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Construction of vanadium electrolyte manufacturing facility begins Construction of Australian Vanadium’s (ASX:AVL) vanadium electrolyte manufacturing facility in WA has begun. Australian Vanadium has appointed engineering group Primero Group, a subsidiary of NRW Holdings (ASX:NWH), to construct the facility with most long lead items now received. Further, experienced operations professional Simon Rough has been appointed to safely manage the facility through construction and into production. His extensive experience in vanadium processing and sulphuric acid production makes him a perfect fit to lead the team to successful production of high-quality electrolyte. The facility is designed to produce up to 33MWh per year of vanadium flow battery (VFB) high purity electrolyte. Australian Vanadium holds the...

Mining rehabilitation fund to undergo independent review Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston has announced an independent review of the Mining Rehabilitation Fund (MRF) to ensure it continues to meet its objectives and sufficient financial reserves are available. The MRF is used by the state government if a mine operator is unable to meet their rehabilitation obligations and the site is declared abandoned. Economic consultants Marsden Jacob Associates will undertake the review and consult with a wide range of stakeholders that completed an MRF evaluation in 2018. The Mining Rehabilitation Fund Act 2012 (MRF Act) was created to ensure the mining industry is financially responsible for restoring existing and...

Inaugural drill program completed at Wallaroo Inca Minerals (ASX:ICG) has completed its inaugural 10-hole reverse circulation drilling program at the Wallaroo prospect at the MaCauley Creek project in North Queensland. Drilling initially targeted a strong magnetic geophysical anomaly, spatially associated with outcropping copper mineralisation occurring as malachite and azurite. Drill collars for six of the holes were designed to target outcropping copper mineralisation. Limited visible copper was observed in the reverse circulation chips and logging of the drill chips has demonstrated that the strong magnetic anomaly which defines Wallaroo can be explained by the mass effect of a mafic intrusion. Although drilling initially targeted a strong magnetic anomaly with outcropping copper mineralisation,...

Next phase of exploration underway at Wolfe Basin to test rare earth elements The next phase of exploration is underway at Sipa Resources’ (ASX:SRI) Wolf Basin project to test a rare earth elements (REE) target area. Initial mapping and surface sampling has now been completed with a focus on peak thorium anomalies that are coincident with a magnetic anomaly. The historic drillhole CRA026 was also located and drill chips from this hole were collected. Examination in the field of the drill chips identified basement rocks in this location as a syenite. Syenites are felsic intrusive rocks that can be enriched in REEs and this is a likely source rock for the REEs observed...

Canada’s largest diamond producer, the Diavik mine, 100%-owned and operated by Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO), will build the largest solar power plant across the country’s territories, as the mining giant moves towards achieving net zero across its operations by 2050. With more than 6,600 solar panels generating about 4,200MW-hours of carbon-free electricity annually for the mine, the solar power plant will provide up to 25% of Diavik’s electricity during closure work that will run until 2029, with commercial production from the operation expected to end in early 2026. Diavik Diamond Mine president and chief operating officer Angela Bigg says she is delighted the mine will be significantly increasing its renewable power generation with the largest solar power plant in Canada’s...

First Nation Engineering celebrates first contract milestone First Nation Engineering Pty Ltd (FNE) is celebrating the completion of its first contract, providing engineering design and procurement services to Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) in relation to borefields expansions at Northern Star’s Thunderbox, Carosue Dam and KCGM Operations. FNE is a registered Supply Nation Indigenous business, an incorporated joint venture (JV) between a subsidiary of the Carey Group — Australia’s leading Aboriginal commercial enterprise, with over 27 years of project delivery excellence in the mining, civil and training industries — and CPC Engineering — which began in the Goldfields more than 50...

Operations begin at WA’s newest hybrid power facility Commissioning has been completed and operations have begun at Westgold Resources’ (ASX:WGX) first of four new hybrid power facilities across its WA operations. The new 17.9MW facility at Tuckabianna replaces the existing diesel fired power station and delivers a reduction of 15kt of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions and 10Ml of annual diesel fuel consumption. The Tuckabianna hybrid power facility incorporates a 6MW solar farm with 11,088 photovoltaic panels, a battery energy storage system with 2.4MW installed capacity and a 9.5MW gas-fuelled power station. In addition to this facility, a further three are being constructed at Bluebird, Big Bell and...

Polymetals receives $500k grant from NSW Critical Minerals Activation Fund Polymetals (ASX:POL) has received $250k of a $500k grant from the NSW Government Critical Minerals Activation Fund. Cobar Metals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Polymetals, will use the grant to assist in the delivery of the Endeavor mine restart study. Polymetals non-executive director Alistair Barton said the company is grateful to receive the grant. “Polymetals and its wholly owned subsidiary, Cobar Metals, are grateful to receive this generous support from the New South Wales Government to assist our restart of the Endeavour Mine, one of the state’s largest silver-zinc-lead mines,” he said. “The funding has been allocated for work undertaken as...

Rio Tinto and H2 Green Steel partner to accelerate green steel transition Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) and H2 Green Steel have signed a multi-year agreement for the supply of iron ore pellets from Rio’s Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) operations.   Rio will also purchase and on-sell a part of the surplus low carbon hot briquetted iron (HBI) produced by H2 Green Steel during the ramp-up of its steelmaking capacity. The reduction pellets will account for a significant part of the iron ore supply to H2 Green Steel’s flagship plant in Boden, Sweden, which will be one of the world’s first large-scale producers of low carbon iron and steel. The...

Rio Tinto awards Metso Corporation design and engineering contract for BioIron process Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) has awarded Metso Corporation a detailed design and engineering contract for its continuous pilot plant (CPP) for the BioIron process. This contract is an extension the work that Rio and Metso have being doing regarding the development of the BioIron process. Metso director of ferrous metals Matthias Gabriel said the company is excited to continue working with Rio. “We are very excited to continue the close working relationship with Rio Tinto and to provide engineering and design support as we move to the next phase of development of the BioIron technology,” he said. Rio’s BioIron process uses...

CIMIC's UGL scores over $600m in lithium and energy contracts in WA UGL, a member of the CIMIC Group, has been awarded several contracts with energy and minerals processing clients in WA, including Albermarle’s Kemerton lithium hydroxide plant and Alcoa Australia’s bauxite and alumina operations. Albemarle is constructing two additional processing trains at its Kemerton plant to increase production to up to 100,000tpa of lithium hydroxide, supporting the manufacturing of an estimated 2.4 million electric vehicles annually. UGL’s contract with Albermarle include the provision of construction services at the Kemerton plant near Bunbury, in WA’s southwest, which will generate up to 400...