Tag Archives: USA

El Nino arrives early for Premier, Nevada Gold Mines

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Premier Gold Mines says processing of ore has commenced from the El Nino gold mine at the joint venture South Arturo mine, in Nevada, USA.

South Arturo is located in the Carlin Trend, and is a joint venture between Premier (40%) and Nevada Gold Mines (60%), a joint venture company owned by Barrick Gold and Newmont-Goldcorp with Barrick as the operator.

The El Nino mine was developed on-time and on-budget, with ore now being processed ahead of schedule, according to Premier Gold. Production is expected to ramp up in the second half of 2019, with a first gold bar pour having been held on September 26.

Premier said attributable gold production is estimated to meet the high end of its 5,000-10,000 oz guidance for the year and it expects that, owing to the high-grade ore at El Nino, South Arturo will have a positive effect on cash flow for the company.

Ewan Downie, President and CEO of Premier, said: “We are excited to once again realise the benefits of South Arturo, increasing the company’s production profile with an anticipated reduction in overall operating costs. Premier continues to benefit from the stellar performance of our partner, Nevada Gold, and its demonstrated ability to consistently execute on schedule.”

In the second half of 2019, surface and underground drilling will resume in an effort to continue delineating and expanding mineralisation at El Nino. El Nino is a high-grade underground deposit situated down plunge of the Phase 2 pit, where mining was concluded in 2017. Pre-stripping of the Phase 1 open-pit project, a second mine being constructed at South Arturo, is ongoing with a target of production in the second half of 2020. Work is also continuing to optimise heap leach material with a potential future decision to proceed with the development of a heap leach facility on the property, the company said.

Surface haulage automation is being tested out at South Arturo, where ASI Mining has successfully completed a proof of concept (POC) utilising five haulage units “that have delivered over 5.5 Mt faster than any other similar POC in the industry”, Barrick Gold said last month.

DRA Global and M3 Engineering on board Jervois ICO cobalt-copper project

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Jervois Mining says it has selected DRA Global and M3 Engineering as lead engineers for finalisation of a bankable feasibility study (BFS) for its 100%-owned ICO cobalt-copper project in Idaho, US.

The selection of engineers comes only two months after Jervois got its hands on the project following a completed merger with eCobalt.

Jervois said: “DRA and M3 have extensive study and construction experience across all the relevant unit operations for the ICO, providing a strong basis for successful BFS delivery. They were chosen due to their strong track record with relevant process plant studies as well as construction and operating implementation phases, as Jervois looks to move seamlessly into construction after BFS and project financing close.”

The joint engineering team has extensive global experience across both cobalt and copper mining operations and concentrator flowsheets, while also having a detailed understanding of project delivery in the US, specifically local conditions in Idaho and regional contractor capabilities, Jervois said.

Finalisation of the BFS will be based on a flotation mill processing 1,200 short tonnes per day (1,089 t/d) of ore, as well as ancillary facilities. The project will ultimately consist of an underground cobalt-copper mine, a flotation mill processing 1,200 st/d as well as ancillary facilities. The latter will include aspects such as the mine and related infrastructure, run of mine pad and crushers, fine ore conveyor and silo, mill and flotation, tailings, waste rock and water storage facilities, water treatment plant, soil stockpile area, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System discharge outfall and non-process infrastructure to support the development and mine operations.

Jervois expects the BFS will be concluded in the March quarter of 2020 and summarised in a NI 43-101 compliant feasibility study soon after. The company has commenced a diamond core drilling program at ICO to supply metallurgical samples for test work to support the BFS update, and to infill drill the RAM deposit during initial years of envisaged mining operation.

ICO will initially produce and sell separate cobalt and copper concentrates as Jervois formed a view early in its due diligence of ICO that reversion to separate concentrates was commercially necessary in the absence of a US refinery. In comparison to the partially completed mine and mill, the refinery is at a preliminary level of study and technical certainty, and so cannot be realistically constructed within the same timeframe as mine to concentrate.

Jervois has commenced discussions with offtake partners for an initial period covering mine ramp up and stabilisation. Jervois will also commission a refinery engineering study to consider commercially proven technology to process concentrates, including third party feed through to refined cobalt and copper.

With the ICO BFS team now established, DRA and M3 will progress the engineering design for the process plant and infrastructure. In parallel, Jervois has commenced discussions with potential lenders and a data room is being prepared to facilitate due diligence. Upon project financing close and opening of the ICO mine portal and decline, Jervois expects a 12-month construction period with first saleable concentrate in the second half of 2021

Micromine modelling boosts Piedmont lithium project resource base

Energy minerals, Mineral exploration, Mineral project development, Mining services, , , , , ,

Piedmont Lithium has become the latest US-focused exploration company to use Micromine modelling to refine its mineral resource estimate – reporting a 47% increase in the process.

