There is a great deal of news on graphite projects in the latest issue of International Mining Project News, the 257th edition. There are updates on some nine prefeasibility studies, two feasibility studies, 26 projects in development, nine mines that have gone into production five operations in expansion, over a dozen in acquisitions and mergers and many new appointments to new positions. IMPN is published every fortnight, in which a great deal of detail (all the latest news) is provided on each project – contact [email protected] for subscription details
Among the operations just going into production are Asanko Gold’s Asanko gold mine (which declared commercial production in April) in Ghana, and already looking to expand. Mining is underway at West Wits Mining’s Sol Plaatjies gold project within the Soweto Cluster prospecting right area, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Ore from Premier Gold Mines’ 40%-owned South Arturo mine is now being processed at Barrick’s Goldstrike mine processing facility. South Arturo is located in the Carlin Trend, Nevada and is a joint venture between Premier and Barrick Gold Corp’s wholly-owned subsidiary Barrick Gold Exploration with Barrick as operator. The mine was developed on-time and on-budget. Initial gold production is expected to ramp up during Q3-2016 with attributable gold production to Premier estimated at 80,000 oz during the current calendar year.
At Blackham Resources’ 5.1 Moz Matilda gold project commissioning is underway. Mining of ore at the Matilda M10 pit has commenced and underground development at the high grade Golden Age orebody is progressing well.
Avenira Ltd announces that Gadde Bissik Phosphates Operations SUARL, a Senegalese subsidiary of Avenira, has signed an additional export rock phosphate supply agreement. This offtake agreement is with Polyserve Import Export and Trade, with Baobab rock phosphate product destined for downstream phosphate fertiliser producers. This agreement adds to the offtake agreements announced in July, lifting the combined commitment to between 360,000 and 480,000 t/y. On August 4, Avenira advised that it had started commissioning at Baobab. The company’s strategy to develop the project is based on an initial Stage 1 operation producing 500,000 t/y of phosphate concentrate.
Production of tin concentrate has commenced at Aus Tin Mining Ltd’s Granville tin project in Tasmania, elevating the company to only the second tin producer listed on the ASX. This milestone occurs against the back drop of an improving tin price (currently $18,270/t) and declining global tin stocks. It is anticipated that cash flow from Granville will be employed to advance the Company’s suite of projects, including the Taronga tin project in NSW and Mt Cobalt in Queensland.
At Orinoco Gold’s flagship 70%-owned Cascavel gold mine, seen in the picture, in central Brazil, plant commissioning is nearing completion and the ramp-up of commercial gold production is about to commence. This is the subject of the Operations Focus in the September magazine issue of International Mining.
