Production has resumed at Nyrstar’s Australian zinc operations in the southern state of Tasmania after an incident at the weekend in which a worker suffered significant burns, the company said on Monday.
“Early in the morning (on Sunday) … an incident occurred at Nyrstar Hobart in the electrolysis department resulting in a worker receiving significant burns. The worker is currently in hospital receiving medical treatment,” Nyrstar said in a statement.
n the three months to June 30, platinum mining major Lonmin recorded lower unit costs and higher net cash on improved production and rising sales – but suffered two fatalities in a quarter when the overall injury level was on a firmly downward trajectory. On sustaining the company’s financial turnaround, CEO Ben Magara said: “We continue to find levers to pull, even in the lower-for-longer platinum price environment.”
UK-based Trans Siberian Gold remains on target to produce between 32 000 oz and 36 000 oz of gold this year, despite lower second-quarter output from the Asacha mine, in Russia.
The mine, in the Kamchatka region of Far East Russia, produced 7 363 oz of refined gold in the June quarter, which compares with 9 336 oz in the corresponding period of 2016.
The share price of ASX-listed Kingsgate Consolidated closed slightly higher on Monday, after the company announced the discovery of silver at its Nueva Esperanza project, in Chile.
The Nueve Esperanza project is at feasibility stage, and is estimated to host some 1.9-million ounces of gold equivalent.
ASX-listed explorer Venturex Resources would raise A$3.75-million to advance its Pilbara zinc-copper project, in Western Australia.
The company on Monday announced that it would undertake a two-for-seven non-renounceable rights issue, priced at 5c a share. The company’s major shareholder Northern Star Resources would take up its full entitlement, and will sub-underwrite up to A$2-million of the rights issue.
Bauxite developer Metro Mining suspended share trading on Monday, as the company announced yet another capital raise.
Metro was hoping to raise A$38-million through a two-tranche share placement, to fully fund the construction and development of its Bauxite Hills mine, in Queensland.
Junior gold producer Blackham Resources on Monday said that it had missed production targets during the three months to June owing to lower grades at its Matilda/Wiluna operation, in Western Australia.
Gold production for the quarter ended June reached 15 709 oz, which was higher than the 14 920 oz produced during the previous quarter. However, the miner noted that despite significant improvements in crusher and mill performance during the quarter, the lower grade profile resulted in lower-than-forecast production.
Graphite developer Volt Resources has signed a fourth offtake agreement with a Chinese customer, filling in full the Stage 1 capacity of its Namangale project, in Tanzania.
The company on Monday reported that Chinese group Qingdao Tianshengda Graphite has signed an offtake term sheet for an initial 10 000 t/y of flake graphite product from the Namangale project, with Volt saying that the recent changes to the Tanzanian mining law had not deterred customer confidence in the Namangale project.
Communities in in the Northern Territory are “overwhelmingly” against hydraulic fracturing (fracking), says the independent inquiry body appointed last year to investigate the environmental, social and economic risks and impacts of fracking.
The inquiry, which started in December, concluded its first stage of public hearings and community consultation conducted in March 2017, focusing on identifying the risks and issues of fracking for shale gas. A total of 293 submissions were received so far, 37 public hearings were conducted and the inquiry visited 17 towns and communities across the territory, as well as numerous other stakeholder engagement activities.
During the recent Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting, Australian state and territory governments have agreed to work with the federal government to implement its A$26-million gas acceleration programme (GAP) to fast-track new gas to the east coast market.
Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Matt Canavan said that the programme was part of the Australian government’s investment of over A$90-million focused on developing new gas supplies to ensure gas security, reliability and affordability.
South African power producer Eskom is not facing liquidity challenges, the utility said on Sunday, after media reports alleging it would be unable to pay salaries by November. Eskom, which produces nearly all of the electricity in Africa’s most industrialised economy and exports energy to neighbouring States such as Namibia, is backed by more than $10-billion in government guarantees.
