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WA’s mining and resources sector gathered in early March to celebrate the power of gender diversity, with the 12th annual Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA’s (CME) Women In Resources Awards. A crowd of almost 1000 people gathered at the Perth Exhibition and Convention Centre to see five inspiring women recognised in the individual award categories. CME Chief Executive, Paul Everingham, paid tribute to the winners and their inspirational stories. “These women reflect the enormous value that diversity and inclusion provide to our sector,” he said. “Some are currently in leadership positions and some will progress to those types of roles. But each is already an outstanding role model for the tens of thousands of women who work each…

Ongoing support by Australian business for regional small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic and through recovery will be the focus of the next phase of the MCA’s There’s more to Australian mining campaign launched nationally this month. The campaign ads filmed in and around Orange, NSW, earlier this year feature a café/general store, family start-up business, wedding reception and accommodation provider and a smallgoods manufacturer telling their stories of how support from mining provided an important boost after their businesses were hit hard by COVID-19. The ads feature one of many community support programs funded by MCA member companies to retain local jobs and back local communities during the pandemic. Every day the minerals industry supports communities from Weipa to…

IGO is selling its 30% stake in the Tropicana gold mine to Regis Resources so it can focus on commodities that align with its clean energy strategy. The $903 million deal will allow IGO to focus on battery metals, while Regis will inherit a Tier 1 gold asset and a ”world class” joint venture partner in AngloGold Ashanti. Located 330km northeast of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, Tropicana is Australia’s fifth largest gold mine, producing 463,000 ounces of gold in the 2019-2020 financial year. IGO (ASX: IGO) managing director and chief executive Peter Bradford said Tropicana had been an important part of IGO’s history and a key driver of its sustained growth since its discovery in 2005. “While IGO continues to…

Wiluna Mining (ASX: WMX) has extended Contract Power Group’s (CPG) supply contract at its Wiluna operation by 10 years to supply power at the minesite until 2031. The contract extension will meet the needs of the operation’s Stage 1 Sulphide Project by providing a total of 14.1MW of power output, incorporate the reconfiguration of the on-site power station to increase gas generation and the addition of a 2.0MW battery energy storage unit to reduce diesel usage and reliance. CPG has provided Wiluna’s power since June 2016, with electrical power historically derived from natural gas with diesel backup. Wiluna Mining’s executive chair Milan Jerkovic said the company is excited about strengthening its operations by generating electricity with greater efficiency. “Our operational…

Vanadium explorer and developer QEM (ASX: QEM) has engaged global independent energy expert DNV to progress studies into green hydrogen opportunities at its flagship project Julia Creek in northwest Queensland. DNV has commenced a pre-feasibility study (PFS) into solar and wind farms at the 100%-owned vanadium and oil shale project, covering mapping, modelling, preliminary solar photovoltaic (solar PV system design) and layout. QEM managing director Gavin Loyden said the company is proactively progressing its green hydrogen strategy. “Engaging DNV demonstrates that we are swiftly laying the foundations for green hydrogen opportunities at Julia Creek,” he said. “The Julia Creek site receives significant sun exposure and DNV has already noted that the site is substantially flat, which bodes well for installation…

Rio Tinto has awarded Mineral Resources’ subsidiary CSI Mining Services a contract at the Brockman 2 iron ore mine in the Pilbara, WA, generating about 150 jobs to carry out load and haul, drill and blast and short-term mine planning activities for the site. The scope involves scheduling, drilling, blasting and excavating 27mt of waste rock and iron ore over nine-months with a fleet of large-scale mining equipment, developing the Lens A/B pit for Rio Tinto. Mineral Resources chief executive mining services Mike Grey says the company is delighted to have been invited by Rio Tinto to support at another of its iron ore mines. “Our relationship with Rio Tinto dates back 16 years,” he said. “Since then, we have…

Resources Minister Keith Pitt has slammed calls for two major superannuation funds, QSuper and Sunsuper, to abandon coal, saying if that happened, it would deprive hundreds of thousands of members of a good investment option. Mr Pitt said the Australian Conservation Council is using a tiny minority of the funds’ members to push its activist agenda. “The Conservation Council says around 200 members have written to the funds calling on them to stop investing in coal, which is about 0.01 per cent of QSuper and Sunsuper’s combined membership,” he said. “To deprive more than 1.88 million other members of solid investment returns on the whim of a relative few and the ideological motives of the Conservation Council is farcical. “The…

WA-focused gold developer and explorer Bellevue Gold and Australia-focused precious and base metals explorer Chalice Mining are the recipients of the coveted Craig Oliver Award, presented on the first day of the 20th RIU Explorers Conference. The Award – which is in memory of Craig Oliver, the former Sundance Resources director and major contributor to the mining industry – recognises the ASX resource sector’s best all-round achievers throughout the year. In accepting the award, in front of a packed ballroom at The Esplanade Hotel in Fremantle, Bellevue Gold managing director Steve Parsons said he was proud of Bellevue for its efforts over the past 12 months. “It’s a great project but it’s got great people as well and it’s the…

St Barbara has appointed Macmahon Holdings as the underground mining contractor at the Gwalia mine at Leonora in WA. The initial contract term is five years, with an option for St Barbara to extend for a further three-year period. According to St Barbara Managing Director and CEO Craig Jetson, the appointment of Macmahon brings an opportunity to enhance the performance of the Gwalia mine. “This change is indicative of St Barbara’s determination to enliven Gwalia’s future, to safely and sustainably rebuild operational performance and to secure future investment by delivering predictable and strong financial returns,” he said. “We would like to thank Byrnecut for their service over the past seven years and look forward to an orderly and effective transition.…

Time is running out to put forward exceptional members of the community for this year’s Western Australian of the Year Awards, with nominations closing on Friday, February 26. The 2021 Awards will be particularly special, celebrating the achievements of Western Australians over the past two years and raising the calibre of the Awards even higher. Celebrate WA was forced to cancel the 2020 celebrations in order to play their part in the fight against COVID-19, but the Board is confident the 2021 Awards will take place, with final decisions on the nature of the Awards ceremony to be made in line with the most up to date advice from the State Government. In the period since the 2019 Awards many…

They are a fluke of nature and the ultimate in luxury, made in Australia. Discovered in a dusty creek bed in WA, today Argyle diamonds can be found every place diamonds are loved – sparkling in jewellery store windows to royal palaces to weddings to prized collections. Rio Tinto geologist Murray says while it’s hard enough to find a diamond deposit, getting a treasure trove of pink, red, blue, violet, champagne and cognac diamonds is “really something else”. “What we discovered at Argyle was an entirely new specimen of diamond,” he said. “It changed diamond markets forever and showed coloured gems in a whole new light – not just the famous Argyle pinks, which represented less than 1% of production,…