FMG denies miners off course
July 28 - August 3, 2008
PERCEPTION: “We understand that there have been issues with the size of the material produced by the surface miners being too large for the crushing circuit. Unless this can be rectified, it may require the construction of a primary crusher.” Reality: “The surface miners, mining and loading trucks from the pits, are not producing any oversized material.”
Puthep could be low-cost project too
July 28 - August 3, 2008
MINE number two isn’t likely to be anywhere near as cheap as its first operation, but the fact that a second operation is now on the horizon gives credence to the aggressive growth ambitions of Lao copper-gold miner PanAust.
Rebirth of western tin
July 28 - August 3, 2008
CHINA’S Jinchuan Group may have its sights on the future, and future development of Metals X’s Wingellina nickel project in particular, but the junior miner’s managing director Peter Cook remains ‘in the now’ and very much focused on executing the company’s Tasmanian tin strategy.
Avoca in the wrong ball-park
July 21 - 27, 2008
AVOCA shareholders would probably have been expecting to be wildly celebrating now with gold production underway from the best new operation in Australia by some considerable margin. Instead, they’ve had some of their fun curtailed by outside events, though surely it’s only a matter of time before the party kicks into action.
Exco plan takes shape
July 14 - 20, 2008
GIVEN the likes of Ivanhoe, CuDeco and Xstrata’s ambitious underground plans at Ernest Henry, it’s fair to say the Cloncurry copper region of north western Queensland has a good quota of huster, bluster, and hyperbole. In contrast Exco Resources looks to have on its hands a rock solid, realistic and deliverable project that should come into production early next decade.
Minara in trouble ... again
July 7 - 13, 2008
LATERITE nickel pioneer Minara Resources is rapidly ‘mean reverting’ by running out of cash and friends (again!), with analysts jumping off the story and the stock trading at a little more than 25% of its peak, reached just over 12 months ago.
Island ore goes deep
July 7 - 13, 2008
THE future for Mount Gibson Iron looks decidedly underground with its Koolan Island project off the northern Western Australian coast offering the best resource increase potential for the infrastructure rich, resource poor, junior miner.
Testing time for FMG
June 9 - 15, 2008
FORTESCUE Metals Group (FMG) is bringing other suppliers of surface miners into the equation at its ground-breaking Cloud Break operation in Western Australia’s Pilbara as it seeks to shake off production constraints in the lead up to opening up its second mine at Christmas Creek early next year.
Fuel for thought
June 9 - 15, 2008
MAJOR aluminium producer Alcoa’s got more than just gas problems in Western Australia.
Secret cave knowledge must be growing
June 2 - 8, 2008
THE secrets to building and running a successful “rock factory” – a large-scale underground block or panel cave mine – are said to be so tightly held that, like the Knights Templar, those who break ranks will be tracked and banished to a narrow-vein mine for a few years to do their penance.
New underground age Down Under
June 2 - 8, 2008
THE new era of underground super mines in Australia, in which the likes of Ridgeway and Cadia East in New South Wales will take over from Olympic Dam and Mount Isa as the industry giants, will see conveyor systems replace shafts as the mass material transport systems of choice down to much greater depths than before. Trucks will be dumped on the proverbial scrap pile.
Out of the Miami mix
May 12 - 18, 2008
FORGET all the heavyweights strutting their stuff at Merrill Lynch’s Global Metals Mining & Steel Conference in Miami this week – one of the standout presentations came from a low-profile emerging Russian iron ore producer.
Eshuys confident St Barbara's Day will come
April 28 - May 4, 2008
ST BARBARA Ltd has been like the proverbial duck on the pond for the past three years, barely changing form above water while it paddles furiously beneath the surface to maintain forward momentum. The next 6-12 months will determine whether it can take flight towards a lofty goal of one million ounces a year production by 2010, or if, in its drive to be Australia’s next top mid-level gold producer, it starts to look like a quack.
Reclaiming Parys Mountain
April 28 - May 4, 2008
GAGGED by due diligence, regulatory considerations and possibly market and commercial sensitivities, Western Metals managing director George Bauk isn’t yet able to reveal much of value about the potential seen for an advanced zinc-copper project being acquired in northern Wales. However, Bauk does claim the deal to be an absolute bargain.
Top line nickel producer struggles for recognition
April 21 - 27, 2008
NICKEL miner Mincor Resources has been something of a poor cousin in recent times among the well heeled folk of the Australian nickel market space. However, managing director David Moore believes the company’s share market underperformance will correct “quite rapidly”, while the company has also unveiled its most ambitious exploration and production targets to date.
Crowning glory
April 14 - 20, 2008
WESTERN Areas awaits coronation as the “new king of Australian nickel sulphides”, a crown it is likely to take from Jubilee Mines ahead of companies such as Mincor Resources, according to a prominent Sydney analyst. Now CEO Julian Hanna believes the company’s Forrestania production base – confirmed as a world-class nickel camp with new high-grade drill intersections at Spotted Quoll, he says – can usurp Kambalda as the country’s premier sulphide nickel district.
Escondida to mine pit wall and link with Zaldivar copper mine
April 14 - 20, 2008
THE Escondida copper mine in Chile’s Region II is to start mining a wall that separates its Escondida Norte pit with the operations of Barrick Gold’s Zaldivar mine later this year that will join the two pits together, say Zaldivar officials.
Underlying force in iron ore
April 7 - 13, 2008
THE ‘new force in iron ore’ arrived this month, with an Australian-flag waving Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) chief Andrew Forrest leading the charge – literally (see picture left) – to break Western Australia’s iron ore duopoly of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. But slightly behind FMG another new force is emerging. It’s undeniable, though as with FMG there have been plenty of doubts raised within Australia about the bona fides of WA magnetite projects.
Niobium price makes stronger case
March 31 - April 6, 2008
A PERFECTLY timed $C32.7 million capital raising last August and the soaring value of obscure steel additive niobium have firmed Commerce Resources’ prospects of bringing its Blue River tantalum-niobium project in British Columbia, Canada, to fruition.
Extra sparkle no fluke, says Houldsworth
March 31 - April 6, 2008
RAMELIUS Resources, the Canadian-backed Australian gold junior with the mine that could potentially be a cash printer, has indicated it wants to take advantage of the current market downturn by picking up additional growth opportunities.
