The latest issue of International Mining Project News, out today, has reports on 17 prefeasibility studies, 21 feasibility studies, 21 projects in development, five new mines that have gone into production, nine existing mines that are expanding, six merger and acquisition announcements and many new appointments to new positions. The report covers 34 gold projects, 11 copper, nine coal projects, seven iron ore, six silver, three rare earths, nickel, uranium and lithium projects, two projects on diamonds and zinc, and one project each on rutile, zircon, fluorspar, molybdenum, phosphate, graphite, tungsten, vanadium, marble, mineral sands, potash, kaolin, oil sands, polymetallic and lead.BHP Billiton will investigate an alternative, less capital-intensive design of the Olympic Dam open-pit expansion, involving new technologies, to substantially improve the economics of the project. As a result it will not be ready to approve an expansion of Olympic Dam before the Indenture agreement deadline of December 15, 2012. The company will discuss the implications of this decision for the Indenture agreement with the South Australian Government in the coming months.
Harmony/Newcrest’s Golpu is massive. On a 100% basis, Golpu alone now hosts a high grade, quality reserve of 450 Mt, containing 12.4 Moz of gold and 5.4 Mt of copper (38.9 Moz on a gold equivalent basis). At this prefeasibility stage, the plan is to extracts ore from a two-lift block cave. Declines will be used for primary ore haulage and shafts will be used for early access, ventilation and emergency egress. Processing will be via a conventional copper flotation plant with a copper-gold concentrate transported 70 km to the Port of Lae for shipping to market.
On August 30, Xstrata announced ore production had commenced at Mount Margaret (see IM October issue) . EHM General Manager Myles Johnston said it was progressing on target with personnel and machinery gradually ramping up in line with the ore production schedule. “Approximately 4 Mt of material has been mined since we started the pre-strip in July,” he said.
Canada Lithium continues to advance its Québec lithium project near Val d’Or. All major process equipment, such as secondary crusher, fine ore bin, grinding circuit, flotation cells and electrical sub-station, have now been installed. The hydrometallurgical kiln, a key process component that initiates conversion of low-value spodumene to higher-value lithium carbonate, is being assembled and should be secured on its concrete foundation in the coming weeks.
GVK Resources has been granted environmental approval for Alpha mine and rail projects in Queensland by the Federal Government. Following a rigorous and thorough assessment process by two levels of government spanning four years, Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke gave an approval decision to construct and operate the Alpha coal mine and a railway line between the mine and the port at Abbot Point, near Bowen.
Mutiny Gold has received several additional key permits for its Deflector gold copper project in Western Australia, ensuring mine start up and process plant construction can soon commence. Also in Australia, Octagonal Resources has reached agreement with the Dja Dja Wurrung Native Title Claimant Group, which has paved the way for the grant of Mining Licence Applications MIN5464 and MIN5465 that overlie the Pearl Croydon and Campbelltown gold deposits in Central Victoria.
Geomega Resources (GéoMégA) has signed a non-binding letter of intent (LOI) with Innovation Metals Corp (IMC) for the processing of a quantity of neodymium-rich concentrate in Bécancour, Québec, derived from the company’s Montviel rare-earth element (REE) project.
Galaxy Resources outlines the development strategy for its Sal de Vida lithium and potash brine project in Argentina. Galaxy acquired a 70% stake in the highly prospective Sal de Vida project following its recent merger with Lithium One. Sal de Vida offers Galaxy geographical, process and cost base diversification from its existing assets in Australia and China. Its favourable brine chemistry and prime location mean it is expected to become Galaxy’s next flagship asset.
Endocoal has completed all major onsite field activities required for the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for the Meteor Downs South (MDS) project. The MDS open cut mine has been designed to deliver an average annual production of 1.5 Mt over an expected nine year mine life. It will deliver direct-ship sized thermal coal for export and hence will not require a coal preparation plant for washing/beneficiation.
Sumatra Copper & Gold’s 100%-owned Tembang project is on track for production during 2013. It has Proven and Probable reserves of 5.5 Mt at 2.3 g/t Au and 31.4 g/t Ag for a total of 0.4 Moz of gold and 5.5 Moz silver which are compliant with the 2004 JORC Code. The Stage 1 production plan is a low cost, high grade operation, targeting 400,000 t/y process capacity to produce 40,000 to 45,000 /y gold equivalent. Stage 1 will comprise only 18% of the project’s total gold resource base.
Mountain Province Diamonds has announced that the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board has provided details of the final steps for the Gahcho Kué environmental impact review (EIR). The Gahcho Kué diamond mine is a joint venture between De Beers Canada (51%) and Mountain Province Diamonds (49%). Meanwhile, Paragon Diamonds, the African focused diamond explorer and developer, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding for project financing for its Motete Dyke operation in Lesotho.
US Oil Sands has announced that Utah State Administrative Law Judge Sandra K. Allen issued her findings and recommended order on August 28, 2012 that supports the company’s permit-by-rule for its PR Spring oil sands project.
Shanta Gold, the East African focused gold mining company, has announced that the operation of the gold production plant at New Luika gold mine in south western Tanzania has commenced.
Lundin Mining Corp has restarted production at the wholly owned Aguablanca nickel/copper mine in Spain ahead of the previously announced schedule. While full production ramp-up is expected to be achieved in Q4/2012, the mill is treating a substantial stockpile of ore at good throughput rates and first concentrate shipments have started to arrive at the port warehouse.
This fortnightly project watch is a great way of keeping up to date with your peers – other mining companies, other consultants or other engineering companies. These issues build into a global mine project overview. If you are a supplier – it is full of potential sales leads. Contact [email protected] for a sample copy.