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CANNING VALE, Western Australia–(BUSINESS WIRE)–DDH1 Announces Strategic Investment by Oaktree
Members of the United Steelworkers Union (USW) will vote on Sunday on whether to stage a walkout at Canadian diversified miner Teck Resources’ Highland Valley Copper mine.
About 1 050 workers said they have been working without a collective agreement in place since last year, and now against a backdrop of higher copper prices and strong fundamentals for the red metal going forward, the USW workers are kicking against Teck’s demands for concessions from the workers, USW staff representative and lead negotiator Randy Gatzka said in a statement on Friday.
High-yield bonds issued in the metals and mining sector provide weak covenant protection, Moody’s Investors Service says in a new report issued on Friday.
The average covenant quality (CQ) score for the 56 North American metals and mining companies with outstanding high-yield bonds, drawn from Moody’s high-yield covenant database since 2011 that are still outstanding as of March 31, is 3.97 under the credit rating agency’s scoring criteria.
British Columbia’s not-for-profit earth sciences organisation Geoscience BC has published new information that could lead prospectors to new precious and base metals deposits in an area between Penticton and the Kimberley, area in the province’s Kootenay-Boundary region.
The project ‘Geological mapping, compilation and mineral evaluation, Penticton map sheet, east-half’ (‘082E/East’), ia presents new geological interpretations based on field mapping integrated with existing regional geological, geophysical and geochemical information.
Canada’s Dominion Diamond Corp is hoping Montana billionaire Dennis Washington will cough up a little more cash to buy the world’s third-largest producer of rough diamonds by value.
However, the company – which has put itself on the block twice in the past two years – says there’s no guarantee a deal will take place.
The World Diamond Council (WDC) will stay its course focused on the primary mission to curb the trade in conflict diamonds under new acting president Stephane Fischler who took the helm on July 1 from Andrey Polyakov, who has resigned.
“We have succeeded to almost totally eradicate conflict diamonds from the global market. But, we have to continually remain vigilant, especially in places such as the Central African Republic (CAR), to stop new supplies of conflict diamonds from entering the market,” Fischler tells Mining Weekly Online in a telephone interview from Antwerp, Belgium.
YELLOWKNIFE, Northwest Territories–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dominion Diamond Corporation (TSX: DDC, NYSE: DDC) (the “Company” or “Dominion”) today commented on recent media rumours related to the Company’s review of strategic alternatives. On March 27, 2017, Dominion announced that its Board of Directors had formed a Special Committee (the “Special Committee”) to explore, review, and evaluate a range of potential strategic alternatives focused on maximizing shareholder value. The Special Committee, wo
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Further to its news release dated May 31, 2017, Gensource Potash Corporation (“Gensource” or the “Company”) (TSX.V: GSP) announces today that the Technical Report Summarizing the Feasibility Study for the Vanguard One Project, has been filed on SEDAR. The report was prepared by Louis F. Fourie, P.Geo., Pri. Sci. Nat. of Terra Modelling Services Inc., an independent consultant and Qualified Person under NI 43-101, and dated July 14, 2017 under the title,
JSE-listed Kumba Iron Ore expects its headline earnings per share (HEPS) and basic earnings per share (EPS) for the period ended June 30 to be at least 20% higher than the comparative period. Headline earnings for the period are likely to be between R4.37-million and R4.74-million, with basic earnings for the period expected to be between R4.36-million and R4.72-million.
TSX- and Aim-listed Avesoro Resources has obtained a $35-million unsecured loan facility from its majority 73.5% shareholder, Avesoro Jersey. The West African gold producer may draw down the funds in multiple tranches before December 31, 2020, with funds available for general working capital purposes.
Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane on Friday received a presentation from the Platinum Leadership Forum, led by CEOs of platinum mining companies operating in South Africa. According to a Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) release, the CEOs presented on the current state of the platinum sector and proposed possible solutions and areas for collaboration with the DMR.
