Новости за 12.04.2019

Empowered diversified miner Exxaro Resources on Friday reaffirmed its safety, health and environmental goals at its yearly Sustainability Summit, held in Lephalale, Limpopo. The summit is being held soon after the group celebrated a 24-month fatality-free milestone.

Aim-listed Arc Minerals has started an exploration programme at its Zamsort copper/cobalt project, in Zambia. This followed completion of an airborne geophysical programme. The exploration programme entails infill soil sampling over new targets, with 1 200 samples already completed, and drilling of new targets, as soon as weather conditions improve.

Following a detailed review of historic exploration, Aim-listed African Battery Metals (ABM) has restarted exploration activities at its Kisinka copper/cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, to preserve the company’s capital, the exploration programme will adopt a staged approach, with initial wide area exploration focused on identifying areas of anomalous copper and cobalt mineralisation, to be followed by additional drilling, should ABM find prospective targets.

Aim-listed diversified miner Vast Resources has raised £600 000 through a placement and subscription of around 440-million shares at a price of 0.135p apiece. The placing was for 407-million ordinary shares, and the subscription was for 37-million shares, of which 29-million and 7.4-million shares were taken up by directors Roy Tucker and Andrew Prelea, respectively.

The production test facility at base metals miner Taseko Mines’ Florence copper project, in central Arizona, is fully operational and is producing copper, the Vancouver-headquartered company announced on Friday. It reported that, over a three-month period, about 1.5-million tons of copper ore had been contacted underground with leach solution and that concentrations in the solution had now risen to levels that had allowed the solvent extraction and electrowinning plant to begin operations.

Copper and gold miner Oz Minerals on Friday said that it remained on track to reach its full-year production guidance, despite lower output during the three months to March. Total copper production for the first quarter ended March reached 27 442 t, with the Prominent Hill project delivering 25 575 t and the Antas operation 1 867 t. Gold production for the quarter reached 34 648 oz, with Prominent Hill delivering 32 947 oz, while Antas produced the balance.

Global silver demand rose 4% last year, chalking up its first increase since 2015, thanks to sharply higher consumption in India, with a supply fall creating a small deficit, an industry report said on Thursday. The world consumed 1 033.5-million ounces in 2018, up from 998.4-million ounces in 2017, according to the Silver Institute's World Silver Survey 2019, prepared by GFMS analysts at Refinitiv.

NYSE-listed Mosaic on Thursday announced that it would idle production at its Tapira and Catalão phosphate mines, in Brazil, to comply with new regulations governing mine tailings dams. The company stressed that its mines did not present an imminent risk, but that it had to implement the emergency action plan for the BL1 and BR dams, in Tapira, and the BR dam, in Catalão, as it had not received a requested extension for applying with legislation.

The global copper industry will be rocked by more disruptions this year than in 2018, contributing to a supply deficit as demand for the red metal continues to grow, the top executive of Chilean miner Antofagasta told Reuters. Antofagasta CEO Ivan Arriagada said labour strife, extreme weather and unexpected project delays will knock as much as one-million tonnes off the year's total copper production, versus 600 000 t the previous year.

Norman Mbazima will step down as deputy chairperson of Anglo American South Africa on June 30. “Norman has made an exceptional contribution to Anglo American over the last 18 years, delivered with tireless energy, most recently as deputy chairperson of Anglo American South Africa. He has played a number of critical leadership roles, as CEO of Kumba Iron Ore and our South African coal business and as joint acting CEO of our platinum group metals (PGMs) business, always bringing a unique perspective to our management team.

After months of being ignored in favor of market darling palladium, platinum is finally getting some attention from investors. The metal, which is mostly used to make jewelry and reduce emissions from car exhausts, is trading near the highest since May and money is pouring into platinum-backed exchanged-traded funds. Prices have gained as expectations for tough wage negotiations this year in top producer South Africa raised the threat of supply disruptions, and platinum’s cheapness relative to other... Читать дальше...

