Safe shutdowns start with smarter planning

Classic Minerals to begin trial mining exercise at Kat Gap Following the extraction of a bulk sample last year, Classic Minerals (ASX:CLZ) is set to begin a trial mining exercise at its Kat Gap gold project. The trial mining will test the veracity of the recently announced indicated resource and provide Classic with data it needs to derive an ore reserve. It will also aid in the calibration of mining and metallurgy parameters prior to full-scale mining and production. Classic will likely trial mine a good portion of the oxide component of the indicated resource to a depth of 45m. The trial pit is expected to take around...

A heads of agreement (HOA) between failed base metals miner Kagara and Mungana Goldmines has collapsed after unfavourable ruling from the Australian Tax Office. An agreement was reached in December whereby Kagara would hand back its 95.6 million Mungana Gold Mines shares, in exchange for the return of the gold rights and cancellation of other debts between the companies. On 21 February, 2013, Mungana Goldmines announced it had received a private ruling from the ATO which “does not confirm the full availability of tax losses to offset any tax liability arising from the HOA transaction”. As a result of this failed key condition, the HOA it was terminated. The administrators of Kagara and Mungana have agreed to continue discussions with...

WA’s premier construction and mining event, the biennial Construction and Mining Expo (CME) returns to Perth from March 15 to 17, at Sandalford Estate in the Swan Valley. CME 2012 will showcase about 120 exhibitors across more than 16,000 square metres of indoor and outdoor exhibition space. An estimated 4000 industry professionals from across Australia are expected to attend this year’s event, from a broad range of industries including: construction; mining; electrical; telecommunications and cabling; sewer, water and gas management; engineering; landscaping; recruitment; training and professional services; and public works. Latest innovations CME 2012 will offer attendees an opportunity to view and compare the latest equipment; explore the newest products and innovations in the industry; and watch action-packed machinery demonstrations...

WHILE 68pc of global nickel is still used for the production of stainless steel, and only 3pc for battery metals, an announcement by the Chinese government may have changed the fortune of the metal, along with the future of the automotive industry forever. In 2018, China sent ripples throughout the car manufacturing and mining worlds when it announced its New Energy Vehicle (NEV) deal. The deal set a quota for the number of zero-emissions vehicles that carmakers must sell, with companies each receiving a certain number of credits, depending on certain characteristics of the vehicles. From 2019, major Chinese manufacturers would be punished unless they met quotas for zero and low-emission cars, or bought credits from companies that did not...