Citadel targets underground start
March 31 - April 6, 2008
CITADEL Resource Group will use the $A29 million it raised last week via Australian institutions to expedite development of its potentially world-class Jabal Sayid copper-zinc project in Saudi Arabia, with the successful raising coming days after the company announced significant new drill results which are expected to lead to a resource review later this year.
Poseidon resurfaces at Windarra
March 24 - 30, 2008
DETAILS remain very sketchy, but the plan is to look at ways of producing nickel metal from the Windarra nickel project in Western Australia. And no, despite it being early days, Poseidon Nickel managing director David Singleton doesn’t think it’s a case of putting the cart before the horse.
Black and white battle has shades of grey
March 24 - 30, 2008
A PROVOCATIVE article casting hematite as good and magnetite bad – and writing off prospects for a multi-billion-dollar magnetite iron ore industry in Western Australia – drew a strangely low-key response from the wannabe magnetite producers. As the article suggested they might do, they seemed to “run for cover”. That is, until now.
Iron ore moves away from benchmark
March 10 - 16, 2008
QUALITY iron ore is set to leave its lower grade peers in its dust in the future as the average grades of Chinese ores progressively decline, while on a more general level, iron ore prices won’t necessarily suffer as much as might be thought when a looming supply surplus hits in 2012.
Rio Tinto to rise again
March 3 - 9, 2008
EMED Mining likes its chances of getting the necessary approvals to re-start the historic Proyecto de Rio Tinto (PRT) copper operation in Spain – a 100% certainty, according to managing director Harry Anagnostaras. EMED plans to produce 40,000 tonnes of copper per annum from PRT for average annual profits of about $US80 million, with permitting the big hurdle.
Citi picks out FMG miners for scrutiny
March 3 - 9, 2008
FORTESCUE Metals Group’s continuous miner fleet at its new Cloud Break iron ore mine in Western Australia’s Pilbara region will need to operate at about half the standard uptime availability rates of conventional dump trucks and shovels in the region to achieve the company’s production targets.
Make mine a double
March 3 - 9, 2008
AUTOMATED iron ore mining and transport, aka Rio Tinto boss Tom Albanese’s “vision of the future”, may be edging closer, but there are also signs Australian mine operators are now reaching for more ‘ultra-class’ equipment after initially resisting a world-wide trend toward giant new machinery. The move is seen in some quarters as winding back the innovation clock.
Minara resets heap leach bar: Citi
February 25 - March 2, 2008
FURTHER evidence of the cost challenges facing the budding nickel heap leach sector have emerged via Minara Resources’ development next to the Murrin Murrin high pressure acid leach project in Western Australia.
Heat still on at Telfer
February 25 - March 2, 2008
A RESOLUTION to the truck-engine overheating problem that has slashed the availability of the 218-tonne-payload dump trucks at Telfer and added to pressure on operator Newcrest Mining to contain costs, could be more than a year away, according to a Newcrest spokesperson, who nevertheless said big Caterpillar mechanical drive trucks were not out of the running for selection at the new Cadia East openpit in New South Wales.
Sukari deeps beckon
February 11 - 17, 2008
MOMENTUM to initiate development of an underground operation at Centamin Egypt’s bulging Sukari gold project earlier than previously expected continues to build, with the recruiting of an underground mine manager now underway.
High (copper) wire act
February 11 - 17, 2008
HIGH leverage may not be one of the more fashionable concepts in the investment world just at the moment, but Matrix Metals CEO Shane McBride is quite relaxed pointing out the company’s Leichhardt operation goes very well with the current copper price and conceding it would be in serious danger if the red metal dropped below $US2 per pound.
Siana looks to be finally on the move
February 4 - 10, 2008
NAMED in reference to lateral thinker Edward De Bono, the Philippines-focused Red 5 has demanded a degree of stoicism from investors awaiting development of the Siana gold project. But it does seem close, with financing looking assured, an EPCM contractor likely to be chosen in the next month or so, and all required permits potentially signed by July.
Pieces falling into place for PanAust
January 28 - February 3, 2008
A COPYBOOK project start-up for Pan Australian Resources at Phu Kham in Laos has a new chapter, with mining moving quickly into top gear with the help of a computerised fleet control system and operator training simulator.
Lichkvaz value climbs
January 21 - 27, 2008
TAMAYA Resources claims to have substantially increased the value of its Lichkvaz gold project in Armenia, with metallurgical testwork indicating the potential for significant production of copper plus zinc.
Platinum to fire up, or cool down?
January 14 - 20, 2008
POWER and safety concerns continue to emerge as major structural issues for a platinum industry enjoying record price levels, while the big clouds on the horizon for existing mine operators and developers remain the automobile industry’s push to reduce demand in the face of such high prices, as well as the possibility that projections on future supply buck previous form.
AFR disputes Grigor counter
January 14 - 20, 2008
FRAZER Tabeart can understand why the numbers at African Energy Resources’ (AFR) Chirundu uranium project in Zambia might not “stack up” in the calculations of sometime uranium analyst Warwick Grigor. But that’s not to say Tabeart, who was recently appointed managing director of AFR, is anything other than confident that Chirundu could prove a very profitable development indeed.
Lights, camera, action
January 14 - 20, 2008
IT may not be the way forward for all mine sites, but the introduction of teleremote-controlled equipment and a new operating method at the high-profile Beaconsfield gold mine in Tasmania appears to be meeting management’s – and government - safety requirements.
Newcrest rolls out Cadia plan
December 10 - 16, 2007
NEWCREST Mining could spend $A1 billion developing an opencut and underground operation at Cadia East, with four shafts expected to be able to support a mining rate of up to 32 million tonnes per annum toward the end of next decade.
CopperCo in line to strike
December 10 - 16, 2007
BRIAN Rear does not have a threatening type of persona. Quite the contrary, he is very friendly, down to earth, and in possession of that laconic line of modesty that often comes with the assurance of past successes. Make no mistake though, Rear’s CopperCo is set to take a long, hard look at the corporate landscape through 2008, and, having being rebuffed previously as a junior, the now emerging miner is unlikely to have to accept “no” for an answer next time round.