The Minerals Council South Africa (Minerals Council), the representative body for the mining industry in the country, has called on government to delay the implementation of the new carbon tax. “The Minerals Council would like to see a delay of at least five years for the implementation of the carbon tax, to allow sufficient time for government to address the design challenges and the finalisation of the appropriate regulations,” Minerals Council environment head Stephinah Mudau tells Mining Weekly. Читать дальше...

While mining progress in West Africa will vary from country to country, with one or two discrete discoveries, developments often set significant change into motion, says engineering consulting company SRK Consulting South Africa partner and principal consultant Andrew van Zyl. Recent studies have shown that countries in West Africa, such as Ghana and Burkina Faso, remain important destinations for mineral exploration, particularly gold.

South Africa-based explosives company BME continues to strengthen its presence in West Africa – which is poised to become one of the top five gold-producing regions in the world. BME – a division of the JSE-listed chemical manufacturing company Omnia Group – manufactures explosives at emulsion plants across the region and supplies mining and quarrying operations in several countries. The company hopes to continue sourcing better raw materials at competitive prices.

One of Johannesburg-based supplier and manufacturer of explosives AEL Intelligent Blasting’s core values for this year is going green, with sustainable development also informing its plans to enter the commercial explosives sector in French-speaking West Africa. Francophone West Africa, also known as French West Africa, refers to the federation of eight French colonial territories of Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan, French Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Upper Volta, Dahomey and Niger.

The cheerful mood among operators at the 2019 Investing in African Mining Indaba, coupled with some proactive and innovative governments competing for attention, suggests that the West African mining sector’s vast potential may increasingly be realised through the successful development of new mining projects, says specialist investment and development communications consultancy africapractice senior consultant Adrian Fielding. He further notes that many analysts predict strong iron-ore prices and a rise in gold production... Читать дальше...

South African airborne geophysics technology provider Spectrem Air plans to reintroduce the application of its airborne electromagnetic (AEM) platform – the SPECTREMPLUS system – to the mineral and groundwater exploration industry in West Africa. This continually evolving platform entails being able to see deeper, as the company currently has the highest dipole moment.

Outsourced rock engineering and seismic monitoring services provider Open House Management Solutions (OHMS) is continuously considering opportunities to expand its service offering to the minerals industry and develop in new, but related services, says OHMS MD Koos Bosman. OHMS has been in operation since January 2000 and will celebrate its twentieth year of existence in 2020. The company’s local offices are located in Potchefstroom, Klerksdorp, Lydenburg, and in Kitwe, in Zambia. Plans are afoot to establish an office in Botswana this year.

Equity markets have “fallen out of love with junior miners” of late as investors have been lured to other sectors, specifically into cannabis stocks, notes a report by auditing and business advisory BDO Global partner Sherif Andrawes. The analysis, released last week, notes that investors that were traditionally attracted to the junior mining space have a secondary option, where the valuations are higher and forecast demand is reportedly worth billions.

Changing societal perceptions, combined with more and more countries legalising cannabis use, means that companies should adapt traditional methods of determining whether employees are fit for duty, says Predictive Safety director of fatigue education Dr Doug Potter.

Mineral discoveries in Africa have been on the increase in the past ten years and one of the major challenges for mines is finding expert solutions in countries that have developing mining ecosystems, says global boutique consultancy The Polyglot Group renewables and resources senior consultant Jason Todd. The Polyglot Group provides human-centric services in terms of human resources, talent acquisition, payroll outsourcing, language support and business setup. In Africa, the company is currently active in Morocco... Читать дальше...

Mining activity in West Africa is increasing and this trend is likely to continue. New mines have been established in Mali over the past few years, as well as in countries, such as Liberia, which are not traditionally associated with mining, says engineering consulting company SRK Consulting country manager for Ghana John Kwofie. There are mining projects at various levels of exploration and development in several West African countries. There has been activity in marble and limestone in Togo, the... Читать дальше...