Новости за 13.06.2019

The majority of the planned plant upgrades at Aim-listed Edenville Energy’s flagship Rukwa coal project, in Tanzania, have been completed, the company reported on Thursday. One of the key upgrades was further modifications to the pre-screen, which had been installed in January 2019.

Zambia will fine and break ties with mining firms that fail to operate according to the southern African country's laws, President Edgar Lungu said on Thursday, escalating a dispute with India-listed Vedanta. Vedanta is fighting Zambia's decision last month to name a provisional liquidator to run its Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) business and is seeking international arbitration.

Mining production decreased by 1.5% year-on-year in April, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) data revealed on Thursday. The largest negative contributors were gold, at -19.5%, and contributing -2.7 percentage points; iron ore, at -11.9%, and contributing -1.7 percentage points; and chromium ore, at -7.2%, and contributing -0.3 of a percentage point.

Diversified miner Vedanta Resources on Thursday denied allegations of the company’s involvement in “certain problems” being experienced at its Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) operations, in Zambia. This comes amid court proceedings launched by the State to have KCM wound up.

Unionised workers at Codelco's Chuquicamata copper mine, one of the world's largest, said late on Wednesday they would walk off the job beginning Friday after failing to reach a labor deal with Codelco, the world's top copper producer. Chuiquicamata unions 1, 2, and 3 voted to reject Codelco´s latest proposal in an assembly Wednesday evening, saying the deal did not meet key demands, including an adequate health care plan, fair treatment of workers and retirement benefits.

A scoping study into the Lake Way sulphate of potash (SOP) project, in Western Australia, has shown that the project could produce some 200 000 t/y of premium-grade SOP over a mine life of 20 years. ASX-listed Salt Lake Potash on Thursday reported that the project could have the lowest operating costs of any global SOP producer at a free-on-board operating cost of A$264/t.

A preliminary study of the Cascabel mining project in northern Ecuador shows that it could become one of the world's largest copper, silver and gold mines, Ecuador's government said on Wednesday. The project, operated by Australia's Solgold, is in the advanced exploration phase. It is one of the most ambitious mining projects in Ecuador, which hopes to develop mineral resources to spur its sluggish economy.

The town of Florence, in Arizona, in the US, has been ordered to pay Taseko Mines’ Florence copper mine attorney’s fees and costs after its legal challenge failed in court last week. The Superior Court of Arizona has ordered that Florence Copper be awarded $1.7-million in attorneys’ fees and $32 365.55 in costs.

ASX-listed Australian Mines has updated the economics and mine plan for its Sconi cobalt/nickel/scandium project, in Queensland. The company on Thursday said that Sconi’s projected mine life has increased from the 18 years considered in the bankable feasibility study (BFS), to 30 years, on the back of a 69% increase in the ore reserve, which now stood at 57.3-million tonnes.

Indian major Adani’s groundwater management plan for its Carmichael coal project, in Queensland, has been approved the by the Department of Environment and Science (DES). The approved plan was the eleventh incantation of the groundwater management plan, and was previously independently assessed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Geosciences Australia, which confirmed that the project met strict scientific requirements.

Lithium miners are seeing investor interest go up in smoke. The flow of capital into the cannabis industry is draining investments into lithium producers that supply the raw mineral key to power the electric-vehicle revolution

Junior mining badly in need of kickstart And, Manganese poised to make its mark as EV metal

This week Mining Weekly editor Martin Creamer unpacks South Africa’s opportunity in platinum and manganese, the electrification of taxi fleets and the Tshipi and South32 agreement.