Allied sticks to its task
November 26 - December 2, 2007
INNOVATIVE and purposeful but most importantly on time. Nearly. Considering the logistics and supply hurdles Allied Gold faced bringing the Simberi gold project on line in the timeframe it set itself, the company has done remarkably well to be closing in on its first gold pour and a final cap-ex number about 10% higher than that budgeted.
Inside Troy, ready to move
November 26 - December 2, 2007
LEAN, mean, pragmatic Troy Resources is only weeks away from first gold production at its second Brazilian mine development, with director Ken Nilsson reportedly busy with Canadian analysts and brokers on site ahead of the company’s imminent Toronto Stock Exchange listing.
Enterprising Albidon
November 26 - December 2, 2007
ALBIDON has increased estimates for its Enterprise nickel deposit and impressed analysts who visited its developing Munali nickel project in Zambia.
Still room in Xstrata mill: Exco
November 26 - December 2, 2007
EXCO Resources is unfazed by news Xstrata is to commit $A26 million on the development of an underground decline at the major’s Ernest Henry copper-gold mine near Cloncurry in Queensland.
Two-and-one for Telfer
November 19 - 25, 2007
SOARING summer temperatures on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia make claims of “sweating the asset” ring doubly true in the case of Newcrest Mining’s Telfer gold-copper project. Analysts who visited the operation earlier this month seem to have come away with reasonably warm feelings about the strategy and general progress following the earlier growing pains.
Nifty changes may improve costs
November 19 - 25, 2007
ADITYA Birla is said to be “very happy” with its decision to become an owner-miner at its Nifty underground copper mine in northern Western Australia. And so it would want to be, given the relatively high operating costs notionally don’t leave too much fat if a contractor was being paid to do the mining.
Thor ready for round two
November 5 - 11, 2007
THOR Mining is hopeful of getting the smallest of Australia’s significant new tungsten mines past the starter’s post first – with Chinese backing – but only if it can borrow, buy or steal a ball mill in time to meet its revised development schedule.
Nickel heir set to fly higher
October 29 - November 4, 2007
THE spotlight on Western Australia’s emerging nickel producers is already shining brighter in the wake of Xstrata’s swoop on Jubilee Mines. It might also be exerting a little extra heat on those aspiring to the soon-to-be-vacated junior nickel throne.
Alternatives on firmer ground
October 29 - November 4, 2007
FORGET Peak Oil (for now). Miners are thinking more about Peak Truck, says an advocate for alternative material movement systems in big openpit mines. According to the long-time head of the Australian Government’s leading mining technology research body, CRCMining, Professor Mike Hood, fossil fuel shortages aren’t the reason trucks are going the way of the dinosaurs.
Cost of success on the rise
October 22 - 28, 2007
MOVING away from contractors and retaining staff are amongst the measures adopted by miners in the Great War on costs, while an old hand at a new mine in Queensland believes a less competitive, more collective mindset will be a smarter and more efficient weapon to consider in the longer term.
Quoll lot more to think about
October 22 - 28, 2007
MINING and processing options are starting to pop up like Niton portable analysers in Australian geologists’ kit-bags at Forrestania in Western Australia. So much so that an expanded $A24 million a year exploration spend by emerging nickel producer Western Areas might be just enough to shine a big enough light on resources before some vital decisions about infrastructure for a 20,000-25,000 tonnes-per-annum nickel camp are made.
Pieces falling into place for Masbate
October 8 - 14, 2007
THERE are no locals or other third parties objecting, permitting is completed, financing looks in the bag – and 200,000 ounces per annum are due to start being poured by early 2009 at cash costs of just over $US300 per ounce. It all looks too easy!
Magnetite on the map
October 8 - 14, 2007
THE spotlight on Western Australia’s emerging magnetite iron ore producers has been fixed on the state’s mid-west lately, with the proposed Gindalbie Metals-Sundance Resources merger and fighting over much-needed infrastructure grabbing most of the headlines. But the focus should swing to the north in the first half of next year, and it might just stay there.
OceanaGold confident about Didipio
October 8 - 14, 2007
OCEANAGOLD remains confident its Didipio copper-gold project is on track for development despite the latest claims by non-government organisation Oxfam Australia that there is significant local opposition to the project.
PanAust moves to cash in on copper, gold
September 24 - 30, 2007
PAN Australian Resources is gaining further exposure to hot metals copper and gold with the plan to expand throughput at its Phu Kham copper-gold mine in Laos by more than 33%.
MDL permit in hand
September 24 - 30, 2007
DEVELOPMENT of Mineral Deposits’ Grande Cote zircon project in the West African country of Senegal looks set to begin following the granting of a mining permit.
Junior secures Maun project experience
September 24 - 30, 2007
DISCOVERY Metals Ltd’s aggressive development plans for the Maun copper project in north-west Botswana have been given a significant boost by the recruitment of an experienced project manager. Botswana’s work environment and tax laws helped clinch the appointment.
Moly in waiting, but what about the cost?
September 17 - 23, 2007
MOLY Mines is set to become the second major molybdenum contender in the past month to unveil the details of a large-scale development, with its Spinifex Ridge project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia expected to be financially robust affair even accounting for any future reversal in the commodity price. However, the up-front cost in the current environment may surprise.
Buy local theme reinforced
September 17 - 23, 2007
OPERATING in offshore jurisdictions with a minimum of expatriates to maximise the chances of success is a common theme to have emerged for miners and explorers in recent times. Speaker after speaker at the Asia Pacific Downunder conference held in Perth this week commented on the high employment of nationals at their various projects in the region.
A new Pilbara force takes shape
September 3 - 9, 2007
D-DAY – the day Andrew Forrest’s dream of breaking a Pilbara iron ore duopoly is realised – is getting closer for Fortescue Metals Group. If it is deals that have defined FMG up until now, it will most certainly be deeds over the next 12 months. Meeting project completion deadlines, demonstrating the effectiveness of new iron ore diggers, delivering into supply contracts, paying back debt, drilling out new resources: the ‘d’-line is long, but Forrest declared last week that China’s demand for the region’s mineral wealth meant his Pilbara vision was only just starting to take shape.
