Australia’s Construction Forestry Mining & Energy Union are among those lobbying Indonesian Government to step in to solve an industrial dispute at the world’s second largest copper mine in West Papua, that has now dragged on for more than four months.
The Canadian mineral and mining industry on Monday outlined six important policy areas it would like to see addressed during the 74th annual conference of federal and provincial ministers of energy and mining in Saint Andrews, New Brunswick, this week.
A national coalition of mining associations under the Canadian Mineral Industry Federation (CMIF) is recommending several government actions to help unlock billions of economic activity across the country, address climate change, bolster reconciliation efforts with Indigenous peoples, and secure Canada as the world’s top supplier of sustainably sourced minerals and metals in an increasingly lower carbon global economy.
Copperbelt Energy Corp (CEC), Zambia’s main supplier of power for its mines, confirmed on Sunday that it has restricted the amount of electricity it supplies to Glencore unit Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) because of a dispute over tariffs. Mopani said on Saturday that it has suspended operations in certain areas after CEC restricted power supply to its mines in both Kitwe and Mufulira.
Congo has reinstated a value added tax (VAT) on mining company imports, the chamber of mines said on Saturday, part of what miners say is a deteriorating business climate in the country. Democratic Republic of Congo’s government agreed to suspend the tax in July 2016 to help companies during a commodity price downturn, and to pay down hundreds of millions of dollars in VAT reimbursements owed to the companies.
Dual-listed Heron Resources has advanced the development of its Woodlawn zinc/copper project, in New South Wales, placing initial orders for a number of long-lead, critical path equipment.
The ASX- and TSX-listed company on Monday said that it had procured a $4.4-million fine grinding mill, A$4.9-million in flotation cells and A$1.2-million in thickeners.
Potash developer Australian Potash will raise A$5-million to advance work on its Lake Wells sulphate of potash (SOP) project, in Western Australia.
The company on Monday said that a bookbuild had been completed for the placement of some30-million shares, at 10c each, to sophisticated and professional investors, to raise an initial A$3-million.
ASX-listed Dateline Resources has raised some A$2.1-million through a non-renounceable rights issue.
The junior in July this year launched the one-for-two non-renounceable rights issue, priced at 2c a share, with the aim of raising up to A$4-million to fund working capital, and the pursuit of the Colorado gold project.
ASX-listed juniors Aphrodite Gold and Spitfire Materials on Monday announced a merger to create a diversified Australian gold development company with a combined resource of some 1.3-million ounces.
Under the terms of the agreement, Spitfire has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding capital of Aphrodite, in which it currently holds a 10.38% stake, offering shareholders one new Spitfire share for every 2.9 Aphrodite shares held.
Oil and gas producer Santos reported on Monday that it had signed an agreement to redirect gas to the Pelican Point power station, to support South Australia’s energy needs.
Starting in January next year, Santos will supply 15 PJ of electricity to the power station, through a mix of gas from the Glandstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) project and the company’s portfolio gas.
Gold miner Newcrest Mining on Monday reported a 6% increase in revenue for the 2017 financial year, despite slightly lower gold production.
Revenue for the 12 months to June 30 increased from A$3.2-million to A$3.4-million, as the company benefited from an 8% higher realised gold price and a 10% higher realised copper price.
The Queensland government has opened its coffers for explorers looking for mineral discoveries in the North West region of the state. Natural Resources and Mines Minister Dr Anthony Lynham said on Monday that explorers wanting to work in the North West minerals province had until September 29 to apply for collaborative exploration initiative grants.
Indian traders are likely to import 25 tonnes of gold from South Korea in July and August, taking advantage of a recent tax change that allows importers to ship in gold without paying a 10% customs duty, industry officials told Reuters.
The cheap imports are putting pressure on local refiners and banks who cannot match the steep discounts being offered on bullion sales from the duty-free gold from South Korea.
Russian state-controlled diamond miner Alrosa’s 2017 production plans remain unchanged despite an accident at its Mir underground mine in eastern Siberia, it said on Monday.
Rescue teams are still searching for eight workers in Alrosa’s underground Mir mine in the remote Yakutia region of eastern Siberia which partly flooded on Aug. 4 when water seeped in from an open-pit mine above it.
Gold prices are set to jump to a four-year high of $1 400/oz by the end of the year over mounting tensions between North Korea and the US, and surging demand in the world’s biggest consumers, according to the head of precious metals at a Russian investment bank.