The company is on track to own the US’ largest spodumene orebody, located in the Carolina Tin-Spodumene Belt, in North Carolina, after increasing the mineral resource estimate to 27.9 Mt grading 1.11% Li2O, with further drilling to come, MICROMINE said.

The Piedmont lithium project is located along trend to the Hallman Beam and Kings Mountain mines, historically providing most of the western world’s lithium from the 1950s through the 1980s.

A scoping study on the project envisaged production of 22,700 t/y of lithium hydroxide over an initial 13-year mine life. This would involve a staged development to minimise up-front capital requirements and equity dilution, with stage 1 coming in at $109 million for the mine/concentrator and by-product circuits. Stage 2, for the chemical plant, would be funded largely by internal cash flow, the company said.

An estimated 74% of the mineral resource is located within 100 m of surface, while some 97% of the resource lies within 150 m of surface, according to MICROMINE. To date, drilling on the project’s 1,004 acre (406 ha) core property consists of 326 holes totaling 51,047 m, with the mineral resource estimate using all 326 holes. In general, drill spacing has ranged between 40 – 80 m, according to Piedmont.

Wireframe models of some 95 pegmatite dykes, a diabase dyke and one fault were created in Micromine by joining polygon interpretations made on cross sections and level plans spaced at 40 m. Weathering profiles, representing the base of saprolite and overburden, were modelled based on drill hole geological logging and a topographic digital terrain model was derived from a 2003 survey, MICROMINE said.

Micromine is an exploration and mine design solution offering integrated tools for modelling, estimation, design, optimisation and scheduling. It provides users with an in-depth understanding of their projects, so prospective regions can be targeted more accurately, increasing the chance of success, MICROMINE says.

The latest version of MICROMINE’s exploration and mine design solution, Micromine 2018, comprises 10 modules. “As a scalable and flexible solution, Micromine 2018 provides you with the flexibility to choose the functionality you need when you need it. Additionally, the application’s new 64-bit support means that you can work with more data than ever before,” the company said.

Micromine’s wireframing module enables very accurate models to be created that can be further analysed and interpreted to produce a precise estimation that aligns with industry codes of practice and standards, the company said.

Piedmont Lithium expects to complete its prefeasibility level metallurgical test work program, followed by a scoping study update, this month, MICROMINE reported.

Taseko Mines’s Florence ISR trial copper mine reaches commercial level ahead of time

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Taseko Mines says it has reached “commercial grade levels” at its Florence in-situ copper test mine in Arizona, USA, less than six months after well field operations commenced.

The company cannot yet say it is a ‘commercial mine’, but it is well on the way to being able to with permits amendment applications to transfer the test facility into a commercial operation being delivered and financing arrangements being made.

On the former, Taseko said the Aquifer Protection Permit (APP) amendment application for Florence was now on its way to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). “The APP is one of two key permit amendments which are required for commercial production at the company’s Florence copper project,” Taseko said, adding that the permit amendment application for the Underground Injection Control Permit will be made to the US Environmental Protection Agency in the coming weeks.

Russell Hallbauer, Chief Executive Officer of Taseko, provided the update on operations at Florence. “This past week, after roughly six months of operating the test facility, the leach solution reached commercial grade levels, well in advance of our anticipated timeframe,” he said.

“Based on previous bench-scale testing, we expected it would take upwards of a year to reach target solution grade, so we are obviously extremely pleased to have achieved this milestone after such a short period of time.”

Hallbauer said the grade of the leach solution coming from Florence’s main recovery well is around 1,600 parts per million (ppm) of copper in solution and would be comparable to a typical open pit, low cost heap leach operation.

“The main difference between Florence Copper and other leach operations is that we have no mining costs associated with our in-situ leach process, making Florence Copper, when in commercial operation, one of the lowest cost operations globally,” he said.

The main focus of the Florence test facility, beyond ensuring the company achieves all the technical targets of its feasibility study, will be building the company’s on-the-ground operational experience to streamline the transition to commercial production, according to Halllbauer.

“Based on the knowledge we have gained in the last six months, the benefits of the two phase approach (production test facility followed by the commercial facility) will significantly improve the ramp up of the final commercial scale operation,” he said.

Stuart McDonald, President of Taseko, said financing for the commercial production facility is progressing with multiple options continuing to be pursued.

“We have initiated discussions with potential lenders and financing partners and we remain on track to have a plan formalised in the coming months,” he said.

“We now have the three key initiatives – technical, permitting and financing – all aligned for our project to be construction-ready in the first half of 2020.”