Breaking with convention
September 3 - 9, 2007
FORTESCUE Metals Group now expects to have its operating fleet of 14 Wirtgen surface miners, plus two spares, on site at Cloud Break by April 2008. The extra units, says FMG head of mining John Blanning, are in case availability of the machines goes the same way as most other mining equipment and becomes scarce.
Platinum project testing
September 3 - 9, 2007
WHILE Platinum Australia’s Kalplats joint venture project in South Africa could well prove a particularly significant PGM development given its uniqueness and the global paucity of platinum resources, Goldman Sachs JBWere (GSJBW) has canvassed a number of potential operational issues that will need negotiating.
Finland upside is strong
September 3 - 9, 2007
RATED by resource investment aficionados as the pick of companies on display at the recent Diggers & Dealers conference in Australia’s gold mining capital Kalgoorlie, Vulcan Resources’ big attraction is two projects in Finland with multi-mine potential. It also has market challenges.
'Ideal' blend starts with cordial deal
August 27 - September 2, 2007
THE first step in what ultimately could play out to be the blending of two businesses has been taken with Jubilee Mines agreeing to sell some of its planned nickel production to its next door neighbour in Western Australia, nickel major BHP Billiton. The 12-month timeframe of the deal, however, suggests Jubilee is keen to keep its options open.
Not dead yet
August 27 - September 2, 2007
TASMANIA’S mining revival could be about to get another boost with state government environmental clearance understood to have been given for Metals X Ltd’s Mt Bischoff tin project – effectively providing a green light for the long-awaited revival of the Renison tin mine near Zeehan.
Moving house
August 27 - September 2, 2007
INVESTORS in the world’s largest zircon and second biggest producer of titanium feedstock may get more of a kick out of the iron ore and real estate markets than heavy minerals in the longer term, according to some analysts, who said after last week’s release of Iluka Resources Ltd’s latest financial statements the company’s heavy minerals growth strategy still faced some significant challenges.
Tamaya weighs Armenia funding options
August 27 - September 2, 2007
TAMAYA Resources expects it will cost about $US60 million to develop a 100,000 ounces-per-annum gold project at Lichkvaz in Armenia by late next year, with the area considered prospective for a multi-million ounce orebody.
Newcrest revisits Telfer block cave
August 20 - 26, 2007
BLOCK caving seems to have become the preferred mining method for every second mine these days and Newcrest Mining is both joining the throng and providing the obvious de-risked template for others via a potential development at its Telfer project.
Koniambo prospects look strong
August 13 - 19, 2007
AFTER paying about $US20 billion or so for Falconbridge last year, you’d expect Xstrata to be reasonably confident on the outlook for nickel. It is! And the Anglo-Swiss major is putting more money where its mouth is with strong indications it’s about to commit another billion or two to developing the Koniambo project in New Caledonia.
Big picture irony
August 13 - 19, 2007
AUSTRALIAN mining’s Big Picture man, Andrew Forrest, came to Kalgoorlie last week with some strong messages, among them, for the dealers in town: rear-vision-mirror forecasting favoured by rivals might mean Australia misses the “next China boom”. For the diggers, he affirmed the quite popular practices of drilling, blasting, shovelling and hauling, were yesterday’s mining methodology.
Lihir to power up
August 13 - 19, 2007
LIHIR GOLD Ltd will look to significantly increase geothermal power generation on Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea, as part of a plan to lift gold output to more than one million ounces a year by 2010 through further plant expansion.
Deep thinking coming on shafts
August 6 - 12, 2007
PRODUCTION shafts are few and far between in Australia compared to places like Canada and South Africa, but emerging Australian base metal miners Western Areas and Kagara Zinc could well become the full bottle on them in the next few years.
Goldstar presses forward
August 6 - 12, 2007
CONVINCING everybody of the investment merits of a Victorian gold mining operation intuitively seems one of the tougher sells in the current resources sector given recent setbacks at Bendigo, Ballarat and Fosterville. Still, you can’t tar everything with the same brush and Goldstar Resources believes it’s got what it takes at its Eureka project.
Settings change at historic mine
July 30 - August 5, 2007
BROKEN HILL, one of Australia’s oldest mines, is the focus of initiatives designed to make it one of the most modern. Operator Perilya Ltd’s ability to position itself for “sustainable growth” as a mid-cap producer will depend on the success of the measures.
Jabiru ready to take flight
July 30 - August 5, 2007
EMERGING zinc and copper producer Jabiru Metals NL won’t be rushing to join some of its sector peers on an overseas treasure hunt, but will keep a close eye on base metal acquisition opportunities in Australia as it ramps up exploration at Jaguar in Western Australia and Benambra in Victoria.
Good PanAust progress on two fronts
July 30 - August 5, 2007
THE extremely unusual quinella these days of being ahead of schedule and under budget continues for Pan Australian Resources, while infill and extension drilling at its $A241 million Phu Kham copper-gold project in Laos has opened up the possibility of boosting resources and with it production.
Universal appeal
July 23 - 29, 2007
SHAREHOLDERS of Universal Resources could surely be forgiven for being absolutely ropeable given the languishing market performance of their company over the past couple of years in the face of the best copper price environment in many decades. However, a new era seems to be slowly dawning. Think downsizing!
St Barbara resurfaces
July 16 - 22, 2007
ST BARBARA Ltd will swing its gold exploration emphasis at two historic Western Australian mining centres to near-surface targets after confirming underground reserves it believes will be adequate to sustain the revival of its prime Leonora and Marvel Loch assets, and its elevation into Australia’s mid-level gold producer ranks.
Positive signs from Nifty
July 16 - 22, 2007
ADITYA Birla Minerals has recorded a credible June-quarter performance at its big Nifty underground copper mine in Western Australia, highlighting positive signs that its woes to date are now behind it.
Culture clash?
July 9 - 15, 2007
IF MANAGEMENT is a key defining quality that sets a company apart from its peers, then copper miner Aditya Birla Minerals could be in some strife. Especially in the current environment.
Albidon tackles Munali threats
July 9 - 15, 2007
ALBIDON Ltd has awarded a three-year mining contract at its Munali nickel development is in Zambia, and is said to be dealing with key risks such as the relocation and training of locals with aplomb.
