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Operations at the Port of Ashburton, a critical link in Mineral Resources’ (ASX: MIN) Onslow Iron supply chain, are now running entirely on natural gas.

The old pit at Kapunda. Image: Environmental Copper Recovery.   BY ELIZABETH FABRI   A GROUP of researchers and miners have joined forces in a two and a half year study that aims to identify and resolve key challenges with in-situ recovery (ISR) mineral extraction in mining.   The research program, led by Mining3 and ISR specialists Environmental Copper Recovery (ECR), will be undertaken at Terramin’s Kapunda copper mine in South Australia with Thor Mining, the University of Adelaide and CSIRO. The program would involve a “tangible demonstration of ISR mining” at Kapunda, providing examples to industry of how to unlock value in stranded assets. Kapunda – Australia’s first commercial copper mine – has been mothballed since the early 1900s,...

BHP Mitsubishi Alliance welcomes 2024 apprentices Thirty new apprentices have started their apprenticeships with BHP Mitsubishi (BMA), coming from a range of different regions across Queensland. This marks the fourth consecutive year there are more female apprentices than males with a mix of school leavers and mature apprentices. Prior to beginning their apprenticeship, each person participates in BMA’s work readiness program at the Emerald TAFE, which focuses on what the program entails and what the apprentices can expect once they begin. BMA apprentice coordinator Andy List welcomed the new apprentices. “It’s been another great intake of apprentices this year and the work readiness program has been a...

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...