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MAJOR iron ore producer Fortescue Metals Group’s Nyidinghu deposit has a much larger resource after continued definition drilling revealed an increase of 450 million tonnes. Nyidinghu, northwest of Newman in the Central Pilbara, is now estimated to contain 2.46 billion tonnes using a cut-off grade of 52 per cent iron, with measured resources of 23mt at 59.6 per cent iron and indicated resources of 580mt at an average grade of 58.1 per cent. The remaining 1.86bt is inferred. “Fortescue exploration team is confident that ultimately the resource at Nyidinghu will exceed 3bt when all resource definitio drilling has been completed,” the company stated. An estimate was completed at a cut-off grade of 59 per cent iron, which is a total…

APEX Minerals is set to sell its second gold project in as many months, in line with its new company strategy. The company announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Ever Prosperity Investment in March for the $50 million sale of its Wiluna gold mine in WA. In return, Ever Prosperity would immediately subscribe for 8,333,333 Apex shares at $0.06 per share for a total subscription of $500,000. As part of the MOU, Apex provided Ever Prosperity with an exclusive 60-day due diligence period during which the shares would be held by a third party. The transaction followed the February sale of Apex’s Youanmi gold project to Infinity Fame for $15 million; the first step under the…

THE Australian mining industry’s first dedicated virtual mentoring program is expected to benefit women working across the sector nationwide. Launched on 20 February by the Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA), the e-mentoring program would connect experienced mining, oil and gas professionals with women in earlier phases of their careers. The program would be delivered by resource industry employer group AMMA, with support from the Australian Government under the National Resource Sector Workforce Strategy. AMMA director of group services Tara Diamond said the first round of e-mentoring partnerships had started, with both men and women mentors providing guidance to women seeking to further their resource careers. “The AWRA e-mentoring program is a key part of AWRA’s wider strategy to increase…

FOCUSSED on the exploration and development of gold in WA, Southern Cross Goldfields has identified a significant gold target in the Marda gold belt. The Thresher prospect was found during systematic regional auger drilling soil sampling programmes within its 4000 square kilometres of tenements in the Marda belt, 150km north of Southern Cross. Lying in a structurally complex geological position, the newly defined gold anomaly was defined by plus 40 parts per billion across a strike length of 800m with a plus 100ppb core across 400m. Thresher is close to the Evanston Shear Zone, which has anomalous gold occurrences over its 30km strike length; is parallel to an adjacent magnetic unit and may be on the flank of a local…

SOUTH Australian-focussed miner Rex Minerals is celebrating the announcement of a maiden ore reserve at its Hillside copper project, which has surpassed Prominent Hill as the largest copper open pit ore reserve in Australia. The Hillside maiden ore reserve totalled 120 million tonnes at 0.53 per cent copper, 0.14 grams per tonne of gold and 12.8 per cent iron for contained metal of 636,000t of copper, 540,000 ounces of gold and 14.5mt of iron ore. The ore reserve was completed on the back of Rex’s recent pre-feasibility study announcement in October 2012, and could support a 15-year mine plan at a production rate of 70,000 tonnes of copper per annum. Rex managing director Mark Parry said that with ongoing exploration…

FOCUSSED on the exploration and development of gold in WA, Southern Cross Goldfields has identified a significant gold target in the Marda gold belt. The Thresher prospect was found during systematic regional auger drilling soil sampling programmes within its 4000 square kilometres of tenements in the Marda belt, 150km north of Southern Cross. Lying in a structurally complex geological position, the newly defined gold anomaly was defined by plus 40 parts per billion across a strike length of 800m with a plus 100ppb core across 400m. Thresher is close to the Evanston Shear Zone, which has anomalous gold occurrences over its 30km strike length; is parallel to an adjacent magnetic unit and may be on the flank of a local…

SOUTH Australian-focussed miner Rex Minerals is celebrating the announcement of a maiden ore reserve at its Hillside copper project, which has surpassed Prominent Hill as the largest copper open pit ore reserve in Australia. The Hillside maiden ore reserve totalled 120 million tonnes at 0.53 per cent copper, 0.14 grams per tonne of gold and 12.8 per cent iron for contained metal of 636,000t of copper, 540,000 ounces of gold and 14.5mt of iron ore. The ore reserve was completed on the back of Rex’s recent pre-feasibility study announcement in October 2012, and could support a 15-year mine plan at a production rate of 70,000 tonnes of copper per annum. Rex managing director Mark Parry said that with ongoing exploration…

THE production ramp-up at Kingrose Mining’s Way Linggo operation is soon to be accelerated, following Credit Suisse’s decision to provide US$15 million in funding for the project. Credit Suisse will provide the funds through a two-part prepaid gold transaction to PT Natarang Mining; an 85 per cent owned subsidiary of Kingrose and operator of the Way Linggo project. A portion of the funds is dedicated to further drilling, to outline and expand the Talang Santo resource, as well as for testing of nearby target areas and general working capital purposes. The ramp-up activities are to take place at the Talang Santo gold mine in south Sumatra, where Kingrose made its second high-grade epithermal gold discovery around 7km from the company’s…

DESPITE a downturn in iron ore prices towards the end of last year, the WA Government saw a 21 per cent increase in mining applications for the December quarter. However, the WA Department of Mines and Petroleum also reported a drop in mineral prospecting and exploration applications; which, at 472, was nearly 200 less than the September quarter figure of 653. The DMP quarterly report stated this was the lowest figure the department had seen since late 2009. “This decreasing trend in mineral prospecting and exploration activity from record levels of exploration activity during the two years reflects uncertain global market conditions and the high costs of operating in WA,” the report stated. According to Mines and Petroleum minister Norman…

THE WA Department of Mines and Petroleum has given Mutiny Gold the green light for its Deflector copper-gold project in the Murchison region, clearing the way for mining operations to begin. In an ASX release, Mutiny managing director John Greeve said that with the approvals process complete, the company could now focus on implementing plans leading into production. Following a definitive feasibility study (DFS) carried out late last year, Deflector has been highlighted as a highly profitable, low-cost project with significant gold recoveries of a high grade. The DFS forecast that Deflector would generate a profit of $223 million, with an initial production rate of 65,000 ounces of gold equivalent. The initial mine plan allows for a seven- and-a-half-year mine-life,…

ALMOST 24 years after the suspension of mine operations at Paguna mine due to militant attacks, Bougainville Copper (BCL) has updated its resource estimate of the area. The open pit mine and adjacent processing facility were operational between 1972 and 1989, when mining was suspended because of consistent militant attacks on company personnel and operations. However, BCL – owned by Rio Tinto (53.83 per cent), the Government of Papua New Guinea (19.06 per cent) and 27.11 per cent publicly owned – remains committed to reopening the Bougainville Island mine, which hosts a large porphyry copper-gold deposit. In 2009, BCL prepared an order of magnitude study (OMS) with a resource estimate of around 1 billion tonnes grading 0.33 per cent copper…