Latest issue of International Mining Project News available (August 14): This fortnight has, again, been very busy. Aside from financial results from major miner BHP Billiton and reports from China regarding the formal ‘arrest’ of Rio Tinto employees, there has been much activity on the project front. Centamin Egypt achieved its first gold pour from the Sukari gold project in Egypt, with Stage 1 and Stage 2 construction and commissioning activities continuing throughout the next quarter. In Brazil, Mirabela Nickel commenced owner-operator mining at its Santa Rita open-pit nickel sulphide mine. The mine will start with a production capacity of 4.6 Mt/y moving to a capacity of 6.4 Mt/y in Q2 2009 and has a life of 19 years based on Proven and Probable reserves.

A project that has much potential but has had many permitting problems is Gabriel Resources’ Rosia Montana project in Romania. In the company’s quarterly report, it mentions official government visits to the project in July and a show of support from local and regional political leaders in Romania who want to see the project press forward. The company estimates that once it receives approval for the elusive EIA, it would take at least six months to complete the purchase of the outstanding properties, receive all other permits and approvals – including initial construction permits, and complete the control estimate and financing.

In Liberia, Mano River Resources has an initial resource estimate of 1,080 Mt of iron ore at the company’s 38.5% owned Putu Range iron ore project. This resource only covers a 2.6 km section of the 12 km range and Mano therefore believes there is potential for the resource to grow as the exploration program advances. Mano’s 61.5% project partner, Severstal Resources, is investing $30 million into the project and is working with Mano towards a prefeasibility study during 2010.

In Australia, Focus Minerals has been very active. Firstly, it received further significant high grade gold intersections from the current round of drilling at its Coolgardie gold project in the Eastern Goldfields region. The diamond drill rig is currently underground at the Perseverance deposit, where assay results from the first five holes have just been received. These results included down hole intercepts of 5.41 m at 33.03 g/t Au, 3.99 m at 11.62 g/t Au and 1.45 m at 11.89 g/t Au. The results are part of an ongoing diamond drilling campaign aimed at increasing the company’s gold reserve base ahead of commissioning its Three Mile Hill processing plant later this year.

Secondly, Focus has signed an Exclusivity Agreement with Matsa Resources for the treatment of ore from Matsa’s Norseman gold project at Focus’ Three Mile Hill Plant. The agreement is a precursor to a formal binding agreement which – upon commissioning of the processing facility later this year – would involve treating ore produced from Matsa’s North Scotia deposit in scheduled milling campaigns at Three Mile Hill expected to commence during February 2010.

In Chile, Anglo American has two newly found prospects. The San Enrique Monolito (SEM) porphyry copper prospect is located immediately adjacent to Anglo American’s Los Bronces mine, some 50 km to the northeast of Santiago in central Chile. Exploration at SEM has been ongoing since 2005 and to date some 60,000 m have been drilled. Due to its proximity to Los Bronces, the models of the mineralisation have been combined and some 1,200 Mt (at an average grade of around 0.4% Cu) of the SEM mineralisation have already been reported. 

At the company’s Los Sulfatos copper project, some 6 km south of the Los Bronces mine, results of recent exploration drilling programs, according to Anglo, demonstrate the existence of a world class copper deposit. The current block model below the current resources shell indicates that the SEM body of mineralisation could contain between 2,500 and 3,500 Mt at grades of between 0.65% Cu and 0.75% Cu at a cutoff of 0.5% Cu. Drilling has been proposed for 2010 with the purpose of increasing the mineral resources and improving the classification.

This is followed by news of four of Highland Gold Mining’s Russian projects, a report on Tertiary Minerals’ fluorspar project in Sweden, an update on Extract Resources’ Rossing South uranium project, and Nkwe Platinum’s capital raising of A$7.5 million for the bankable feasibility study at its Garatau/Tubatse gold/PGM project, as well as many others.

To receive the full 45+ page report, subscriptions to this service can be registered and paid for on-line (SUBSCRIBE TO IM PROJECT NEWS BUTTON), or contact [email protected] for a free trial copy.