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Salt Lake raises $17.6m for pilot plant

Salt Lake raises $17.6m for pilot plant

Salt Lake Potash intends to become Australia’s first producer of sulphate of potash. Image: Salt Lake Potash. BY CAMERON DRUMMOND WA-based miner Salt Lake Potash has raised $17.6 million for the development of a pilot plant at its Goldfields Salt Lakes project near Laverton, WA. Commitments were made by UK and Australian investors to subscribe for 41 million ordinary shares at 43 cents per share, representing a n 11.9 per cent discount to the 20-day weighted average price. Salt Lake said the funds would be used for the planning and initial construction costs of the plant, as well as ongoing resource investigation, testwork and other associated studies. “We are very pleased to have successfully put in…

Iron ore to suffer five year decline in value

Iron ore to suffer five year decline in value

Image: AngloAmerican. BY CAMERON DRUMMOND STEADY decline in iron ore prices is expected over the next five years, with a targeted drop in production from the world’s largest steelmaker China and new ore production from mega projects in Australia and Brazil sparking oversupply fears. Surging iron ore prices during 2016 saw the commodity reach more than $US80 per tonne (t) for the first time since October 2014 after hitting a record low of $US38.50/t in January last year. The 62 per cent Fe Qingdao spot price had jumped more than 100 per cent, and by February 2017 had peaked at $US94.86 – its highest level since 2014 – according to a Metal Bulletin report. The price rally – which consistently…

South32 buys $110m Arizona Mining stake

South32 buys $110m Arizona Mining stake

The Hermosa zinc-lead-silver project. Image: Arizona Mining. BY CAMERON DRUMMOND SOUTH32 will pay $C110 million ($107m) for a 15 per cent stake in Canadian multi-commodity miner Arizona Mining. Under the agreement, South32 will acquire 45,000,000 Arizona Mining shares at $C2.45 per share. South32 also has the right to nominate a director to the board of Arizona Mining providing it maintains a minimum 12.5 per cent interest. Arizona Mining is focused on its Hermosa zinc-lead-silver project, which includes the Taylor deposit, located in Santa Cruz County, Arizona. South32 chief executive Graham Kerr said Hermosa was a highly prospective project and was another step in the company’s strategy to identify opportunities outside of its current portfolio. “We look…

Rio partners with Tanzania miner

Rio partners with Tanzania miner

The JV will encompass the company’s southern tenements in Tanzania including Miteja, Kiswere, Sudi and Mtwara. Image: Strandline Resources. BY ELIZABETH FABRI RIO Tinto has entered an earn-in joint venture agreement with ASX-listed Strandline Resources for a majority interest in the company’s mineral sands tenements in southern Tanzania. The terms of the agreement require Rio Tinto to spend $US5 million within three and a half years to earn a 51 per cent participating interest, including a mandatory commitment of $US2 million within 18 months. A second stage payment of $US4 million was also required within two years to earn a 75 per cent interest in the project, plus cash payments totalling $US1.75 million over the course of the agreement. Both…

Exceptional results at Giro gold project in DRC

Exceptional results at Giro gold project in DRC

The Giro gold project is within the under-explored Kilo-Moto Belt, which also hosts Randgold Resources’ 16moz Kibali project. BY REUBEN ADAMS ASX-listed Amani Gold (formerly Burey Gold) is returning exceptional results from an infill drilling program at its Giro gold project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Amani received results for a further eight RC holes for 1121m from the infill drilling program at the Kebigada deposit, which kicked off mid-February. GRRC217 reported standout results – 36m at 6.56 grams per tonne of g/t gold from 14m including 14m at 15.15g/t gold from 15m; and 65m at 7.73g/t gold from 74m including 44m at 10.69g/t gold from 85m, including 1m at 179g/t gold from 107m. The hole ended in…

