Latest News

Thursday, July 16 2015 By Jane Goldsmith WA needs significant policy reform if it wishes to become a global mining hub and a resource sector technologies leader, according to a new report from WA’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI). The Future of the Resources Sector: A Vision for WA report stated that while Asian demand would continue into the longer term, WA’s resources sector was lacking, both as an attractive investment destination and in its research and development (R&D) into emerging resource sector technologies. The urban populations of China and India were expected to increase by 270 million and 185 million respectively by 2030-35 which would...

Thursday, July 16 2015 By Courtney Pearson THE resources and mining sector has begun its recovery but it might take a while to reach the recruitment market, according to Hays. The Hays June quarterly report stated it was a “positive sign of things to come” for candidates looking for work in the resources sector. Most states were looking for temporary staff due to cost-cutting, consolidation and workforce flexibility. The report recommended that NSW speed up its recruitment process as candidate levels have started to fall as they move into other industries. In Queensland, the Mount Isa market was steady and vacancies in the Bowen Basin...

Thursday, July 16 2015 By Courtney Pearson A rare yellow diamond mine in the Kimberley will close due to disappointing revenue at auction, putting nearly 100 employees in limbo. The Ellendale diamond mine in north-west WA was suspended by Kimberley Diamonds due to lower grades, size distributions and prices, and subsidiary, Kimberley Diamond Company (KDC), put into administration. “Prices achieved at the auction held last week in Antwerp were significantly lower than those forecasted, resulting from a sharp, unexpected decline in the rough diamond market,” the company said in a statement. “As a result, KDC is unable to continue trading solvently and...

Thursday, July 16 2015 By Jane Goldsmith ALCOA has been hit by allegations that its workforce was exposed to asbestos in two separate incidents in the past eight weeks. WA’s three largest workers’ unions – the Electrical Trades Union of Australia, the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union – called for an urgent asbestos audit of Alcoa’s WA operations, after workers discovered a covering they were grinding at Alcoa’s Pinjarra refinery, south of Perth, was partially made of asbestos. The incident followed a similar situation at the company’s Kwinana refinery, when a...

By Rachel Dally-Watkins 19 June,  2015 FIRST gold has been poured from ABM Resources high-grade Old Pirate deposit, within the greater Twin Bonanza project in the Northern Territory. The company achieved the milestone in mid-June as part of the commissioning of the Coyote Processing Plant in WA, which it leases from Tanami Gold. Utilising the existing plant, 77km from the deposit, significantly reduced the company’s capital expenditure requirements while reducing construction and commissioning risks. The plant has a capacity of 240,000 tonnes per annum with the ability for expansion. The plant’s grinding circuits were operating at 30 tonnes per hour, while gravity...

By Jane Goldsmith Friday, June 19 2015 THE Australian Labor Party has warned the Abbott Government’s climate change policies could alienate Australia from some of the world’s most powerful industrial nations, following the G7 summit pledge to phase out the use of fossil fuels by the end of the century. At the 41st summit meeting at Schloss Elmau in Southern Germany, leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US addressed the “urgent and concrete action needed to address climate change”, primarily...

By Rachel Dally-Watkins 19 June, 2015 PERTH-based Gulf Manganese Corporation (formally Gulf Minerals Corporation) has outlined details of its plans to become an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) focused manganese ore and alloy producer, following the completion of its Timor Smelter Study. The study showed the company’s project could return an EDITDA of US$623.8 million across 20 years, supporting an estimated net present value of US $201.4 million. Gulf Manganese planned to develop smelter facilities in the West Timor capital Kupang to take advantage of low cost ore, labour and power. It would produce and sell...

  By Reuben Adams Friday, 19 June 2015 ROX Resources’ has successfully completed a $3.2 million over-subscribed share purchase Plan (SPP) as it works toward development of the Fisher East nickel project. The company will also complete an additional top-up placement of $700,000 on the same terms as the SPP. Rox managing director Ian Mulholland said it was pleasing to receive such strong support from the company’s shareholders in such tough market conditions. “We look forward to further rewarding this support by continuing active exploration on our high quality projects, and working towards development of the Fisher East nickel...