Latest News

THE telephone call, when it came, was from one long-time friend and colleague to another. Making the call was Sir Arvi Parbo, who went on to become one of corporate Australia’s most significant figures. Answering his call was Dr Roy Woodall, a 42-year Western Mining Corporation veteran and pioneering geologist credited with discovering some of the world’s great mineral deposits. As Dr Woodall recounted to the WA Mining Club’s recent St Barbara’s Day lunch, he and Sir Arvi had started with WMC at about the same time. Sir Arvi’s first job with WAMC was as a surveyor at the Bullfinch mine north of Southern Cross in 1956.  By the time he retired, Sir Arvi had been managing director and chairman...

A NEW Indigenous brand of bottled water has been made available to all WA mine sites. Yurrama Water has been developed by the Ashburton Aboriginal Corporation (AAC), an organisation which finds and creates culturally appropriate employment, education and training opportunities for Aboriginal people in the Pilbara. Sodexo, world leader in quality of life services, has made a commitment to progress the brand concept through the development and production stages. Yurrama Water was officially launched in February and will be available in 600ml and 1.5L bottles. In line with AAC’s mission, the sales from Yurrama Water will fund Indigenous youth employment programs in the Pilbara and provide an increase in Indigenous employment opportunities. Sodexo indigenous and community general manager Sean Armistead...

LITHIUM Australia has received a ‘Certificate of Grant’ from IP Australia for its LieNA lithium processing technology patent, providing legal protection in Australia for 20 years over the technology. LieNA significantly improves metallurgical recovery of lithium from fine and contaminated spodumene. Hard-rock lithium production has long faced a major sustainability issue of poor recoveries of spodumene from the mine onwards to the production of lithium chemicals. While the recovery rate of lithium from conventional spodumene beneficiation varies, it can be as low as 50pc owing to the concentrate offtake specification constraints applied by the current generation of lithium chemical producers, all of which commence the process by roasting the concentrate. LieNA does not require a roasting stage and can recover...

BIOKEM is in the business of reducing maintenance costs and increasing equipment and lubricant life, taking oil analysis and filtration service to the highest levels. It offers a holistic approach to the treatment of the system circuitry, analysing and cleaning not just the lube oil but the equipment itself. BioKem Business and Technical manager, John Lagos, likens the service BioKem provides to a full health check, complete with remedies for any problems detected. In his words, they are the medics of the industrial world. The company uses industry-leading equipment and 70 years of expertise to offer broad sweeping lube oil services capabilities with a personal touch. Its job can start with the lubricant oil received directly from lubricant suppliers, cleaning...

AUSTRALIAN lithium developer Core Lithium has received approval of its Mine Management Plan from the Northern Territory Government, marking the achievement of the final major authorisation milestone to build the Territory’s first lithium mine and production facility. Core’s Finniss Lithium Project, located within an hour by road to Darwin Port, is well placed to become Australia’s next lithium producer and the country’s first outside WA.  Core Lithium managing director Stephen Biggins said the Finniss Lithium Project would create more than 200 direct full-time jobs in the Northern Territory, additional employment in South Australia, and had the potential to inject more than half a billion dollars into the local economy during its first three years of operation. “And Core's recent investment...

PERTH-BASED Impact Minerals Limited (ASX:IPT) has received a grant of $75,000 from the $2m New Frontiers Cooperative Drilling grants program awarded by the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment. The funds, awarded on the technical merit of the proposed drill program, will be used to drill test specific targets along the Rockwell-Little Broken Hill Gabbro trend, a 6km-long maficultramafic intrusion that is highly prospective for deposits of high grade nickel-copper-platinum group metals (PGM), including palladium and rhodium, currently at near record prices. The entire trend is very poorly explored with only a few drill holes completed by previous explorers to shallow depths. As part of the preparation for a drill program, field checking and extensive rock chip sampling was...

MINERAL Resources and BCI Minerals Limited have entered into agreementa that will enhance MRL’s Pilbara iron ore footprint. They include the purchase by MRL of the Buckland Project from BCI for cash consideration of up to $20m, and the optimisation of the existing Iron Valley Agreement, whereby BCI will participate in the capital investment required to extend the mine life at Iron Valley through a partial rebate of MRL’s payments to BCI. This series of agreements builds on MRL’s strong, long-term relationship with BCI through the Iron Valley Agreement. MRL managing director Chris Ellison said the agreements reflected the company's strong partnership with BCI and provided further opportunity for MRL’s Mining Services business to create value from stranded iron ore...

WA has led the nation in resource sales, netting $167.3b for the 2019 calendar year. The state's Department of Mines, Industry, Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) said sales rose by 28pc from 2018 ($130.3b), mainly from iron and gold production. The DMIRS said high iron ore prices in the first half of 2019, following global supply shortages, were the main contributor, with $97.7b of the product sold last year, accounting for 76pc of overall mineral sales in WA. Not far behind were gold sales, with the volume being the highest the state has shipped in more than two decades, with $13.8b worth of the metal sold last year, also thanks to record gold prices of more than $2000/oz average. Industry confidence...

THE Australian Government is continuing to work with State and Territory Ministers and the resources sector to ensure critical projects keep operating during the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Resources Minister Keith Pitt said his state cpounterparts met by teleconference again last night to discuss the shared goal of ensuring this vital sector keeps operating. “The Australian resources sector is a key part of the Australian economy,” Mr Pitt said. “The commodities Australia mines keep the lights on here, they supply the essentials for major businesses like smelters and refineries, and our exports will be critical in keeping international economies going as they too deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. “The resources sector has developed a set of health and safety...

THE Federal Government has announced the establishment of a new Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) on Transformations in Mining Economies (CRC-TiME). The $29.5m funding for the CRC is part of a total 10-year investment of $135.4m to support the successful transition of mining communities to form sustainable community and development opportunities. The CRC is jointly led by the University of WA and the University of Queensland. The centre brings together a unique partnership of industry, government, universities, research organisation, including CSIRO, and community/regional groups with a vision for sustainable mine closures and community and regional development opportunities in Australia. CRC-TiME chief executive officer Guy Boggs said the centre had the potential to create hundreds of new opportunities and regional jobs through...