In this latest issue of International Mining Project News, SNC-Lavalin has marked its 100th anniversary with the signing of a multi-year Hub contract with BHP Billiton for the development of potash projects. Although this will be mostly in Saskatchewan the contract may include any project to be developed in BHP Billiton’s Diamonds and Specialty Products Customer Sector Group. Initially, SNC-Lavalin will complete the feasibility study for Jansen Phase 1, located near Lanigan, Saskatchewan, for a production capacity of 2 Mt/y. EPCM execution is expected to follow in 2012, once BHPB receives the necessary external permits and approves the implementation phase.In Indonesia, Kangaroo Resources (KRL) and PT Bayan have been starting to see the benefits of their partnership with a new 300,000 t sales contract for coking coal from Bayan’s Mamahak project, allowing Bayan to overcome operational and logistic issues. A comprehensive drill program is being planned at Mamahak, with drill targets currently being identified and the two companies are confident this will result in a significant resource increase at the project. The companies agreed to work together in late 2010 to promote operational efficiencies, synergies and other advantages to build up KRL’s Indonesian coal business. Part of that agreement includes KRL’s bid to acquire Bayan’s Pakar thermal coal project and the partners have released a joint update on the acquisition, stating that the due diligence process is proceeding smoothly and both Kangaroo and Bayan are comfortable that completion of the deal will take place as anticipated. In the meantime, operational work and cooperation will continue with Bayan playing a major role in the ramp-up of production at the Mamahak project, and preparatory work for both the Pakar and GPK projects to move into production during 2011.
Another Australian company, Focus Minerals, has begun mining gold at the Mount underground project in a move that is expected to raise the company’s gold production by 40-60,000 oz/y and provides Focus with a second production platform to complement underground operations at its Tindal mining centre. The Mount, located about 80 km south of the 3 Mile processing plant in Coolgardie, has already produced 34,555 t at 7.78 g/t of gold from trial mining and currently has an Inferred resource of 2.1 Mt at 5.5 g/t although Focus has already begun exploration to test mineralisation in other lodes. In the Northern Territory, Sherwin Iron has confirmed that a highly saleable concentrate, grading between 57-60% iron, can be produced at the Roper River project with remarkably low impurity levels using a combination of standard gravity techniques and magnetic separation. Sherwin is still conducting metallurgical studies but expects to be able to achieve far lower processing costs at a 60% Fe grade with these techniques.
Western Desert Resources, owner of the nearby Roper Bar iron ore project, and Sherwin have also received good news from Wolsey Parsons, currently completing a scoping study on an export route through the Gulf of Carpentaria using a slurry pipeline, as preliminary results appear to support the low cost pipeline plan. Sherwin has now agreed to raise a further $4 million, through a share placement to a major shareholder, to fuel an exploration program at Roper River and its ongoing studies.
In Africa, JV partners Blackthorn Resources and Glencore International have provided an update on the Perkoa zinc project – the first large scale underground zinc mine in Burkina Faso. As well as having made progress on early construction activities Glencore International, the project manager and operator, has begun a study aimed at enhancing the value of the 6.3 Mt project through, amongst other things, open cut mining at Perkoa and the additional production of silver and lead.
Sundance Resources has more than doubled Indicated resources at its large scale Mbalam iron ore project in the Republic of Congo. The update is largely thanks to an Inferred to Indicated conversion at the Nabeba deposit and has left the high grade hematite resource standing at 417.7 Mt at 61.4% iron Indicated – combined with Sundance’s world class 2,320 Mt resource at the Mbarga DSO deposit the company believes the project will be able to produce 35 Mt/y high quality iron ore for at least 25 years.
All this and much, much more in International Mining’s Project News….
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