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Cliffs to Expand Production Capacity at Two Iron Ore Mines
- Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., the largest North American producer of iron ore pellets, announced in mid-July that it plans to move ahead with expansion projects at its Empire and Tilden mines in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The project, which requires approximately $290 million of incremental capital investment, is expected to allow the Empire mine to produce at 3 million t/y through 2017 and increase Tilden’s production by more than 2 million t/y. This incremental production is expected to result in total equity..... read
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De Beers Launches Its Snap Lake and Victor Mines
- James K. Gowans, president of De Beers Canada, and Nicky Oppenheimer, chairman of the De Beers Group, officially opened De Beer’s two new Canadian diamond mines in late July 2008. On July 25, the Snap Lake underground mine, located approximately 220 km northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, became De Beers’ first mine outside of southern Africa. On July 26, the open-pit Victor mine in northeastern Ontario became the first producing diamond mine in Ontario.... read
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Goldcorp Pays C$1.5 Billion for Red Lake Discovery
- Goldcorp and Gold Eagle Mines announced an agreement in late July whereby Goldcorp will acquire Gold Eagle for a combination of cash and Goldcorp shares valued at about C$1.5 billion. "Gold Eagle’s principal asset is the world-class Bruce Channel gold discovery, which is situated along the prolific Red Lake trend adjacent to Goldcorp’s Red Lake gold mine," Goldcorp said in a statement announcing the agreement. "This transaction will enable Goldcorp to capitalize on its extensive exploration and operations expertise in the Red Lake district and its considerable human.... read
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Rio Tinto Expanding Sixfold at Corumbá - Rio Tinto is investing $2.15 billion to increase capacity at its Corumbá iron ore operations in Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil, from 2 million mt/y to 12.8 million mt/y. Two new ports will be constructed to handle the increased tonnage, together with improved infrastructure networks to link a 2,500-km-long, multi-national supply line. The expansion is planned to come into production in the fourth quarter of 2010. Rio Tinto will invest a further $42 million in a feasibility study of a possible…… read
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Protests Delay Dolores Start Up - Minefinders Corp. reported in late July 2008 that protests at its new Dolores mine in Chihuahua, Mexico, would delay the mine’s initial gold and silver pour from mid-July until later in the third quarter. On June 9, the company had reported that an illegal blockade established in May by a group of protestors would delay initial Dolores production until mid-July. During the blockade, Minefinders suspended mine operations out of concern for the safety of its employees and contractors….
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Positive Pre-Feasibility for Iamgold’s Quimsacocha - Iamgold released the results of the prefeasibility study for its 100%-owned Quimsacocha gold project in southern Ecuador in late July 2008. The study outlines an underground mining and processing operation that would produce an average of 202,000 oz/y of gold over a mine life of 7.5 years, including 224,000 oz/y during the first three years. Life-of-mine by-product production would include an average of 1 million oz/y of silver…. read more
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Fortescue Off to a Fast Start - Fortescue Metals reported as of July 29, 2008, that it had loaded 4,038,307 mt of iron ore product onto 25 ships bound for China from its Herb Elliott port facility at Port Hedland, Western Australia. The first ore was shipped on May 15. At current record prices, these shipments translated into $310 million in gross revenue earned over the short 11-week operating life of the company. The company is targeting a shipping rate of 45 million mt/y by the end of 2008 and 55 million mt/y by the second half of 2009. Planning is in progress…. read
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Rio Tinto to Buy Iron Ore from Future IOH Mine
- Rio Tinto, through its Hamersley Iron subsidiary, and Iron Ore Holdings Ltd. (IOH) agreed on commercial terms for an innovative mine-gate sales arrangement. Under the arrangement, Rio Tinto would purchase iron ore from a new IOH mine at Phil’s Creek, 90 km from Newman in Western Australia. Once the feasibility of developing the Phil’s Creek deposit is proven, the mine would be owned and operated by IOH, and Rio Tinto would purchase the supplied iron ore and transport it for sale to its customers. IOH would deliver the ore to the Yandicoogina stockyard…. read
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Project Delays Set Back Philippine Mine Investment Target - The Philippine mining sector may not be able to hit its $892-million investment target for the year due to delays and setbacks in some priority mining projects. The Mines and Geosciences Bureau reported that investments in the sector in the first quarter of the year reached only $68 million, or 7.6% of the government’s target for the year. At the 2008 Sustainable Mining Exploration Investment Conference held in August, MGB Director Horacio Ramos said the agency would review mining investment targets and the status of the projects within the month. Among the more crucial projects that are expected to go on stream either this year….
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Polyus Starts Up Natalka Pilot Plant - Polyus Gold, Russia’s leading gold producer, has started up a $24.5-million pilot plant at its Natalka gold project in the Omchak river basin of the Magadan region in eastern Russia. With JORCcompliant proven and probable reserves of 40.8 million oz of gold, Natalka is among the world’s largest gold deposits currently under development. Polyus will use the pilot plant to establish a flowsheet for a commercial mill, tentatively planned to.…. read
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Kumba Moves Ahead with Sishen South Development - Kumba Iron Ore Ltd. has initiated development of its new Sishen South iron ore mine 80 km south of its currently producing Sishen mine in South Africa’s Northern Cape province. The project is scheduled to start production in 2012, ramping up to design capacity of 9 million mt/y in 2013. Capital expenditures to complete the project are budgeted at 8.5 billion rand ($1.15 billion). Orders for long-lead-time equipment have been placed. The Sishen South mine will produce 64% Fe lump and 63.5% Fe fine direct shipping ores for export. The ore will be transported on the main Sishen-Saldanha rail line…. read
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Chromex Begins Mining at Stellite Pit
- Chromex Mining plc reported in late July that it had commenced production with its first blast on the MG1 chrome seam at the Stellite open-cast chrome mine on the Western Limb of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa. This follows the completion of the acquisition of the remaining 49% of Ilitha Mining (Pty) Ltd., which holds the mining right for Stellite. Chromex and its BEE partner, Umnotho weSizwe, together now own 100% (74%, 26% respectively) of the project.……
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Mining
Lonmin Squares Off Against Xstrata- In a statement issued August 6, 2008, Xstrata said it would make a cash offer of UK£33 per share for Lonmin, the world’s third largest platinum producer, valuing Lonmin at about £5 billion ($10 billion). The proposed price represented a 
Strike Clouds PotashCorp Outlook
- A strike by United Steelworkers union members at PotashCorp’s Allan, Cory and Patience Lake potash mines in Saskatchewan, which was not resolved as of press time, took some steam out of the company’s near-term outlook. The strike came on the heels of PotashCorp’s record first-half 2008 financial performance and an announcement in mid-July that it will invest $1.6 billion to add 2.7 million mt of annual potash capacity at its Allan, Cory and Rocanville mines in Saskatchewan. The strike was over workers’ compensation, and as of mid-August, negotiations......
Xstrata Copper Launches Kidd Creek Expansion Project
Mill Optimization: Coarse Grind from Falmouth 
Analyzing the Risk of Bankable Feasibility Studies in Today’s Mining Supercycle
Incorporating Sustainability into Mining Services