Cashed up struggler
July 9 - 15, 2007
AS THE story goes, it took the best part of two-to-three decades for the then Western Mining to transform its alumina division into the highly profitable business it became. Ex-WMC man Peter Johnston is waging a similar war of attrition with the Murrin Murrin laterite nickel project, though once-in-a-lifetime nickel prices have disguised the battle at hand (so far).
Block cave cost a shock
July 2 - 8, 2007
THE CAPITAL cost of Newcrest Mining Ltd’s first move into underground block cave mining is “the big surprise” for one investment bank, not so much of a shock for another. Both applauded the long-term approach taken by the gold miner to developing a new generation of deep mines.
FMG mining set to pick up
July 2 - 8, 2007
AUSTRALIA’S most unconventional mining fleet starts materialising at Fortescue Metals Group’s Cloud Break iron ore mine this month.
Growing pains hurt gold miner
July 2 - 8, 2007
BOTH the project and management at struggling Victorian gold miner Perseverance Corp continue to win analyst support, with shareholders undoubtedly hoping the analysts know what they’re being paid to know. In the interim, will a predator be attracted to the distressed asset?
Momentum builds
June 25 - July 1, 2007
MINING professionals have a good track record for thinking outside the square – usually when they’re actually outside of the square. With the focus of mining company executives very much on building and sustaining production, they are turning increasingly to their peers on the “outside” to provide extra brainpower.
Iluka's eastern ramp-up on track
June 25 - July 1, 2007
ILUKA Resources Ltd, seeking redemption in the eyes of disaffected investors, has received the thumbs up from analysts for bringing its Murray Basin Mineral Separation (MSP) up to designed production rates on schedule.
Low-cost Kambalda trend
June 18 - 24, 2007
MINCOR Resources has again proved itself a quality operator by expeditiously finding and developing a “new” nickel deposit in the Kambalda region of Western Australia that is set to record very profitable returns on the back of low operating costs.
Straits presses for salt shake-up
June 18 - 24, 2007
AS RIO Tinto showed off its major salt operations in Western Australia to analysts last week, a potential competitor wasn’t exactly exuding a huge amount of confidence about getting the official go-ahead for its proposed project near Exmouth.
Setting sail for home
June 11 - 17, 2007
SOME 1600m below the surface of the Bismark Sea north of Rabaul, Nautilus Minerals Inc is about to get to work with a modified Atlas Copco diamond rig drilling its first planned high-grade copper-zinc and precious metal mining operation.
Floodgates may open
June 11 - 17, 2007
TERRESTRIAL mineral exploration and development is ratcheting up to unprecedented levels around the world, pushing a seemingly endless sea of funds into new search and mining frontiers. An Australian scientist believes it is only a matter of time before the probing crosses more meaningfully to the other 71% of the planet’s surface.
Growing in stature
June 4 - 10, 2007
THE budding heap leach nickel sector has garnered further market support with Metallica Minerals attracting investment from Chinese firm Yunnan Tin Group (YTC), while GME Resources Ltd has intimated its NiWest project could be developed on a significantly larger scale and Heron Resources has firmed up resources at Jump-Up Dam.
Raised stakes
May 28 - June 3, 2007
A POKER game is underway between uranium explorers and miners with ground in the historically productive Colorado Plateau region of the USA.
The next big thing
May 28 - June 3, 2007
THINK BIG. That’s the motto of Pilbara mine and infrastructure developers and it’s why Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) seems to be fitting right in. But what about minnows such as Atlas Iron Ltd, which wants to be producing a modest six million tonnes of direct shipping iron ore from two properties near Port Hedland by 2010?
Re-energised Rio
May 21 - 27, 2007
WHICHEVER way you cut it, the company that is often lauded for its analytical rigor and long-term strategic focus went oh so close to falling in a rather big hole on uranium. Instead, Rio Tinto is now racing ahead to double and possibly nearly triple output over the next 7-8 years.
Beaconsfield revival
May 21 - 27, 2007
NEGATIVE history aside, the “new” owner of the Beaconsfield gold project in Tasmania claims it more or less represents the equivalent of a de-risked IPO complete with tangible upside. Indeed, with tongue somewhat in cheek, Beaconsfield Gold directors suggest the biggest risk will be a takeover from a “rogue Canadian outfit” such is the current under-valuation of the stock.
Bass plays it straight
May 14 - 20, 2007
IF ONE was asked to come up with an oxymoron in the resources sector, Bass Metals Ltd would be a fair effort. Commercially focused and exploring for world-class deposits. But with geologist and ex-Rothschild banker Mike Rosenstreich at the helm, the mix, if not the adjective, is valid.
Many keys to the vault
May 7 - 13, 2007
THE mainstream view is that the uranium price that fuelled an equity bonanza is real and is set to remain strong for years into the future. However, at least one blue-chip investment bank doesn’t buy it, and suggests those invested in producing stocks such as Paladin Resources and Energy Resources of Australia (never mind many in the army of hopefuls) might be wiser heading for the exits.
Copper shocker
April 30 - May 6, 2007
COPPER producer Aditya Birla has signed-off on a shocking operational performance since its UBS-underwritten $A300 million IPO hit the market 12 months ago, with all key targets missed by a long, long way. While some in the market continue to assess the company’s prospects as positive, management, whose credibility rests on the year ahead, are cagey on the forecast front.
Tanami shaft looks likely
April 30 - May 6, 2007
MAJOR new potential developments in the Tanami region of Australia’s Northern Territory and Indonesia have emerged in the growth pipeline for gold heavyweight Newmont Mining Corp.
Zinc wave
April 30 - May 6, 2007
FIFTEEN new mine developments set to begin production imminently could help balance the approximate 12 million-tonnes-per-annum zinc market as early as late this year.
Kagara faces cost blow-out: GSJBW
April 30 - May 6, 2007
MANAGEMENT at Kagara Zinc Ltd has maintained its recent pre-tax profit guidance of $A175 million for fiscal 2007 – subject to ongoing high metal prices – while analysts at a blue chip investment bank have similarly stuck with their view that the company’s new Mungana development will cost a whole lot more than recent official estimates.
Oxiana gearing up
April 23 - 29, 2007
GROWTH miner Oxiana Ltd has reported a March quarter that saw production targets more or less met and full year forecasts remaining unchanged, while rhetoric concerning the bullish company’s nickel interests garnered media headlines but naught comment from sector analysts.
