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EMERGING coal explorer Bandanna Energy has increased reserves at its Springsure Creek project in Queensland’s southern Bowen Basin by 50 per cent, as part of the mine’s ongoing development. The JORC-compliant marketable reserve at Springsure Creek, owned by Bandanna subsidiary Springsure Creek Coal, now stands at 153.5 million tonnes; the new reserve fi gure is an increase from 102.6mt, and derived from JORC-compliant probable reserves of 161.6mt. The increased reserves are underpinned by a recently updated total JORC-compliant resource of 490.5mt for Springsure Creek, comprising 262.3mt of inferred resources and 228mt of indicated resources. The upgrade reserves form part of an underground longwall mine designed by Brisbane-based mining consultants Minecraft Consulting, which declared the new reserve “marketable” following mining and...

MINING in space could be within grasp after Washington-based Planetary Resources outlined plans on April 24 for the mining of Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs). Boasting a ‘who’s who’ of investors and technical advisors – including Google chief executive Larry Page and filmmaker James Cameron – the well-funded explorer is looking to tap into the high concentrations of precious metals and water found on asteroids. “Many of the scare metals and minerals on Earth are in near-infinite quantities in space,” Planetary Resources co-founder Peter Diamandis said. “As access to these materials increases, not only will the cost of everything from microelectronics to energy storage be reduced, but new applications for these abundant elements will result in important and novel applications.” Planetary...

MID tier gold producer Evolution Mining has found more high-grade gold at its Cracow gold mine in Queensland. A drilling program was conducted about 150m north of known mineralisation and has confirmed the presence of a high-grade epithermal gold shoot. Best intersections from the recent diamond drilling program were: 25.4m grading 6.47 grams per tonne gold from 611.6m, 13.7m grading 8.01g/t gold from 539m, and 2.3m grading 61.53g/t gold from 505.2m. The March 2012 quarter brought with it gold discoveries for Evolution, but total gold production fell from almost 90,000 ounces in the December 2011 quarter to 84,122 for the March period. The average gold price achieved also fell, dropping from $1632/oz for the December period to $1604/oz. Cash costs...

JUNIOR exploration company Blackham Resources has secured more than $9 million to fund ongoing exploration at its Matilda gold project in northern WA. New York-based The Lind Partners manages the Australian Special Opportunity Fund, and facilitated an $8.125 million funding agreement between the Australian Special Opportunity Fund and Blackham. Once the agreement has been executed, Lind will give Blackham an initial $250,000 in the form of a $175,000 convertible security and a $75,000 pre-payment for ordinary shares in Blackham. For the next three years, Lind will purchase between $75,000 and $250,000 worth of Blackham shares on a monthly basis. In addition to the $8.125 million funding agreement, Blackham will issue 4.8 million ordinary shares at $0.21 each to sophisticated investors...

EMERGING iron ore company Brockman Resources has intersected direct shipping ore (DSO) mineralisation at its Sirius iron prospect, within the Ophthalmia project area north of Newman in WA’s Pilbara region, confirming the potential of the project. Results were returned for seven of eight reconnaissance diamond drill holes, all of which intersected iron mineralisation. Highlight intersections included 99.15m grading 62 per cent iron, and 70.05m grading 60.6 per cent iron. The previously reported eighth hole intersected 135.45m grading 61.02 per cent iron. Brockman chief executive offi cer Russell Tipper said the results from Sirius supported the company’s confidence that the wholly-owned Ophthalmia could be developed into a potentially viable mine that could operate in conjunction with its flagship Marillana project, about...

A WEEK after discovering course flake graphite at the Argent and Stanley prospects within its Waddikee project, Monax Mining has identified course graphite at a second site within the same deposit. The 2mm flakes, collected near a historical rock chip site, were discovered as part of reconnaissance sampling from the Balumbah prospect; the discovery has confirmed the potential for the Waddikee project, which lies on the Eyre Peninsula. A graphite exploration program undertaken by Monax focussed on assessing historical reports from its wholly-owned Waddikee project, and in a recent statement the company said it was encouraged by the presence of very course graphite within the project area. “Confirmation of a second site of course graphite on the Waddikee project at...

GOLD mineralisation has been discovered at Global Metals Exploration’s flagship Jutson Rocks project, 125km northeast of Laverton in WA’s Eastern Goldfields. Intersections of up to 3.5 grams of gold per tonne across 4m were found during a maiden rotary air blast (RAB) drilling program that consisted of 86 drill holes for a total of 2181m. Nickel, zinc and copper base metals were also intersected, returning results including 36m grading 0.2 per cent nickel from 16m for one drill hole. However, the company said it was unclear whether those results were significant bedrock mineralisation indicators or represented a form of minor supergene enrichment. The auger gold anomalies drilled were defined from a previous bulk leach extractable gold sampling program. Most of...

SOUTH Australian-based Minotaur Exploration has sold its wholly-owned Roxby Downs tenements to BHP Billiton for $10 million. The sale and purchase deed between Minotaur and BHP involves five of Minotaur’s exploration tenements that cover 2555 square kilometres in the Gawler Craton, near BHP’s Olympic Dam operation in South Australia. As part of the agreement, another BHP subsidiary relinquished its 41 per cent interest in the Mutooroo/Thackaringa joint venture at Bonython Hill, allowing Minotaur to regain 100 per cent ownership of the base metal project. In a statement, Minotaur said the deep exploration of geophysical targets around Roxby Downs was inconsistent to its risk portfolio, and reported that it would turn its focus to exploration on its Cloncurry iron oxide copper...

THE resource industry’s peak national employer group the Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA), has labelled a recent Fair Work Australia (FWA) tribunal drug test ruling “inconsistent and conflicting”, warning that the decision could restrict employers from adequately managing drug and alcohol issues. The tribunal ruled that companies could only administer on-site drug and alcohol testing using oral swabs, despite urine tests proving more effective, and found that the use of urine testing was “unjust and unreasonable”. Last month, electricity infrastructure company Endeavour Energy confirmed it had lodged an appeal against FWA’s ruling, saying “it was urine testing, not saliva-based drug testing, that best mitigated the foreseeable risks associated with chronic drug use”. The AMMA has backed the appeal, saying...

ASX-listed Mincor has boosted nickel production and its operating surplus while driving down cash costs for the March 2012 quarter. Compared to the December 2011 quarter, nickel production was up 30 per cent to 87,696t grading 3.06 per cent nickel for 2683.4t of nickel in ore. Cash costs dropped from $7 per pound of nickel in the December period to $4.96/lb for the three months ending March. Despite lower nickel prices, Mincor’s operating surplus leapt 108 per cent to $14.58 million from $7 million in the December 2011 quarter. The rise in surplus was attributed to higher-grade nickel and increased production levels combined with a reduction in cash costs. Mincor used the surplus to fund its share buyback program, which...

DIVERSIFIED metals explorer Midas Resources has entered into a joint venture with Perth-based private exploration company Cazador Resources in a move that will expand Midas’s prospective Leonora gold project from 219 to 375 square kilometres. Midas will earn a 75 per cent interest in exploration tenements E40/284 and E40/288, which adjoin its Leonora gold project tenements in WA, and cover significant sections of key faults believed to be important structural controls in the distribution of gold in the Leonora South area. These structures, known as Dingo-Kelpie and Dahlia, continue through the Midas tenements into the Cazador tenements. Midas will embark on an auger drilling program in May – involving 500 holes over a 12km strike length – pending completion of...