ASX- and Aim-listed Metminco has appointed Brian Jones company secretary and CFO, following the exit of Philip Killen. “Phil has been an extremely valuable member of the executive team and remains supportive of the company, however, he has elected to pursue other business interests,” Metminco MD William Howe said in a statement.
In what is a clear first round victory for the Chamber of Mines of South Africa against the errant Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane has agreed to suspend the implementation of the controversial Mining Charter Three until after the High Court has pronounced judgement on what the legal fraternity has roundly condemned as unconstitutional, contrary to the Companies Act and a taunting of the World Trade Organisation. Mining Weekly Online can today report that the chamber on Friday extracted a written undertaking from the Minister that neither he nor DMR will apply the provisions of Mining Charter Three “in any way”, pending judgement in the chamber’s urgent interdict application.
Aim-and BSE-listed Botswana Diamonds (BOD) has identified a Group 2 kimberlite pipe at its Ontevreden licence, in South Africa’s North West province, which is held by diamond deposit explorer Vutomi. Initial work indicates an area of between 1.5 ha and 2.5 ha containing high-interest garnets.
While State-owned miners will continue to drive mining output in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), with governments slowly encouraging foreign direct investment into the sector, political instability will keep investment rates relatively low compared with other regions, according to research firm BMI. In its latest outlook for the region, BMI said it expected the removal of Western sanctions in the fourth quarter of 2017 to accelerate the growth of Iran’s mining sector, which contains vast, underdeveloped reserves.
Botswana’s State-owned Okavango Diamond Company (ODC) sales rose 9 percent to $309 million in the first half of the year as demand improved, its deputy managing director said on Friday. Marcus ter Haar told Reuters the company had sold 1.8 million carats in five auctions held since January.
Tanzania-focused mineral exploration and development company Kibo Mining’s Mbeya coal-to-power-project (MCPP) will not experience any adverse developmental impacts owing to recent changes in Tanzania’s legislative mining environment. Reuters reported that Tanzania’s Parliament had passed two laws allowing government to force mining and energy companies to renegotiate their contracts. A third bill was also expected to be passed this month.
South Africa’s errant Mineral Resources Minister has agreed to suspend the implementation of the absurd and impractical third iteration of the Mining Charter until after the High Court has pronounced judgement on what the legal fraternity has condemned as unconstitutional, contrary to the Companies Act and a taunting of the World Trade Organisation. Mining Weekly Online can report that the Chamber of Mines on Friday extracted a written undertaking from Minister Mosebenzi Zwane that neither he nor his rogue Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) would apply the provisions of Mining Charter Three “in any way”, pending judgment in the chamber’s urgent interdict application.
Ferrochrome company Merafe is expecting a sharp rise in earnings for the six months to June 30. Merafe shares in 20.5% of the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of the Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture, which has a total installed capacity of 2.3-million tonnes of ferrochrome a year.
Russian gold major Polyus has moved to gain 100% ownership of the Sukhoi Log licence – one of the world’s largest untapped gold deposits.
The company announced this week that it had entered into a number of option agreements with a subsidiary of State-owned Rostec to acquire an additional 25.1% participation interest in Sukhoi Log for $145.9-million.
Diamond mining major Alrosa has sold $2.497-billion worth of rough and polished diamonds in the first six months of 2017.
Rough diamond sales comprised $2.442-billion of the total sales.
TORONTO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–$TMMFF #HopeBay–TMAC Resources Inc. (TSX:TMR) (“TMAC” or the “Company”), provides an operations update together with its updated Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources as of June 30, 2017. Operations Update Dr. Catharine Farrow, Chief Executive Officer of TMAC, commented: “The ramp up continues to be slower than anticipated and has resulted in less than budgeted cash inflows. We anticipate that recoveries will improve as we continue to optimize the plant’s performance. As recoveries i
