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Molycorp Accelerating Planned Expansion Startup
Molycorp announced plans October 20 to accelerate by approximately three months the initial start-up of its state of-the-art rare earth processing facility, now under construction at Mountain Pass, California. The plant is part of the company’s two-phase Phoenix project, which is designed to lift its production of rare earth oxide equivalent first to 19,050 mt/y (Phase 1) and then to 40,000 mt/y (Phase 2). Phase 1 of the expansion had been planned to start up in late 2012...... read
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Agnico-Eagle Suspends Operations at Goldex
Agnico-Eagle announced October 19 it had suspended mining operations at its Goldex mine in Val d’Or, Québec. The decision followed apparent failure of weak volcanic rock in the hanging wall of the Goldex deposit, followed by groundwater flow into the mine. The rock failure was thought to extend from the top of the deposit to the surface. The company estimated that the mill would continue to process feed from the remaining surface stockpile until the end of October. Agnico-Eagle will assess the.... read more
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Brigus Reports Goldfields Prefeasibility Study
Brigus Gold has received an independent, NI 43-101-compliant prefeasibility study for its Goldfield project in the far northwest of Saskatchewan. The project is based on two deposits, Box and Athona, located on the north shore of Lake Athabaska, near Uranium City, Saskatchewan.The study describes a 5,000-mt/d surface mining operation based on current reserves of 1.02 million oz of gold. Mine life is projected at 13 years, with production averaging 100,000 oz/y of gold during the first seven years of operation. Capital costs.... read
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| AROUND THE
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Trevali Expects Production from Santander in 2012
Trevali Resources reported October 19 that construction is advancing on multiple fronts at its project to re-develop the Santander zinc-lead-silver mine, located about 200 km by road northwest of Lima, Peru. The company currently anticipates that production will begin late in the first quarter or early in the second quarter of 2012.The Santander project is being developed under an agreement between Trevali and Glencore International, whereby Trevali retains…… read
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$245M Estimated for Mercator’s El Pilar Cu Project
Mercator Minerals has reported the results of an optimized feasibility study that confirms development potential for what it terms a robust, large-scale, lowcost copper mine at its El Pilar project in Sonora, Mexico. Proven and probable mineral reserves at El Pilar total 230.2 million mt grading 0.313% total copper and containing 1.6 billion lb of copper. The feasibility study outlines a 12-year mine life at an average production of 73 million lb/y of copper cathode, including an average of 78.7 million lb/y during the first five years. Processing of surface-mined ore would…. read more
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| AROUND THE
WORLD - Australasia |
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BHP Billiton Approves $1.2B for First-phase Olympic Dam Expansion
BHP Billiton recently announced approval of $1.2 billion in pre-commitment capital for the first phase of its huge Olympic Dam expansion project in South Australia. The announcement came two days after Australia’s national government and South Australia’s state government announced environmental approvals had been granted for the project. The majority of the precommitment capital was conditional on successful passage of an Indenture agreement through the South Australian parliament, BHP Billiton said…. read
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Northern Star Expanding at Paulsens
Western Australian gold miner Northern Star Resources announced plans for a twostage expansion at its Paulsens gold mine and nearby Ashburton project, located 190 km west of the mining town of Paraburdoo on the border of the Ashburton and West Pilbara mineral fields. Stage one calls for an increase in plant capacity at Paulsens from 350,000 to 450,000 mt/y, allowing gold production to increase from the current level of 75,000 to 80,000 oz/y to 100,000 oz/y. Feed for the expanded plant will be supplied initially from near-mine resources at Paulsens and after about three years …. read
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Development Study Examines Bauxite Industry for Vietnam
Atlantic Ltd., an Australian company based in Perth, has signed an agreement with the Institute of Mining Science & Metallurgy, under the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, to undertake a development study for a Vietnamese bauxite extraction and supply chain industry. The Central Highlands region of Vietnam hosts significant high-quality bauxite resources, which to date are largely undeveloped. The development study will assess a "mine-rail-port" proposal submitted by Atlantic to local and national authorities.….
