Latest International Mining Project News is out (ask [email protected]), with reports on 26 prefeasibility and nine feasibility studies, 32 projects in development, three new mines that have gone into production, four existing mines that are expanding, five merger and acquisition announcements and many new appointments to new positions. There are 26 gold projects, 11 iron ore, ten copper, nine silver projects, eight covering rare earths, six uranium projects, five coal, four on nickel, three graphite projects, two projects on potash, cobalt, tantalum, and PGMs, and one project each on mineral sands, zirconium, lithium, niobium, vanadium, titanium, ilmenite, base metals, tin, feldspar, organoclay, manganese, zinc, and diamonds in the news. 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. There are results of the feasibility study for Aldridge Minerals’ Yenipazar gold and polymetallic VMS deposit in central Turkey (see International Mining April magazine). “The results of the study confirm our view that Yenipazar is a highly attractive project with robust economics that validates the effort we have made to advance Yenipazar since the Preliminary Economic Assessment of 2010,” commented Aldridge’s President & CEO Mario Caron. “The strong results pave the way for the completion of additional technical work while we advance the project financing and enter the development stage in the coming months.”
Commissioning of primary and secondary crushers is underway at the Karara iron ore concentrator in Western Australia. Only two of nine remaining areas await commissioning. The concentrator is currently operating at some 70% capacity: on track to achieve 8 Mt/y by the end of April 2013. To date 46 iron ore shipments have been completed with more than 2.7 Mt shipped since start-up in October 2012, of which five shipments were magnetite. The official opening of Karara project to be held on April 9.
Nevada Copper has closed a $200 million senior secured loan facility and copper concentrate off-take agreement with RK Mine Finance. Proceeds will be used for construction of Nevada Copper’s underground mining operation at its 100% owned Pumpkin Hollow copper project located near Yerington, Nevada. The project development consists of a 60,000 t/d open pit operation; and a 7,500 t/d underground operation, feeding a single 67,500 t/d concentrator. First production targeted for mid-2015, with a current mine life of 18 years. The project has Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves estimated at 4,290 Mlb of copper; 952,000 oz of gold and 27.3 Moz of silver on the basis of drill data up to October 2010. Life-of-Mine metal production contained in concentrates totals 3,830 Mlb of copper, 641,917 oz of gold and 15.37 Moz of silver.
Silver Lake Resources is developing a second gold mining operation with multiple mines feeding a central processing facility at the Murchison gold project located 600 km north of Perth. The Murchison gold project has a current resource of 20.5 Mt at 2.9 g/t Au. The base case production plan has ore being sourced from 14 open pit and four underground mines at various stages over an eight to 10 year mine life. The design of the gold processing facility has made allowance for the later addition of a base metals grinding and recovery circuit for potentially processing feed from the Eelya Complex. Much of the mill commissioning has been completed.
Atlatsa Resources’ Joel Kesler, Chief Commercial Officer reports that the new Bokoni mine operating plan includes lower-cost, open-pit project opportunities, “which will enable Bokoni to fill its installed processing capacity in the near term, whilst underground mining operations build up to 160,000 t/month, again in a low-risk and less capital intensive manner. Capital expenditure of some R2.3 billion associated with UG2 expansions at Bokoni mine have been deferred, thereby reducing the anticipated debt burden for the company through to 2020. As a result, Bokoni mine will become a predominantly Merensky reef producer, accounting for 70% of total estimated production.”
Western Australia-focused uranium developer, Toro Energy has welcomed the Federal Government decision granting environmental approval for its wholly owned and advanced Wiluna uranium project in Western Australia. It was the last major environment-based regulatory approval required to clear the way for the proposed A$269 million Wiluna uranium mine to become Australia’s sixth uranium producer and the first in Western Australia. Toro anticipates first production from the Wiluna mine by the end of 2015.
Atrum Coal announced a significant upgrade to the coal resources at its Groundhog anthracite project in British Columbia, Canada. JORC compliant resources at Groundhog increased by 460% to a global coal resource of 1,570 Mt across Measured (16 Mt), Indicated (553 Mt) and Inferred (998 Mt) categories. This confirms Groundhog as one of the largest undeveloped high grade anthracite deposits in the world.
There is much more useful information in this 50+ page newsletter.