Spanish for ‘Panama Copper’,…

On 65 Roses Day, send your loved ones a rose from the mines, and it will be helping people with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) at the same time. CF is a rare recessive genetic disorder that causes severe damage to the lungs, digestive system and other organs in the body, and for which there is currently no cure. On 65 Roses Day, Friday, May 28, you can make a real difference to those living with the disease. A typical 65 Roses Day sees the streets flooded with red roses being sold by volunteers, but COVID-19 put a stop to that last year and saw the introduction of a virtual rose. Virtual roses mean every West Aussie, no matter how remote, can…

The Federal Government is investing $20m in a new strategy to diversity exports and find new markets for Australia’s resources and technology. This comes a day after the announcement of an additional $190m in a new five-year “Our North, Our Future: 2021-2026” plan to grow jobs, digital connectivity and businesses throughout Australia’s north, as well as a further $100m to extend the Junior Minerals Exploration Inventive (JMEI) for four more years. The Global Resources Strategy, launched by Federal Resources, Water and Norther Territory Minister Keith Pitt in Townsville, aims to secure long-term benefits for the sectors and the Australian economy. Federal Resources, Water and Northern Australia Minister Keith Pitt said the strategy will help Australia build resilience to trade shocks…

A subsidiary of Lithium Australia (ASX: LIT) has received Dangerous Goods approvals, in an Australian first, for its 6kg and 12kg boxes to collect and transport mixed batteries for recycling. Envirostream Australia designed and received approval of its packages in in anticipation of the Australian Battery Stewardship Council’s (BSC) collection and recycling scheme launch in January 2022. The scheme, which the Australian BSC secured $1m in Federal Government and industry funding for, also details a national network of drop off options. Envirostream managing editor Andrew Mackenzie says the scheme is vital to improving Australia’s battery recycling rates, which currently sits at a low 10% compared to other countries. “We’re developing mixed-battery collection systems designed for convenience and approved for safety…

Australian has found alternative markets for coal and copper to fill the void left by Chinese trade sanctions, according to a new report by the Lowy Institute. The mining industry was bracing for a double whammy when China’s trade war with Australia started hitting the headlines just a couple months after the pandemic struck. Exports of coal, copper, barley, beef, cotton, seafood, sugar, timber and wine to China were worth roughly $25 billion in 2019. Based on the three months to January 2021, the value of these exports had plummeted to about $5.5 billion a year. However, an analysis by Lowy Institute chief economist Roland Rajah concluded the trade spat had not cost Australia the $19.5 billion gap between the…

Queensland Resources Minister Scott Stewart announced today the state’s fifth consecutive round of funding to support exploration. The funding, administered through the Collaboration Exploration Initiative (CEI), aims to support Queensland’s resource exploration companies by providing grants to encourage exploration, particularly in frontier and greenfield areas. Queensland Exploration Council chair Kim Wainwright says she expects competition to be strong, based on the response to previous rounds, and welcomes the latest round of $2.5m in funding for this CEI round. “The CEI has provided $10 million worth of funding to more than 190 explorers over the past 14 years,” she said. Ms Wainwright said Queensland’s CEI led to more than 50 significant mineral deposit discoveries in that time in under-explored areas of…

The EcoGraf (ASX: EGR) battery anode materials facility in WA and the Goschen zircon and rare earth minerals project in Victoria have been granted Major Project Status by the Federal Government. Announced in the last 24 hours, the projects are expected to create a total of more than 500 jobs during construction and close to a total of 400 new jobs during operations. In what is to be the first graphite processing plant outside China, EcoGraf will develop a processing facility to produce high purity spherical graphite for direct supply to battery anode manufacturers in Europe, Asia and America. This WA project supports the Federal Government’s Critical Minerals Strategy and WA’s Future Battery Industry Strategy and is estimated to create…

Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE) and Galaxy Resources Limited (ASX: GXY) have agreed to a proposed $4b merger of equals that would create the fifth largest lithium chemicals company in the world. The proposed merger will create a portfolio of assets across brine and hard rock in Canada, South America, Japan and Australia, with production capacity around 40,000tpa LCE (lithium carbonate equivalent), as well as vertical integration across the supply chain. A new name for the merged is yet to be determined, with the group’s head office in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a corporate headquarters on the Australian east coast and an office in Perth. Galaxy chairman Martin Rowley says the transaction has the potential to provide significant value for Galaxy and…