International Mining Project News releases its fortnightly, diverse and comprehensive package of the latest international company news. Unsurprisingly, given the recent economic hiccups, gold is more popular than ever before as companies rush to bring projects around the globe into full production. Especially Australia where the proposed scrapping of the Resource Super Profits Tax, and the arrival of the business-led Mineral Resource Rent Tax, has lent fire to the bellies of Australian mines and companies – with Integra leading the way towards full production, of a project with over 800,000 oz contained gold, in the coming months.

Wilgeena, another gold project in Australia, is on Integra’s heels as the quick start resource is fast tracked to fund an ambitious exploration program. It’s not all gold Down Under however, initial results from Kagara’s zinc, lead and silver mine already show the potential for a multi-billion dollar prospect – with only a tenth of the project explored. In the meantime, despite the proposed MRRT’s potential effects on iron ore, a processing breakthrough has convinced TNG to launch a new study, at its Northern Territory vanadium and iron project, as they decide whether water power could provide the clinching factor to a full feasibility study at the estimated 500-700 Mt project.

While Centrex is keeping an eye on the Eyre Peninsula with the appointment of a vastly experienced OneSteel General Manager to MD it has teamed up in an Australian/China JV aimed at developing mines with 10 Mt of iron ore. The Eyre-focussed company still has over a hundred exploration licences with which a new MD can build on Centrex’s past successes.

In South America, Peru, Xstrata is investing over a billion dollars in a low cost 160,000 t/y Cu project predicted to provide a staggering increase in overall volume by 2014 and destined to last decades. While the mine’s last owners believed the project to be at the end of its days a local management team have used a range of operational initiatives to turn the mine around and provide Xstrata with an impressive boost to its Peru portfolio.

In Brazil an emerging iron ore company is on track to produce 3 Mt/y by 2013 – thanks to recently completed expansion drilling that shows significantly more iron ore is available than previously thought at Passabem, while the company’s magnetism will push the ore into a higher grade product. This seems to be a recurring trend in South America with the Angostura gold and silver deposit, located in the California district, Colombia, updating its resource calculations to well over 50 Moz Ag and almost 9 Moz Au. The Colombian project may be a good purchase for its Canadian owners as a new geo-metallurgical model to project heap leach recoveries has resulted in a far more efficient process.

Canadian companies are still pushing to redevelop existing resources as sustainability becomes an essential ingredient in the mining industry. Alexis Minerals is trying to create its own fairy tale ending with a $12.5 million offering – made in order to reopen a gold mine believed to have a 90,000 oz/y potential that could push the company’s gold output into mid-tier status.

This and much more within International Mining Project News….

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