Protoblast – Take control of your blasting process

IN a move to deliver significant benefits to both companies, MetroCoal and Cape Alumina have signed a Merger Implementation Agreement (MIA) to create a diversified bauxite and thermal coal business with a staged development pipeline. Under the agreement, MetroCoal would offer 1.12 shares for every Cape Alumina share, in addition to providing Cape Alumina with a $3 million convertible note to supplement Cape Alumina working capital to accelerate work on the Pisolite Hills project, 50km northeast of Weipa in Queensland. The first $1 million would be made available on execution of the MIA, while the further $2 million would be available subject to the approval of Cape Alumina shareholders. Pending all required approvals, the companies reportedly expects the merger to…

BY ELIZABETH FABRI THE controversial Wallarah 2 underground coal mine has the tick of approval from the NSW Government to begin development. In mid-January, the NSW Planning Assessment Commission (PAC) declared the Wyong Areas Coal JV project on the Central Coast “in the public interest” and granted consent for it to produce up to 5 million tonnes of run of mine (ROM) thermal coal a year for 25 years, subject to conditions. “The Commission heard and acknowledged strong calls for it to take a precautionary approach given the potential for impacts to the Central Coast’s drinking water supply catchment,” PAC stated. “The issue has been assessed in detail. Impacts were assessed to be small and acceptable, with no net impact on…

A new Tsurumi heavy duty dewatering pump that delivers heads of up to 200m will change the way mining engineers, quarry and construction operators carry out dewatering duties. The new LH4110-W was introduced by Australian Pump Industries (Aussie Pumps), the sole Australian distributor for Tsurumi. Aussie Pumps product manager Craig Bridgement said the ability to use one pump to get up to a 200m total head was a huge breakthrough. “To think that Tsurumi have been able to achieve this with a pump that provides a 1000 litre per minute maximum flow, but is only 23 inches (592mm) in diameter, is a revolution,” he said. The Tsurumi LH-W series is a super high-head version of the existing LH range. The…

By Rachel Seeley THE first shipment of L70 leucoxene product from MZI Resources’ Keysbrook mineral sands project in South West WA has departed Bunbury Port enroute to the US. This shipment marked the start of cashflow from the project, with offtake customer Chemours using the L70 leucoxene to make pigments for paints, plastics and other applications. “This shipment represents Keysbrook’s arrival as the single biggest producer of high value leucoxene in the world, as we continue to ramp up cash flow generation and build value for shareholders through high margin product sales,” MZI managing director Trevor Matthews said. More than 3800t of zircon concentrate was also shipped to Tricoastal/Wensheng – China’s largest mineral sands processor – under a five-year offtake…