The commercial Florence mine is expected to produce copper at average operating costs of $1.10/Ib ($2,425/t), come with a capital cost intensity of $5,200/t of copper capacity and yield a pre-tax net present value of $920 million. It also has a slated copper production capacity of 85 MIb/y (38,555 t/y) and a 21-year mine life.

Peabody and Arch Coal to merge Powder River Basin and Colorado assets

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Peabody and Arch Coal announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to combine the companies’ Powder River Basin and Colorado assets, in the US, in what they call “a highly synergistic joint venture” aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of coal against natural gas and renewables.

The joint venture is expected to unlock synergies with a pre-tax net present value of approximately $820 million, according to the companies, with average joint venture synergies projected to be approximately $120 million/y over the initial 10 years. The joint venture will be 66.5% owned by Peabody and 33.5% owned by Arch.

Among other assets, the joint venture will combine two productive and adjacent US coal mines – Peabody’s North Antelope Rochelle mine (NARM) and Arch’s Black Thunder mine, which share a property line of more than 11 km – into a single, lower-cost complex.

Peabody says it has the lowest-cost position among major Powder River Basin producers, while Arch has some of the highest-quality coal in the PRB. Arch is contributing its low-cost, higher-margin West Elk Mine that enhances Peabody’s Twentymile mine in Colorado. Further PRB synergies are expected from the integration of the Caballo, Rawhide and Coal Creek mines, which have some of the best overburden-to-coal ratios in the world, the companies claim.

Together with NARM and Black Thunder, these PRB assets represent five of the 10 most productive mines in the US, they said. The inclusion of the Colorado assets will lead to additional synergies and offer the ability to better serve domestic customers while preserving seaborne coal optionality.

In 2018, on a combined basis, the assets shipped 206 million tons (187 Mt) of coal. The assets are operated by a workforce of approximately 3,300, with combined proven and probable reserves totalling 3.4 billion tons (3,084 Mt) as of December 31, 2018.

Peabody President and Chief Executive Officer, Glenn Kellow, said: “The Peabody/Arch joint venture is an extraordinary example of industrial logic targeted to strengthen the competitive position of our products and create significant value for multiple stakeholders in a low-cost combination with exceptional physical synergies.

“The transaction unites two strong, culturally aligned workforces with a commitment to core values such as safety and sustainability. We believe this joint venture allows us to offer enhanced products and security of supply for customers, increased value for shareholders, greater efficiencies for railroads, long-term opportunities for employees and strength for the communities in which we operate.”

Arch Chief Executive Officer, John W Eaves, said: “We are excited about this transaction’s potential to enhance the value of Arch’s top-tier thermal coal assets. This new joint venture should allow us to realise the full potential of our valuable assets in the Powder River Basin and Colorado and benefit our customers in the process. The significant operating synergies will enhance the competitiveness of these assets, and also enable us to continue to generate long-term, sustainable returns for our shareholders. We look forward to completing this transaction in a timely manner.”

Governance of the joint venture will consist of a five-member board of managers appointed by Peabody and Arch. Each party will have voting rights in proportion to its ownership percentage, with certain items requiring supermajority approval. As the operator, Peabody will manage all activities including the marketing of coal. Peabody and Arch will share profits, capital requirements and cash distributions of the joint venture in proportion to ownership percentages.

Aggregated synergies are expected to enable the joint venture to significantly reduce costs well beyond what each company could achieve alone, the companies said, adding: “A lower cost structure enables coal to better compete against other energy sources for electricity generation and create value.”

Expected substantial synergies include, among others:

  • Optimisation of mine planning, sequencing and accessing otherwise isolated reserves;
  • Improved efficiencies in deployment of the combined equipment fleet;
  • More efficient procurement and warehousing;
  • Enhanced blending capabilities to more closely meet customer requirements;
  • Improved use of the combined rail loadout system and other rail efficiencies;
  • Reductions in long-term capital requirements, and;
  • Leveraging Peabody’s shared services.

Kellow said: “For Peabody, the creation of the joint venture is a clear demonstration of the company’s US thermal strategy to optimise our lowest-cost, highest-margin operations in a low-capital fashion to maximise cash generation.

“The transaction fully aligns with our stated investment filters, further enhances our financial strength and enables continued commitment to our shareholder return program, in which we are committed to returning an amount greater than our free cash flows to shareholders in 2019.”

Peabody and Arch will continue to operate the assets independently until closing of the transaction. Closing is subject to regulatory approval and satisfaction of usual closing conditions.

Bingham Equipment receives Hard-Line distribution rights in Arizona

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Hard-Line says it has signed up Bingham Equipment Company as the company’s newest distributor in Arizona, USA.

With 11 locations in Arizona, Bingham Equipment will distribute Hard-Line’s LP401, MT52, and the RRC.