Bullion could rise to $1 360/oz within three months before climbing higher, fuelled by global political risks and buying from China and India, said Evgeny Ananiev at VTB Capital JSC, the investment-banking unit of Russia’s second-largest lender VTB Group.
Civil society organisation, the Mining Affected Communities United in Action (Macua), will march to the offices of the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) on Tuesday to hand over a memorandum of demands, including that the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) be scrapped. It is also seeking a moratorium on “persecuting zama-zama miners”.
A R1.7-billion impairment recorded following the annual life-of-mine planning process and the provision of R917-million for a possible silicosis class action settlement will result in Harmony Gold’s earnings a share for the 2017 financial year being lower than that of the previous year. Earnings a share are expected to decrease by between 50% and 70% to between 65c and 109c for the year ended June 30, compared with the 218c reported for the 2016 financial year.
Aim-listed Irish exploration company Connemara Mining has appointed Patrick Cullen its new CEO, effective from Monday. Cullen boasts over 20 years of experience in the mining and exploration sector, most recently as a director of UK-based mining and metals company Kodal Norway. He was also exposed to the financial markets through his work as exploration manager of ASX-listed African Energy Resources and as project manager of TSX-V-listed Montero Mining and …
PITTSBURGH–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Evoqua’s SeaCURE passes US Coast Guard testing
PORTLAND, Ore.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCHN) today released its 2016 Sustainability Report for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2016. Our third consecutive annual report summarizes our environmental footprint, safety performance, corporate governance and compliance, and community involvement, and provides key performance indicators (KPIs) which demonstrate the sustainability advances we have made over the year. Our KPIs have been selected to align with intern
A group of United Nations experts said it’s gathered evidence that a sanctioned Congolese military officer owns gold mining operations in the northeast of the country, contravening the country’s mining code. Tax officials, mine workers and dredge owners told the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo that Major-General Gabriel Amisi Kumba owns dredges that are mining gold on the Awimi River in Tshopo province, the group said in a report published on the UN’s website Sunday. The group also collected testimony that the management of La Conquete, a company allegedly owned by Amisi, is protected by Congo’s military.
Trade union Solidarity on Monday said the cancellation of another proposed buyout of the troubled Lily and Barbrook mines was a major setback that reinstilled further uncertainty for the mines’ workers and the surrounding communities. TSX-listed Galane Gold and Lily mine owners Vantage Goldfields terminated the binding acquisition agreement for the Mpumalanga assets at the eleventh hour last week after Vantage failed to meet the conditions set out in the initial letter of intent.
Following positive operational and financial progress during the first half of 2017, London- and Moscow-listed Polyus remains on track to meet its full-year production guidance of between 2.08-million ounces and 2.13-million ounces.
DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The “China: Copper Products – Market Report – Analysis and Forecast to 2025” report has been added to Research and Markets’ offering. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the copper product market in China. It presents the latest data of the market size and volume, exports and imports, price dynamics and turnover in the industry. The report shows the sales data, allowing you to identify the key drivers and restraints. You can find here a strategic analysis of key
DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The “China: Tungsten Concentrate – Market Report – Analysis and Forecast to 2025” report has been added to Research and Markets’ offering. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the tungsten concentrate market in China. It presents the latest data of the market size and volume, exports and imports, price dynamics and turnover in the industry. The report shows the sales data, allowing you to identify the key drivers and restraints. You can find here a strategic anal
Gold miner Caledonia Mining is confident its Blanket mine, in Zimbabwe, will meet its full year production guidance of 52 000 oz to 57 000 oz, as well as the longer-term output target of 80 000 oz by 2021. The mine produced just over 25 000 oz of gold in the first half of this year, at an all-in sustaining cost of $856/oz. Adjusted earnings a share of $0.45 were 6% higher than the $0.43 reported for the first half of 2016. Earnings a share for the second quarter of the year were, however, 38% lower year-on-year at $0.19.
Construction has started on the 20 t/h pilot plant for a bulk metallurgical testwork programme at Aim-listed Savannah Resources’ Mutamba project, in Mozambique. Mineral sands engineering company Anubis Mocambique Limitada (AML) has been appointed to undertake the work, with the pilot plant set to produce bulk samples of concentrate for metallurgical and product testwork upon completion.