Government lightens tax load
April 23 - 29, 2007
A NEW fiscal and royalty regime and a much improved performance at the previously very disappointing Phu Bia gold heap leach project have highlighted Pan Australian Resources Ltd’s first quarter in 2007, while the company’s flagship Phu Kham copper-gold development continues on-track for production mid-2008.
Admiralty's ship sails
April 16 - 22, 2007
THERE are as many junior mineral companies waiting for their ship to come in as there are cape-size vessels off the coast at Newcastle. Across the Pacific Ocean, a long wait for an iron ore project to move forward ended with last week’s hasty loading of a $US3.29 million batch of high-grade magnetite bound for (where else?) China.
Phu Kham costs under a microscope
April 16 - 22, 2007
JUST under six months ago investment bank Goldman Sachs JBWere (GSJBW) made this clarion call to investors regarding Pan Australian Resources (PNA): “We remain of the view that either the market will recognise the value that exists at the current share price, or a corporate will.” Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) is another now joining the fan club – with caveats.
Brazil's emerging miner
April 16 - 22, 2007
SEVEN years into their Brazilian adventure the boys from AIM-listed Serabi Mining plc claim strong foundations are in place for the company to become a multi-operation gold miner by the turn of the decade.
No challengers to real thing
April 16 - 22, 2007
DOMINION Mining Ltd is sticking to the script that says third party assets are overvalued and organic growth represents a more value-accretive way of growing a company. In Dominion’s case, a potential gold mine expansion gives the strategy credence.
Acid test for Heron
April 9 - 15, 2007
WITH funding now assured for feasibility studies of Heron Resources Ltd’s potential $US300 million Jump-up Dam heap leach nickel laterite development in Western Australia, the company is keen to expeditiously nail down key project parameters given the waiting list for acid plants is close to two years.
CVRD targets costs
April 9 - 15, 2007
NOT only does CVRD have an enviable portfolio of new and expanded projects that could conceivably see it become the head honcho in the diversified mining world – including iron ore, coal, copper, nickel and PGM developments – it has also identified major cost-saving possibilities from the pit to the port.
Private handover signals new phase
April 2 - 8, 2007
AT A time when mergers and acquisitions are transforming the global mining consulting business a smaller Perth-based international consulting group is intent on maintaining recent strong growth under a private ownership structure that has just had its most significant dislocation in two decades.
Big projects, little sign of slowdown
April 2 - 8, 2007
A NEW nickel mine in Finland and potential major developments in the Philippines and New Caledonia reflect a nickel sector in major expansion mode.
Costly Chilean trifecta
April 2 - 8, 2007
WHILE copper production from the country that is the world’s biggest producer has increased nearly four-fold in a little over 20 years, Chile is becoming a less assured destination for companies and equity investors focused on the red metal.
Testing new horizons
March 19 - 25, 2007
THE MINING industry’s claustrophobic feelings about deep, large-scale underground mines may be re-emerging. Some companies with massive orebodies of low-to-moderate grade are favouring very deep surface mines over the underground equivalent: block or panel cave operations. A leading mining consultant and block caving expert is asking why.
Six years later ...
March 19 - 25, 2007
THE company that kicked off the junior nickel mining revolution in the Kambalda region of Western Australia could have a not inconsiderable seven underground mines under management by the second half of calendar 2008. However, Mincor Resources believes any challenges are well in hand.
Monarch's humble start
March 8 - 14, 2007
WITH THE dealing done, for now, it’s time for Michael Kiernan’s Monarch Gold Company Ltd to start counting production ounces at the first of its planned regional operating hubs. Restarting the Davyhurst mill and mining activity in the district is a relatively small step for a company with ambitions to lead a revival of Australia’s mid-tier gold mining stocks, but important in the context of current moves to attract the attention of investors at home, as well as those in kingdoms further afield.
Cost shift undermines price forecasts
March 8 - 14, 2007
A RECORD start to the year for Chinese imports plus Indian Government moves to curb exports has seen sentiment and some price forecasts moving the way iron ore miners enjoy. But it is not all beer and skittles, with sharply rising costs putting producers on notice to seek out lower cost global jurisdictions.
Deacon extends options
March 8 - 14, 2007
SALLY Malay Mining managing director Peter Harold was too busy to attend the PDAC talkfest this week, but it’s a fair bet that Sally would have been on the lips of more than a few Canadians in Toronto given the joint venture with TSXV-listed Brilliant Mining Corp and the dearth of local nickel producing stocks in the land of the maple leaf.
Change the copper key for giants
March 8 - 14, 2007
WHILE deep challenges lie ahead for the world’s second and fourth biggest copper producers, analogies involving pigs and waste spring more readily to mind in 2007.
Golden Jubilee
February 22 - 28, 2007
THE world’s most profitable pure nickel miner (on a margin basis) pocketed another $US85 million in the first half of fiscal 2007 and, according to one investment bank, it has some of the most strategic nickel assets held outside of the global tier 1 nickel producers. Take a bow Jubilee Mines NL.
Oil bonanza
February 15 - 21, 2007
MINERS usually bristle when the evening news reader introduces a “mining company” then proceeds to describe a gas project or oil drilling exercise. For that matter, so do the oilees. Yes there is a significant divide between the two industries and it’s not just enmity over different pay scales. In Canada, though, things are different.
Foot goes down at Cadia East
February 15 - 21, 2007
THE chance to wear the leader’s jersey can be a motivating force for miners too, the manager at Newcrest Mining Ltd’s $A100-plus million Cadia East development project in central New South Wales is finding.
Birla gets Nifty nice
February 8 - 14, 2007
HINDALCO Industries-controlled copper miner, Aditya Birla should have big year of copper production and profits in 2007-08 as it completes a major new development at the Nifty mine on the edge of Western Australia’s Great Sandy Desert.
AIM on target
February 8 - 14, 2007
AIM Resources Ltd is finalising funding and has begun work at its Perkoa zinc project in Burkina Faso after this week receiving the Mining Exploitation licence required from government authorities in the West African country.
No big toys for Twiggy
February 1 - 7, 2007
HE MAY be able to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from American financiers to fund his latest grand mining scheme, but even Andrew Forrest can’t circumvent the equipment and tyre supply squeeze threatening major delays to new projects around the world.
