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LOCAL junior explorers have received some financial respite after $7.2 million was distributed to 61 drilling and prospecting projects in WA. The State Government’s cash injection was part of the latest round of grants under the Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) aimed at supporting juniors struggling for investment. The program provides funding for up to 50 per cent of direct drilling costs, capped at $150,000 for a multi-hole project; up to $400,000 for a single deep hole, depending on the mineral; and $30,000 for prospecting projects. WA Mines and Petroleum minister Bill Marmion said the program would financially assist smaller companies and subsequent exploration would add to the geological knowledge of the state. “The co-funded drilling program provides incentives to drill...

A global “confidence crisis” is hindering recovery in the mining industry’s current depressed climate, according to multinational professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). In its tenth annual comprehensive publication Mining 2013, released in early June, PwC evaluated the apparent downturn of the industry in the past year and found a lack of confidence to be both a result and continuation of the current market position. The report cited a fall in net profits as a leading cause of declining investor confidence, with final net profit figures recorded at $68 billion – down 49 per cent from 2012’s $133 billion result. Despite a 6 per cent increase in production, revenue figures also dropped to $731 billion across the period, with the increased...

PLANNING is gathering momentum for the proposed expansion of coal-loading facilities at the Abbot Point port in Queensland, after the State Government shortlisted two companies to build the new infrastructure. Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney said mining group Anglo American and NorthHub – a joint venture between Aurizon and Lend Lease – had been selected as potential candidates to develop two new coal terminals which would benefit the burgeoning, critically important export coal sector. The previous government had proposed a multi-cargo facility at Abbot Point that was rejected by the industry, he said. “The proposals outlined by the Bligh Government were never going to come to reality. They were unrealistic and undeliverable,” Mr Seeney said. In coming weeks, the government would...

HEAVY rains cut Australian coal exports in February, as infrastructure damage affected shipments largely bound for Asia, a Wall Street Journal report has revealed. Coal exports from Australia’s main coal terminals fell 11.5 per cent to 24.9 million tonnes, down from 28.2mt in January. Throughput at the ports was down 23 per cent compared with December 2012, when exports peaked at 32.4mt. In Queensland, shipments were disturbed after the tail-end of a tropical cyclone raged in the southeast and some rail links were closed due to flooding. Newcastle, the country’s biggest coal export port, recorded a 16.8 per cent fall to 10.6mt month-on-month in February and Gladstone’s port reported a 10.2 per cent drop to 3.6mt, the lowest volume recorded...

FIRST ferrotungsten was lifted at Asia Tungsten Products Company’s (ATC) ferrotungsten project in Vietnam during April, with first sales revenue expected to follow in coming weeks. A subsidiary of Hazelwood Resources, ATC began hot commissioning at the start of April and its furnace is now performing to expectation. The facility is the largest ferrotungsten plant outside of China and, according to Hazelwood, is the most advanced in the world. Outside of China there is limited production capacity for the master alloy, which is used in the production of high-speed steels, tool steels and temperature resistant alloys. All of the ferrotungsten produced will be distributed under a sales agency agreement with Wogen Resources. Hazelwood reported that while the ATC ferrotungsten project...

THE head of gold producer Ramelius Resources has used the company’s 10th anniversary to call for a more realistic approach to exploration activities from government and industry. Managing director Ian Gordon said the outlook for Australian gold producers was grim unless the government provided some sort of incentive for further exploration. “Australia’s pool of pure gold producers is rapidly dwindling through a combination of resource exhaustion, low levels of exploration and a high level of merger and acquisition activity,” he said. “For Australia to maintain a viable gold industry, it needs mid-tier independents and juniors to maintain exploration momentum. “That momentum will stagnate and shrivel unless there is some urgent rewriting of tax relief or investment incentives, whether just for...

MINING operations in Tasmania’s Tarkine region face renewed opposition from conservationists with the announcement of Federal Court action against the approval of Nelson Bay River mine. Environmentalist group Tarkine National Coalition (TNC) announced the move on 5 April against Federal Environment minister Tony Burke’s approval of the Shree Minerals mine. TNC campaign coordinator Scott Jordan said Mr Burke had endorsed the mine without knowing the potential impact on the endangered local Tasmanian devil. “The TNC believes that the minister has erred in law, and is challenging the decision to approve the mine despite known impacts on the Tasmanian devil, a Commonwealth-listed endangered species,” Mr Jordan told The Advocate. “We will argue that Minister Burke has not acted in accordance with...

A $1.3 billion takeover of Sundance Resources has fallen through after China’s Hanlong Mining struggled to finance the deal. Africa-focussed Sundance ended the talks following a string of problems; its first warning came when Hanlong failed to provide it second round of $5 million funding within the required time frame. “Sundance has decided to terminate the scheme implementation agreement because the funding condition was not met and after being informed by Hanlong that it was unlikely to meet the other required conditions,” Sundance stated. Executives from Hanlong had previously been accused of insider trading, market manipulation and tax allegations and the company’s chairman Liu Han was recently detained in prison after suspicions of harbouring a fugitive. Sundance announced it was...

THE delayed sale of its Youanmi gold project has forced Apex Minerals to secure a $1 million facility with an interest rate of more than 50 per cent. Hong Kong-based Infinity Fame agreed to buy Youanmi in February for $15 million and has taken a $500,000 stake in Apex while the due diligence period is finalised on the project, 82km from Sandstone in the Murchison region of WA. The $1 million loan adds to $4 million Apex already owes Multiplex heir Andrew Roberts’ AR Management. The company was already paying 20 per cent interest on its previous loan and agreed to a 22.5 per cent interest on its new one-year facility, which included a $300,000 arrangement fee. If Apex is...

THE US$553 million sale of BHP Billiton’s diamond business has concluded, comprising the company’s interest in the Canadian Ekati diamond mine and diamond marketing operations. Dominion Diamond Corporation (formerly Harry Winston Diamond Corporation) paid a purchase price of US$500 million, with additional purchase price adjustments of US$53 million. Under the sales agreement, which was initially announced in November 2012, Dominion will assume all of BHP’s obligations under Ekati’s environmental agreement with the governments of Canada and the Northwest Territories, as well as impact and benefit agreements with indigenous groups and pension liabilities linked to the mine’s defined benefit scheme. BHP employees at Ekati in Yellowknife and diamonds marketing in Antwerp have become employees of Dominion Diamond under the agreement. Announcing...

LOCAL opposition to Barrick Gold’s massive Pascua-Lama gold and silver mine in Chile has prompted the Copiapo appeals court to suspend construction on the project while complaints are addressed. The project, on the Chile-Argentina border in the Andes Mountains, has attracted complaints of “environmental irregularities” from the country’s Diaguita indigenous communities and various environmental groups, who claim it is destroying glaciers and harming the local water supply. Barrick reported it would suspend activities while it worked to “address environmental and regulatory requirements to the satisfaction of Chilean authorities”. The company stated that construction activities in Argentina, where the majority of the project’s critical infrastructure is located – including the process plant and tailings storage facility – would not be affected....