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By Jane Goldsmith May 12, 2015 BHP Billiton is slowing projected WA iron ore export targets after weakened Chinese demand and slumping commodity prices restricted its cash flow. The miner had planned to export 290 million tonnes per annum of iron ore by 2016-17 through a US$2 billion inner harbour debottlenecking project at its Port Hedland shipping terminal. However, in its March quarter results BHP announced it would defer the spending, which would slow its progress to hit the 290mtpa target by mid-2017. “WAIO production for the 2015 financial year is now expected to be 250 million tonnes (100...

By Jane Goldsmith May 6, 2015 FOR every $1 million invested in the WA Government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS), the state receives $10.3 million in direct benefits, a report has found. The Exploration Incentive Scheme Economic Impact Study, commissioned by the Department of Mines and Petroleum, also found that WA received about $6.2 million in taxation and royalties, and stood to gain about $3.9 million in greater construction activity and $3.3 million in new wealth, from each new project development. The study found new pre-competitive geoscience was the main driver of private sector exploration investment. It also considered the potential economic impact from the discovery and commercialisation of new mines as a result of increased exploration. “This second stage of...

By Rachel Dally-Watkins 29 April, 2015 ASX-listed Perseus Mining has decided to proceed with development of the Sissingué gold mine (SGM) in Ivory Coast, following a positive revised feasibility study. The study showed the project was technically feasible and economically robust, with measured and indicated resources of 880,000oz of gold and proved and probable reserves of 429,000oz of gold. The mine would produce about 385,000oz of gold across a 5.25 year life, at an average of 75,000oz of gold per year, at an all-in sustaining cost of US$632 per ounce. Perseus’ study showed start up capital costs would total US$106 million (including contingency), with funding...

By Rachel Dally-Watkins 28 April, 2015 IN response to the significant fall in iron ore prices, Centaurus Metals has announced it is unable to pursue standalone development of its Candonga project in southeast Brazil, and would instead pursue opportunities to sell or seek a joint venture partner. Centaurus reviewed the results of its 2014 feasibility study for the direct shipping ore project, confirming the technical and financial viability of the 300,000 tonne per annum project even with the significantly lower current iron ore prices. The review resulted in a 47 per cent reduction in direct pre-capital cost to $1.9 million and a...

By Jane Goldsmith April 22, 2015 WEAK commodity prices and the shift to production will spell pain for WA’s resources sector this year, a new report has found. Deloitte Access Economics’ WA Business Outlook report, released in March, said that despite encouraging current growth figures, the state would struggle as the minerals sector transitioned from the construction phase to production. Medium term economic growth would slow 2.6 per cent in 2014-2015, and private construction would decline 18.1 per cent to $39.2 billion. Construction would drop further to $31.7 billion (19.2 per cent) the following year. ”WA’s great resources-fuelled story is well documented,” Deloitte practice leader Matt Judkins said. “But the transition...

By Jane Goldsmith April 21, 2015 ASX-listed PanAust has shunned a $1.1 billion takeover bid from China’s Guangdong Rising Assets Management (GRAM), dubbing the price “inadequate”. The Laos-based copper and gold producer advised shareholders to “take no action” in response GRAM’s unsolicited $1.71 per share offer, proposed on 30 March. The price was a premium to the $1.22 figure PanAust shares traded at before the bid, but well below a previous $2.30 proposal from GRAM, made in 2014. In mid April, PanAust managing director Fred Hess formally advised against shareholder acceptance, stating the company’s share price averaged above the GRAM offer price, indicating the company had been undervalued. “Whilst investor sentiment towards the resources sector remains variable and driven by...

By Rachel Dally-Watkins 20 April, 2015 DESPITE an almost double year-on-year increase from 2013, gold and base metal asset acquisitions in 2014 were the third lowest in a decade. According to the SNL Metals & Mining report Base Metals and Gold Acquisitions Activity, 2005-2014 there was a “welcome improvement” in mining asset transactions, but noted that the caution shown by mining companies in 2014 was surpassed only by results from 2013 and 2009. “Since 2012 have bought fewer assets that require large capital investment,” SNL stated. “Instead, companies have opted to maximise the value of assets they already own, and to enter joint ventures that reduce costs while at least maintaining production.” According to the report, there were...

By Reuben Adams 20 April A partnership between Komatsu and General Electric will use Internet of Things (IoT) technology to provide crucial big-data analysis services to mining customers – potentially saving each mine millions of dollars a year. The IoT refers to a growing global network of physical objects, including machines, embedded with electronics, software, sensors and connectivity which enable the exchange of data between manufacturers, operators, other machines and connected devices. Under the partnership, Komatsu would send operational data – collected from sensors attached to its mining dump trucks – to a GE data centre in the US, where it...