TSX- and JSE-listed Eastern Platinum (Eastplats) has narrowed its losses for the first half of this year. For the six months to June 30, Eastplats posted a net loss of $4.7-million, at a loss of $0.04 a share, a significant improvement on the net loss of $30.5-million and a loss of $0.29 apiece achieved in the first half of 2016.
Highveld Steel, which recently reopened its heavy structural mill in Mpumalanga despite still being in business rescue, has welcomed the institution of 10% import-duty protection on certain heavy steel sections and shapes. However, CEO Johan Burger tells Engineering News Online that Highveld plans to pursue safeguard duties across the range of products being produced at the mill, which was officially reopened in partnership with ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) in June. AMSA is supplying primary material to the mill under a contract manufacturing agreement signed in December. The agreement will operate for an initial period of two years with an option to extend for a further year. In addition, AMSA has an option to purchase the Highveld Structural Mill business after the initial two-year period, subject to regulatory and governance approvals.
Gold, copper and silver miner Anglo Asian on Monday announced a Joint Ore Reserve Committee- (Jorc-) compliant resource estimate for its Ugur gold deposit, where production is set to start next month.
Ugur – a new mineral deposit 3 km west of the Gedabek licence in western Azerbaijan – has a total mineral resource of 199 000 oz of gold and 1.05-million ounces of silver, CEO Reza Vaziri said, pointing out that the Jorc estimate exceeded the company’s initial estimates of 195 000 oz.
ASX-listed European Lithium and Chinese lithium firm Shandong RuiFu Lithium have agreed to extend the timeframe for entering into a formal offtake agreement for spodumene concentrate production from the Wolfsberg project, in Austria.
European Lithium chairperson Tony Sage said on Monday that extension provided the company the opportunity to explore several other options that had emerged recently.
Aim-listed Stellar Diamonds has extended the exclusivity period with financial corporation BDG Capital to August 31 for the conclusion of the due diligence process for the disposal of Stellar’s Guinea assets. In June, the West Africa-focused diamond company entered into a conditional binding term sheet with BDG Capital for the proposed sale of its assets in the Republic of Guinea, with $250 000 cash paid to Stellar as an exclusivity fee, which covers two months for due diligence and completion of documentation.
British mining company Cornish Lithium has secured £1-million to explore for lithium in Cornwall, southwest England, its CEO said, taking the country a step closer to a domestic source of the strategic mineral.
Lithium plays an essential role in electric car batteries, and is produced by evaporation in Latin America, which has been considered the cheapest source. But new technology to extract lithium from brine is helping to make other options more viable.
Ghana’s gold output is likely to drop sharply in 2017 because of curbs on the small-scale mining that lifted production last year but was causing damage to the environment, a government official said on Saturday. Total gold output from Africa’s second largest producer was 4.1-million ounces in 2016, the highest level in nearly 40 years, up from 2.8-million ounces in 2015.
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining hopeful EZA Corporation has exercised its rights over the Challa gold and base metals project, in Western Australia, following a due diligence.
The company in July this year secured an exclusive right over the Challa project, which covers some 1 750 km2.
EZA paid A$25 000 for an exclusive due diligence period, and with the decision to now exercise its options, would pay the vendor a further A$50 000. A further A$100 000 cash payment would be due on EZA resuming trading on the ASX, with the company to issue the vendor with one-million shares and one-million options, exercisable at 25c each and expiring within three years of EZA listing on the ASX.
The vendor would also be issued with a 0.4% net smelter royalty on any future production from the Challa project.
EZA said on Monday that the company will undertake a capital raising of some A$1-million, through the issue of 10-million shares at 10c each, to ensure that the company had a sufficient level of shareholders to meet the ASX listing requirements.
In addition to shareholder approval for its equity raising, EZA would also look for approval to change its name to Santa Fe Minerals before resuming trading on the ASX.
Pure-play zinc producer Trevali Mining expects to produce less metal from the Santander mine, in Peru, this year, after extreme rainfall during the recent mountain wet season delayed high-grade stope development by a quarter.
The company announced on Thursday that the excessive rainfall during the three months ended June also caused mine and mill production to trend below plan, prompting management to reschedule the mine sequencing, resulting in lower-grade ore, at about 3% zinc compared with 4.5% according to plan.