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Central Asia Resources Starts Mining at Dalabai
Central Asia Resources announced in late September 2011 it has started mining at its Dalabai gold project in Kazakhstan. Central Asia Resources acquired the project in 2008 and has focused on it as an easy-to-develop, heap leach operation that could generate early cash flow to provide funding for further exploration and development at other company projects in Kazakhstan. The project was developed at a low capital expenditure of $10.7 million, and cash costs of production are expected to average $540/oz…. read
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Rio Tinto Adds to Simandou Funding
Rio Tinto reported in mid-October 2011 that it has accelerated development of the Simandou iron ore project in southeast Guinea with approval of an additional $211 million for continued studies and $1.117 billion for commitments to early works and procurement of long-lead items. The funding is in support of the company’s objective of moving the project toward shipment of first ore by mid-2015. Work is progressing with Rio Tinto’s project partner, Chalco, on obtaining required Simandou regulatory approvals, which, once granted, will trigger formation of an agreed Rio Tinto-Chalco joint venture. Finalization of an infrastructure investment…. read more
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Banro Pours First Gold at Twangiza
Banro Corp. reports it poured the first gold at its new Twangiza mine in South Kivu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in early October 2011. The Twangiza oxide plant will process the oxide portion of the Twangiza orebody. Production will ramp up during the fourth quarter of 2011 and is scheduled to achieve an annual rate of 120,000 oz/y of gold in 2012. Twangiza is Banro’s first gold mine along the 210-km Twangiza-Namoya gold belt, where the company has delineated five projects within 13 licensed mining concessions……
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Peabody Energy Expands Its Presence in Australia
Peabody Energy said it will relocate its Executive Vice President and COO Eric Ford, along with reporting executives, to Brisbane, Australia—a move that reflects the significant and growing contributions of the company’s Australian operating platform. It comes against the backdrop of the successful acquisition of Macarthur Coal, a leading producer of low-volatile PCI metallurgical coal. Ford will lead Peabody Energy’s global operations from Brisbane and has been named chairman of the board of Macarthur Coal. He has nearly four decades …. read more
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CERI Signs Boavita MoU
Colombia Energy Resources, Inc. (CERI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the acquisition of the Boavita coal mining concession. "Preliminary reports show that the property contains both low volatile metallurgical coal and semianthracite coal in significant quantities," said Ron Stovash, CEO, CERI. "Our goal at Boavita is to initiate an exploration program and mining operations that will result both in proven reserves and saleable coal in 2012 …. read more
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Proposed Carbon Tax Impacts Underground Operator
The coal miner considered most vulnerable to Australia’s carbon tax plan has sought to halt an exodus of investors with a new strategy for minimizing its greenhouse gas emissions. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, ASX-listed Gujarat NRE has suffered a dramatic share price slide this year amid predictions the carbon tax could reduce profit margins from its New South Wales coal business by up to $16/metric ton. As Australia prepares to vote on…. read
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Strategic Mining Corp. has appointed Douglas C. Peters vice president of exploration. He has also been elected to the board of directors.
Hecla Mining Co. has appointed Larry Radford vice president of operations.
Primero Mining Corp. has appointed Renaud Adams COO.
MWH has appointed Laura Casey director of health and safety.
The Alaska Miners Association has selected Fred Parady as the new executive director, effective January 1, 2012. He replaces Steve Borell who is resigning after 22 years as the AMA executive director.
Bateman Engineering (India) Pvt Ltd. has appointed Thys Greeff managing director.
BioteQ Environmental Technologies, Inc. has appointed Jonathan Wilkinson CEO and David Speed director of technical sales.
Atlas Copco Construction Mining Technique USA LLC has appointed Mike Wentworth product manager, surface drilling equipment.