BMA invests $US204m in QLD coal

BMA invests $US204m in QLD coal

Caption: Image: BHP Billiton. BY ELIZABETH FABRI BHP Billiton and joint venture partner Mitsubishi Development will begin construction on a $US204 million overland conveyor system connecting two of its coal mines in Central Queensland in mid 2017. The Caval Ridge Southern Circuit (CRSC) project includes development of an 11km conveyor system to deliver coal from Peak Downs mine to Caval Ridge Coal Handling Preparation Plant; a new stockpile pad and run-of-mine station at Peak Downs; and new mining fleet, including trucks and excavators. The project would also see Caval Ridge preparation plant increase its throughput capacity to 10 million tonnes per annum, with the 18 month construction schedule set to begin mid this year. BHP Billiton Minerals Australia president operations…

Capricorn Copper redevelopment gains special status

Capricorn Copper redevelopment gains special status

First ore from Capricorn was expected in October this year, with a four-month ramp-up to steady production. Images: QLD Department of State Development. BY REUBEN ADAMS THE $152 million Capricorn Copper mine redevelopment has gained special status from the Queensland Government to cut red tape and create hundreds of jobs in north-west Queensland. The re-opened mine is forecast to produce 30,000 tonnes per annum of copper metal in concentrate over an initial mine life of 10 years. The former Mount Gordon copper mine was mothballed in 2013 due to plummeting copper prices, before it was sold to a joint venture of Brisbane-based Lighthouse Minerals and Melbourne-based EMR Capital in late 2015. State Development Minister…

Mining industry backs 457 visa axing

Mining industry backs 457 visa axing

Image: Rio Tinto. BY ELIZABETH FABRI THE Federal Government’s plan to abolish the 457 visa for foreign workers has already received strong support from mining industry officials, who remain hopeful a new scheme would safeguard Australian jobs and fill the void where skilled workers were currently needed. On 18 April, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the Subclass 457 visa would be scrapped and replaced with a Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa with a reduced list of occupations, tighter criminal background checks, and higher standards for English language skills. The TSS program would be split into two streams; a short term visa of up to two years, and a medium term visa for up to four years. Mining occupations that made the…

South32 scraps Metropolitan Colliery buy

South32 scraps Metropolitan Colliery buy

Peabody Energy’s Metropolitan Colliery. Image: Peabody Energy BY CAMERON DRUMMOND BHP Billiton spinoff South32 has scrapped its $US200 million purchase of Peabody Energy’s Metropolitan Colliery and associated port infrastructure near Wollongong, NSW. On 23 February, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released a statement saying the proposed acquisition could substantially lessen competition in the coking coal supply to Australian steelmakers, as it would leave South32 as the only major supplier in the region. “The ACCC considers that competition is necessary for customers in a region to obtain export price parity,” the competition monitor wrote. “If there is a single exporter in a region, that supplier will likely set the price to local customers to match the…

RUC Mining on track to score Mt Morgan contract

RUC Mining on track to score Mt Morgan contract

The contract relates to underground development and production stoping from the Beresford and Allanson underground mines, which together comprise the Westralia Mine Area. BY REUBEN ADAMS Dacian Gold is on track to be pouring first gold at Mt Morgans within 12 months after conditionally awarding the underground mining contract to WA contractor RUC Cementation Mining (RUC). The conditional Letter of Intent relates to underground development and production stoping from the Beresford and Allanson underground mines, which together comprise the Westralia Mine Area. The contract – initially 3 years with two discretionary 1 year extensions – includes establishment of a new portal for Beresford; rehabilitation of the existing Allanson portal and decline; all decline and level development; all ore driving; and…

BHP rejects call for business restructure

BHP rejects call for business restructure

Image: Elliott’s proposal included the demerger and separate listing of BHP Billiton’s US petroleum business on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). BY REUBEN ADAMS BHP Billiton shareholder Elliott Advisors has called on the Group to scrap the miner’s dual company structure, spin-off its oil assets and return more cash to investors. Elliott, a hedge fund which holds about 4.1 per cent of the issued share capital of BHP, proposed that BHP merge its UK and Australian entities into a single Australian-headquartered and Australian tax resident listed company, while demerging and separately listing its US petroleum business on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The Value Unlock Plan could to provide BHP shareholders with an increase in value attributable to their…