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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...

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...