Archives: Mineral project development

Thiess has announced that it has been awarded a Letter of Agreement (LOA) to provide mining services to Minera Centinela to perform full-service mining at the Llano copper project, located in the Sierra Gorda District, Antofagasta, Chile. The LOA is for a contract valued at A$155 million, which will commence in March 2023, with Thiess’[…]

De Beers has devised an autonomous mining roadmap for its Venetia Underground Mine (VUG) that will – once fully implemented – result in the new $2 billion mine becoming one of the most mechanised and automated mining operations in the world.   The VUG replaces open pit operations at the Venetia Diamond Mine and extends mine[…]

Bellevue Gold says it has awarded the open-pit mining and tailings facility construction contract for its namesake mine in Western Australia to a subsidiary of NRW Holdings Limited. The contract has a total value of circa-A$24 million ($16 million), which Bellevue says is in line with the pre-production capital expenditure forecast. Mining at the Vanguard[…]

Arafura Rare Earths says it has entered into an agreement for the supply of the sulphuric acid plant for its 100%-owned Nolans neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) project in the Northern Territory of Australia. The sulphuric acid plant will be supplied by Chemetics® Inc, a global supplier of sulphuric acid and other specialty chemical facilities, and a wholly-owned[…]

Rio Tinto says it has approved a $40 million investment in the first phase of underground mining below the existing A21 open pit at its Diavik Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Based on the updated mine plan and production schedule including the A154N and A154S pipes, and subject to approval of the[…]

Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia, one of the world’s largest copper-gold mines, recently received its first battery-powered mining vehicle for trials – a significant milestone for the underground operation and a testament to the successful collaboration of multiple teams. The machine is a Normet Utimec MF100 Material SD where SD stands for SmartDrive – Normet’s modular[…]

Gowest Gold has engaged Dumas Contracting Ltd, part of STRACON SA, in a four-year contract to assist with the restart of operations at the Bradshaw gold deposit, in Timmins, Ontario. Dumas has already begun moving equipment to the site and is rapidly ramping up the mobilisation process, with both Gowest and Dumas targeting the resumption[…]

Anglo American is upping the ante at its Woodsmith polyhalite project in the UK, increasing its planned spend while expanding its production scope following detailed design reviews and non-critical path studies. In the company’s 2022 results release today, it said these reviews and studies had led to a number of areas being modified to align[…]

Lucara Diamond’s Karowe underground expansion project or UGP in Botswana is expected to extend the mine life to at least 2040, with initial underground carat production predominantly from the highest value EM/PK(S) unit and is forecast to contribute approximately $4 billion in additional revenues, using conservative diamond prices. The updated estimated capital cost for the[…]

With a loading capacity of up to 14 t and without the generation of direct greenhouse gas emissions, the first 100% electric LHD in South America, an Epiroc ST14, is advancing in its tests phase at Codelco’s El Teniente Division, the world’s largest underground copper mining complex. The equipment, which has been in operation since[…]