Perseverance paying
February 1 - 7, 2007
WHILE it has had a far lower media and market profile than its supposed big brothers Bendigo Mining Ltd and Ballarat Goldfields NL, the runt of the litter has clearly emerged as the leader of the pack in Victoria. Moreover, this company’s BIOX capabilities could throw up some interesting future possibilities.
Henry5 coming up trumps for Agincourt
January 25 - 31, 2007
AGINCOURT Resources Ltd may revisit the option of sinking a shaft on the Wiluna gold field in Western Australia if an intensive underground drilling program currently underway significantly expands the resource potential of the promising Henry5 discovery.
Inside out
January 25 - 31, 2007
THE LURE of Victoria’s old goldfields may have been tainted by this month’s decision by Bendigo Mining Ltd to shut its new mine and refocus on exploration – and a reliable reserve model for so-called high-nugget effect gold deposits – but the move has not dented the confidence of Andrew King.
Mount Isa melting pot
December 21 - 27, 2006
XSTRATA plc’s Mount Isa copper business in North Queensland is within months of completing significant expansion programs designed to result in integrated production heading towards 300,000 tonnes per annum of the red metal. However, growth thereafter looks constrained.
Some glitter at last for Newmont
December 21 - 27, 2006
DESPITE a poor equity performance over the past 12 months, Newmont Mining Corp’s plus-$US200 million diamond investment in Shore Gold Inc’s Fort a la Corne (FALC) project in Saskatchewan, Canada, should not be construed as heralding a new direction for the major precious metal miner.
Cooling breeze from Brazil strengthens
December 14 - 20, 2006
ANGLO American’s $US1.2 billion stamp of approval for the development of the Barro Alto project in Brazil is one of a number of new or expanding nickel operations that could take some of the heat out of the nickel market a little sooner than some might expect.
Barro Alto is go
December 14 - 20, 2006
HAVING been discovered in the 1960s and bought from the-then Inco back in 2002 for $US35 million, Anglo American is to spend US1.2 billion developing the Barro Alto deposit in Brazil into a 36,000 tonnes-per-annum ferronickel project while continuing to supply ore to the company’s nearby Codemin operation.
BHPB's test out west
December 14 - 20, 2006
A SIGNIFICANTLY increased exploration effort and possible development of a block caving operation at Leinster are among the key initiatives on the management table at BHP Billition Ltd’s Nickel West business, the world’s third biggest nickel in concentrate producer. Short of exploration success, this appears very much a story of sustainability rather than growth.
Rain brings lessons
December 7 - 13, 2006
PAN Australian Resources Ltd has some key factors in its favour as equipment arrives on site and concreting begins at the major Phu Kham copper-gold development in Laos.
Sepon turning Lao
December 7 - 13, 2006
OXIANA Ltd has proved itself a mine developer and operator par-excellence since first gold was poured at Sepon in Laos late in 2002 and first copper stripped in March 2005. However, there remains a significant challenge ahead as the project moves into its fifth year of operations.
Majors extend stays
November 30 - December 6, 2006
ANGLO American plc and Xstrata plc are reportedly considering a major expansion of the Collahuasi copper project in Chile, while Rio Tinto Ltd and South African gold miner Goldfields Ltd have both announced sizeable additions to operations in Australian and Ghana, respectively.
Kagara bids big
November 23 - 29, 2006
WITH wallets bulging and a keenness to ensure its eggs aren’t only in the zinc and copper baskets, Kagara Zinc has made its second move into the nickel sector, with the pick-up of LionOre Mining’s tenements adjacent to Western Areas’ emerging Flying Fox assets in Western Australia raising the distinct possibility of future corporate action.
Groundwork being laid for new zinc mine
November 16 - 22, 2006
TRAINING-up a skilled workforce and dealing with a couple of underground mining issues are the key challenges for an ambitious zinc miner with advancing plans for a major development in North Africa that could also result in significant “first-mover” opportunities.
Langer ready to power up
November 16 - 22, 2006
FOR those utilities and uranium traders feeling the heat from the flooding at Cigar Lake in Canada, good news is at hand. Paladin Resources Ltd’s Langer Heinrich project in Namibia is tracking well and additional output has been flagged. Further, the company’s Kayelekera uranium project in Malawi is keeping to schedule.
Heat on recoveries
November 16 - 22, 2006
A NEW uranium mine in Zambia annually producing 680 tonnes (1.5 million pounds) of uranium could cost well over $US60 million to develop based on results of a scoping study managed by MDM Engineering Ltd of Johannesburg.
Chinese roped in
November 9 - 15, 2006
CONSTRUCTION will step up a gear this month at an innovative gold project on the picturesque Tabar Islands of Papua New Guinea, with Chinese interests hovering in the background.
Ready for lift-off ... again
November 9 - 15, 2006
RODERICK Smith was in Prague this week doing what he has been doing for two decades: talking up vanadium. He called it “a 21st century miracle metal”, but wasn’t referring to last year’s incredible price spikes for vanadium pentoxide and ferrovanadium. He also talked about his miracle project – Windimurra in Western Australia.
Come again
November 2 - 8, 2006
THE perennial laughing stock of the world mining sector looks to be finally getting its act together.
Mexican cloud has silver lining
November 2 - 8, 2006
ON TIME and on budget: now there’s a phrase we are not hearing too often at the moment.
Winding into production
November 2 - 8, 2006
DISCOVERED way back in the 1800s, drilled in the 1900s and now deemed “world class” by owner, major zinc producer Zinifex Ltd. Take a bow Dugald River, your time is nigh.
COVER STORY: Digging deeper
October 26 - November 1, 2006
THE spectacularly successful North Queensland zinc and copper miner Kagara Zinc believes it will be finding and developing new deposits in the region for many years to come, with some major underground mine developments also in the frame.
Cave monsters
October 26 - November 1, 2006
THEY are big and scary and they lurk in the depths. They are the monsters researchers and mining engineers will need to tame to enable some of the world’s largest mineral deposits to be economically exploited in future.
Catching the Mexican wave
October 26 - November 1, 2006
FROM humble beginnings as just one of a number of hopeful explorers, to emerging 11 million-ounce-a-year producer set to generate earnings of about $US100 million per annum – all in a five-year timeframe. That’s ounces of silver, not gold. Welcome to Mexico, gringos!
