Archives: Base metals

Caterpillar’s relationship with Codelco in Chile continues to strengthen with the OEM, through its Finning dealer, set to deliver mining support equipment and underground loaders to two of the copper miners’ operations. The orders, revealed in Finning’s June quarter 2021 results, contributed to a building equipment backlog in mining and construction registered during the three-month[…]

Murray & Roberts’ Cementation Americas business has confirmed two new mining contracts with Rio Tinto and BHP. Cementation USA secured the Underground Characterisation Development and Infrastructure project in Utah for Rio Tinto’s Kennecott copper operations (open pit, pictured). The value of this agreement is circa-$70 million, with the initial scope including lateral development and associated[…]

Trevali Mining has announced the commencement of a pilot plant testing program using Caribou run-of-mine and milled material at FLSmidth’s Rapid Oxidative Leach (ROL) process testing facility in Salt Lake City, Utah. The program expands on previous laboratory test work and is aimed at demonstrating the potential to recover zinc, lead, copper, gold and silver[…]

Anglo American has launched the first Epiroc Pit Vipers operating at its Los Bronces copper mine in Chile to be remotely controlled from its Integrated Remote Operation Center (IROC) in Santiago. These five drills are the first in Chile and Latin America to be operated from outside the designated mine site, with the company planning[…]

BHP and its power partner in the Goldfields of Western Australia, TransAlta, are to build two solar farms and a battery storage system to help power the Mt Keith and Leinster nickel operations. This will help BHP reduce emissions from electricity use at Mt Keith and Leinster by 12%, based on financial year 2020 levels.[…]

Freeport Indonesia’s (PTFI) Grasberg Block Cave (GBC) operations in Indonesia, together with strong Redpath support, have successfully attained the milestone of constructing and blasting the 300th drawbell. The milestone, which occurred on June 30, 2021, came in a record time of only 2.5 years from the production start date, according to Redpath. The same production[…]

FLSmidth and thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions AG (a fully owned subsidiary of thyssenkrupp AG) have reached an agreement that FLSmidth will acquire thyssenkrupp’s Mining business (TK Mining) for a total consideration (enterprise value) of €325 million, corresponding to approximately DKK 2.4 billion. Closing of the transaction is expected in H2 2022 and is subject to customary[…]

Scantech International Pty Ltd has released GEOSCAN GOLD, a premium elemental analyser that, it says, uses the highest specification PGNAA (prompt gamma neutron activation analysis) technology available. The analyser, which builds on Scantech’s GEOSCAN-M high-performance elemental analyser, provides previously unattainable levels of risk-free, real-time measurement performance to the resources sector to help digitalise and control[…]

Rio Tinto has approved a $108 million investment in underground development to enable early orebody access and undertake orebody characterisation studies for underground mining at the Kennecott copper operations in the US located in Utah near Salt Lake City. The mine is also commonly known as Bingham Canyon. The investment builds on $25 million approved[…]

BHP has agreed to supply Tesla Inc with nickel from its Western Australia operations, in addition to looking at how the two companies can collaborate on ways to make the battery supply chain more sustainable. The supply agreement will see nickel from BHP’s Nickel West asset in Western Australia, one of the most sustainable and[…]