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Global mining services provider Thiess has launched a standalone business – Thiess Rehabilitation – to cover the full lifecycle of mine rehabilitation services and help mine sites reach their environmental, social and governance (ESG) outcomes. This new business will support clients from the design stage to development and delivery of rehabilitation work in order to achieve the best land use results after mining, including progressive mine rehabilitation, mine closure and infrastructure removal, abandoned mines and contaminated land requirements. Thiess Rehabilitation group manager James Anderson says Thiess has been exploring avenues to be more active in rehabilitation beyond simply delivering services as part of a wider mining contract. “Launching this new business is a great milestone and we have the support...

Ardea Resources Limited’s (ASX:ARL) Kalgoorlie Nickel Project (KNP) has been awarded Major Project Status by the Australian Federal Government. Managing Director, Andrew Penkethman, said this is a major breakthrough in the development of the project. “The Ardea team thank the Australian Federal Government and its agencies for the award of Major Project Status to the Kalgoorlie Nickel Project. “This recognition will assist in advancing the KNP towards development through stream lining the approvals process and providing access to additional sources of potential project funding. “Globally significant nickel-cobalt projects like the KNP, combined with a benign environmetal setting are a rareity. “With the award of Major Project Status, Ardea is well placed to provide a significant sustainable and ethical supply chain...

The Australian Government today launched its 2022 Critical Minerals Strategy today as part of a package of measures to develop the sector, while the nation’s resources and energy exports is expected to reach a record high of $379b this financial year. The updated Strategy builds upon the first one published in 2019, which aims to put Australia at the centre of meeting the growing demand for critical minerals by 2030, and is part of the 2022-23 Federal Budget. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia’s resources companies were leading the world in developing new critical minerals markets. “As the global economy changes, there are exciting new growth opportunities emerging in areas such as rare earths and critical minerals that ultimately mean...

Australian Vanadium Limited (ASX: AVL) has been awarded a A$49 million grant under the Australian Government’s Modern Manufacturing Initiative Collaboration Stream towards the development of the Australian Vanadium Project near Meekatharra and Geraldton, to create an Australian green fuelled vanadium industry. Managing Director, Vincent Algar, said the Project, supported by the grant, enables new critical mineral production through the establishment of an integrated onshore Australian vanadium supply chain for steel and battery markets. “AVL is delighted to have been awarded this grant from the Australian Government. Our project will create hundreds of jobs in Australia and help to build the critical vanadium industry both locally and internationally,” Mr Algar said. “We have developed an innovative and collaborative approach to building...

Arafura Resources Limited (ASX:ARU) has been awarded grant funding of A$30 million under the Federal Government’s Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI) which will contribute to the construction of an $90.8m rare earth separation plant at its Nolans Project in Australia’s Northern Territory. The A$1.3 billion  MMI forms part of the Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Processing Roadmap that aims to develop Australia as a regional resources technology and critical minerals processing hub within 10 years. The MMI continues to build on broad Australian, Territory and export partner government support for Nolans. The grant awarded to Arafura falls under the MMI’s Collaboration Stream, which provides funding to a small number of transformational projects that will create and facilitate collaborative ecosystems. Nolans, 135...

Australia is one step closer to forecasting jobs across the whole energy sector, including renewable energy and energy efficiency, as the nation’s energy sector continues to transition to net zero carbon emissions. The Australian Government’s Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (DISER) has committed to delivering the inaugural Australian Energy Employment Report (AEER) to identify jobs and skills in the energy sector to train and prepare the workforce for the future. Clean energy is a multi-billion-dollar sector that employs hundreds of thousands of Australians. But there has been no national framework to measure and project Australia’s clean energy job needs – until now. RACE for 2030 chief executive Jon Jutsen welcomes the commitment of the Australian Government at this...

Like many other industry sectors, the South Australian resources sector also faces looming workforce and skills shortages, according to the South Australian Chamber of Mines & Energy (SACOME), The Chamber says the combination of a global pandemic and a massive pipeline of infrastructure projects in Western Australian and the eastern States has resulted in economy-wide labour shortages. SACOME Chief Executive, Rebecca Knol, said this comes at a time where the South Australian resources sector is on the cusp of a cyclical upswing with a suite of projects and buoyant exploration activity fuelling demand for workers. In response to member concerns about labour supply, the South Australian Chamber of Mines & Energy (SACOME) commissioned reporting in late 2021 to quantify workforce...

De Grey Mining Limited (ASX: DEG) has obtained excellent resource infill drilling results from the Brolga zone at the world-class Hemi gold discovery in Western Australia. The drilling is being conducted as part of the Prefeasibility Study (PFS) of the Mallina Gold Project. Brolga was identified, along with Diucon and Falcon, in a Scoping Study released in October 2021 as one of the early proposed production sources for the Project. Resource definition drilling allows more of the Brolga resource to be classified as JORC Indicated mineralisation. This increases the potential production target and Ore Reserve for the PFS and provides increased confidence in the Project’s projected cashflow from early production sources. Resource definition drilling at Brolga has focussed on the...

The Federal government is confident a new investment partnership with India can unlock mutual benefits for both countries from Australia’s world-leading critical minerals sector. Australia’s Minister for Resources and Water, Keith Pitt, has announced $5.8 million in funding to support a three-year Australia-India Critical Minerals Investment Partnership. “Australia and India are natural partners sharing mutual strategic and economic priorities and this Partnership will support further Indian investment in Australian critical minerals projects,” Minister Pitt said. “It is the first of its kind and represents a step-change in how countries can work together to support key industries and pursue growth opportunities. “Our combined capabilities will take on the challenge of resourcing the emerging technologies used in sectors such as defence, aerospace,...

Renewable energy penetration is set to increase on major mine-sites in the Goldfields and Pilbara regions, after one of Australia’s leading independent power producers signs a deployment agreement with a clean energy technology provider. Zenith Energy and 5B have signed an Ecosystem Framework Agreement-Deployment (ESAD), permitting Zenith to be a deployment partner of the 5B Maverick system within Australia. The 5B Maverick system solar array is prefabricated, allowing rapid deployment and increasing the ability of Zenith to expand renewable assets across existing and future sites. Managing Director Hamish Moffat said it’s the next step in reducing emissions across Zenith’s legacy portfolio. “We’ve been looking to increase renewable assets across multiple sites for some time, the question has always been around...

Just days after sending its first gold concentrate shipment to St Petersburg headquartered Polymetal International plc, Wiluna Mining Corporation Limited (ASX: WMC) has suspended further shipments to Russia due to the war in the Ukraine. The company told the ASX, that in light of the current military action in Ukraine, it will immediately suspend shipments of gold concentrate from its Wiluna Mining Centre to Russia. “During this period, Wiluna has arrangements in place to sell and ship all its concentrate to alternative destinations,” the company stated. “We will continue to monitor the situation in Ukraine and any sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation before making further decisions on the destination of its product. In late February, WMC celebrated the departure...