The LP401 (pictured) is a remote control operated low profile loader (skid steer) that can be used in a variety of restrictive areas where a normal man-operated machine cannot operate, Hard-Line said. The MT52 is a mini track loader that can “dig, trench, move materials and reach small, tight spots”, while the RRC is a versatile radio remote control that can operate any machine, make and model and is designed to be used in rugged and harsh environments, the company said.

Chad Rhude, Hard-Line’s Vice President, US Operations, said: “We are excited to be working with a great partner like Bingham Equipment Company. With their excellent reputation and many locations throughout the state of Arizona, it gives us a local presence for sales and support of our LP401 product line.

“We look forward to working with Bingham to showcase the versatility and capability of the LP401 in delivering a low-profile, fully-remote controlled machine platform to enhance safety and productivity in the municipal, construction and agriculture sectors in Arizona.”

Hudbay’s Rosemont copper project moves forward with 404 Water Permit

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The US Army Corps of Engineers has issued a Section 404 Water Permit for Hudbay Minerals’ Rosemont copper project in the US, the mining company says.

Rosemont has already received the Final Record of Decision from the US Forest Service (USFS), a process that involved 17 co-operating agencies at various levels of government, 16 hearings, over 1,000 studies, and 245 days of public comment resulting in more than 43,000 comments.

The company said: “Now that the 404 permit has been issued, Hudbay expects to receive Rosemont’s Mine Plan of Operations from the USFS shortly and looks forward to moving the project into development.”

Rosemont, around 48 km southeast of Tucson, Arizona, is envisaged as an open-pit mine producing copper, molybdenum and silver. It is expected to have an annual average life of mine copper production of 112,000 tons (101,605 t).

The Rosemont site will include a processing plant and associated facilities, transmission lines for power and water, the pit, and waste rock and dry-stack tailings storage facilities.

“Best available demonstrated control technologies will be the hallmark of Rosemont,” Hudbay said. “These technologies will contribute to maximising production while minimising environmental impact. At Rosemont, this will include the use of dry-stack tailings – a technology that significantly reduces water use and improves reclamation – along with leading-edge lighting designs to maintain dark skies, solar energy as a source of power, dust collectors with cartridge filters and trucks with Tier 4 engines to ensure compliance with air quality standards.”

Alan Hair, Hudbay’s President and CEO, said: “The receipt of Rosemont’s 404 Water Permit is a major milestone in our efforts to build a modern mine that will fulfil the requirements of its permits, create jobs and provide benefits for all of our stakeholders.

“We appreciate the diligence that the Army Corps has put into its consideration of Rosemont’s permit application, and look forward to advancing Rosemont into construction.”

Hudbay said it would continue to execute its plan regarding the Rosemont project and provide updates as developments warrant.

Resolution copper mine looking to automation, Rio says

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The partners at the Resolution copper project in Arizona, US, are likely to look to automation to solve the problems that come with operating at depths up to 2,100 m and temperatures in excess of 70°C, according to a member of Rio Tinto’s Growth & Innovation team.

Rob Atkinson, Head of Productivity & Technical Support for Rio’s G&I team, said operating at such a depth meant it really had to be “a fully autonomous mine”.

Resolution is a joint venture between Rio and BHP, with the former owning 55% and the latter 45%.

The proposed block cave hosts one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in North America, with a 1.79 Mt resource grading 1.54% Cu. When up and running, it is expected to operate at a rate of around 120,000 t/d, producing some 1,000 MIb/y (453,592 t/y) of the red metal. This would make it one of the biggest copper mines on the continent.

But, to get to this orebody, one of the deepest single-lift shafts in the US had to be sunk at No 10 shaft (7,000 ft or 2.1 km).

While sinking this, Cementation USA came across huge inflows of water and rock temperatures of up to 80°C, making excavation particularly tricky.

This is why haulage in the mine is likely to be carried out by autonomous equipment. According to a 2017 interview with then Vice President of Operational and Technical Support for Rio Tinto’s Copper & Diamonds business, Craig Stegman, autonomous LHDs could also potentially feed an autonomous ore handling system at the underground mine.

And, in addition to this, there is also the possibility of using battery-powered LHDs at the operation.

Stegman, at the time, said Rio was working with suppliers such as Caterpillar, Sandvik and Komatsu to create an alternative to vehicles that were tethered to an electrical connection.

The deposit, located 96 km east of Phoenix, near the town of Superior, is still some way off being exploited.

The Resolution Copper joint venture (55% Rio Tinto, 45% BHP) confirmed back in June that rehabilitation work at its No 9 Shaft was on track for completion in 2019. This shaft would then have to be deepened and connected to No 10 Shaft in 2021.

While the mine is likely to be autonomous, the operation is expected to employ some 1,400 direct employees as well as a further 2,300 contractors and other support roles, according to Rio.