Heaps of opportunity
October 26 - November 1, 2006
FORGET the complex chemistry sets and the fat chequebooks. A new nickel laterite revolution gathering momentum revolves around the simplicity and relatively low capital cost of heap leaching, a beguiling combination that has got the world’s biggest hard rock miner seriously interested.
Olympic Dam: The bigger picture
October 19 - 25, 2006
AT AUSTRALIA’S original “super pit”, Fimiston at Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, about 80 million tonnes of ore and waste were mined last year to recover 834,000oz of gold. The giant hole in the ground will eventually be 3.8km long, 1.35km wide and about half a kilometre deep: about the same as the “starter pit” at Olympic Dam in South Australia.
A place in history
October 19 - 25, 2006
ECONOMIC reserves are usually the key constraint on the size of a mine. They obviously dictate longevity and, where the clearly outlined resource is massive, they allow long-term planning at a significant scale.
Taking the low ground
October 19 - 25, 2006
THE GOOD sense that came from Barrick Gold Corporation chief Greg Wilkins at a Western Australian gold conference earlier this month was not lost on Ed Eshuys. St Barbara Mines Ltd’s managing director and chief executive officer says Wilkins’ prediction that a $US500-per-ounce gold price would put many mines – particularly Australian mines – into mothballs, is spot on. “That’s fine with us,” he said.
Dust and dollars
September 21 - 27, 2006
WILL the current mining boom, which has helped Australian mining consultants and engineering groups spread their wings to all parts of the globe, see the end of the country’s large independent mining engineering consultancies? One of the remaining independents thinks it might.
Back on the menu
September 21 - 27, 2006
WITH the corporate manoeuvring out of the way, it’s time to get back to mining the gold at Frog’s Leg, not much more than a hop, skip and jump away from a cluster of significant gold deposits on the Zuleika Shear structure near Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
Mirabela eyes Randon cost savings
September 7 - 13, 2006
A RAFT of mine development challenges has increased the degree of difficulty for companies looking to soundly position new projects on the relevant global cost curve.
Coolgardie restart
August 21 - 27, 2006
COOLGARDIE’S second, third or maybe 10th rebirth as a gold production centre is underway with Barra Resources Ltd expecting to pour its first gold from Burbanks this week.
Force of change
August 10 - 16, 2006
ANDREW "Twiggy" Forrest seldom sticks to a script. Not surprisingly, given the timing clash with his trip to the US to sort out a couple of billion dollars of debt finance for the $A2.9 billion Chichester Range iron ore project, Forrest didn’t make it to the speaker’s lectern at last week’s Diggers & Dealers forum in Kalgoorlie.
Cutting edge
August 10 - 16, 2006
CONTINUOUS miners, whether surface or underground, cutting in a vertical or horizontal sequence, work on a principle of mechanically mining a thin layer of material. The depth of the cut made in the rock depends on the equipment type and the material being mined.
Patience pays for uranium’s Paladin
July 24 - 30, 2006
THE uranium floats sprouting like springtime mushrooms in Australia could have a failure rate of up to 70% through the simple laws of prospecting risk, the paucity of expertise from prospecting through to marketing, and heavy and unrealised compliance issues down the track for those looking at commercialisation.
Vital juncture
July 10 - 16, 2006
NOT long ago the prospect of a significant new tungsten mine in Australia appeared dim indeed. Now there are two on the horizon.
Chromite for entrée
June 26 - July 2, 2006
A REDEVELOPED chromite mine may put Rusina Mining NL on investors’ radar screens. It could also give the fledgling company a chance to cut its Philippines mining teeth before embarking on a much bolder bid to turn the Acoje multi-metal deposit into a world-class platinum camp.
Greener fields at Dairi
June 12 - 18, 2006
FOR more than a decade Herald Resources Ltd was synonymous with gold mining at Coolgardie in Western Australia. It built a dominant landholding and a big gold plant (for that town) and set about putting its imprimatur on one of WA’s historically significant goldfields.
Zinc to retain lustre: AME
June 12 - 18, 2006
GALLOPING Chinese demand for zinc — which has seen the country’s total share of world zinc demand double in less than seven years — is yet to be boosted by high-level consumption for galvanising, according to Australia’s AME Mineral Economics.
Timing fine, place a concern
June 12 - 18, 2006
“THE RIGHT project at the right time.” Jeff Clevenger, president and chief executive officer of US-based Apex Silver Mines Ltd, was not referring to Herald Resources Ltd’s $US118 million Dairi zinc-lead project in Indonesia in an Apex investor presentation earlier this month.
Rediscovering Olympic Dam
May 29 - June 4, 2006
ONE of Australia’s most important world-class mineral discoveries of the past half a century is being “rediscovered” by its new owner.
Future is above ground
May 15 - 21, 2006
GEOTECHNICAL investigations ultimately put an end to hopes that the life of Tasmania’s Savage River openpit iron ore mine would be extended by a large-scale underground project. But after more than a decade of on-again, off-again talk about the 39-year-old mine’s underground development prospects, commodity prices had the final say on its future.
Earth moves at Dawson
February 16 - 22, 2006
SITE works are underway to begin the major Dawson mine site expansion in central Queensland. Anglo Coal and joint venture partner Mitsui Coal Holdings are investing $US653 million to expand saleable coal output at Dawson — one of the region’s major new generation production centres — to 12.7 million tonnes per annum by 2007.
Solid ground
January 19 - 25, 2006
REGENERATION of New Zealand’s coal industry is stepping up a gear despite the mixed signals the industry has received from Helen Clark’s Government and the recent misadventures of major producer Solid Energy. The catalyst? Export markets.
Pike River’s new course
January 19 - 25, 2006
WHEN the head of New Zealand’s biggest coal company told more than 300 delegates at a recent mining conference in Auckland the country had probably never had an economic underground coal mine, the comment raised a few eyebrows.
Full steam ahead
January 19 - 25, 2006
A MAJOR expansion of the Ensham thermal coal mine in Queensland’s Bowen Basin will reflect fundamental changes in underlying demand from key Asian markets, according to Ensham Resources chief executive officer John Pegler.