Новости за 31.10.2019

Brazilian iron-ore miner Vale on Thursday said it had preemptively triggered an emergency protocol at its Forquilha IV dam which processes waste from its Fábrica mine near the historic town of Ouro Preto. Vale said it had taken the decision for the protocol, which does not require the evacuation of nearby residents, in agreement with regulators after an anomaly was identified at the dam "during routine inspection".

India’s largest zinc miner, Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL), part of Vedanta Group, has lined up an estimated $2-billion for capital investments over the next five years to ramp up metal production to 1.5-million tons a year, up from 0.8-million tons a year currently. “We have already started working on increase zinc production to 1.3-million tons a year and it will take two to three years to reach this level. Thereafter, we will aim for production of 1.5-million tons a year, which would take another... Читать дальше...

Uranium mining company Denison Mines is continuing to advance its in-site recovery (ISR) field test programme at the Wheeler River project, in Saskatchewan, reporting on Thursday that it had installed two commercial-scale wells at the Phoenix deposit. This is the first large-diameter commercial-scale wells designed for ISR mining in the Athabasca basin, the TSX-listed company said.

London-listed Petra Diamonds on Thursday launched its Artisanal Small-scale Mining initiative in the Free State. The launch follows a process of consultation and cooperating with relevant stakeholders, including the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, the Letsemeng local municipality, and the community of Koffiefontein itself.

Vancouver-based Columbus Gold on Thursday announced a high-grade gold discovery at the Maripa project, in French Guiana. Columbus has an option to acquire up to a 70% interest in Maripa from Canada’s Iamgold.

A global inquiry into how mining companies store billions of tonnes of waste in huge dams, launched after a collapse in Brazil killed hundreds, shows about a tenth of the structures have had stability issues, investors said on Thursday. The research was led by the Church of England (CoE) and fund managers after the collapse of a Vale dam in January unleashed an avalanche of mining waste on the Brazilian town of Brumadinho, killing an estimated 300 people.

Coal miner MC Mining’s Uitkomst colliery achieved an a 8% year-on-year increase in production to 135 675 t in the quarter ended September 30, the first quarter of the company’s 2020 financial year. This was on the back of revised mining cycles implemented earlier in the 2019 calendar year, as well as changes in mine management.

The completion of the prefeasibility study (PFS) for the Kwanika copper/gold project, in British Columbia, has been deferred, owing to a lack of funding, 65%-owner Serengeti Resources reported on Wednesday. The company, which owns Kwanika in a joint venture with Posco International, would instead focus on completing an interim study report.

The value of Canadian mining company Guyana Goldfields on Wednesday fell to its lowest in more than ten years, as the embattled miner said that its Aurora mine, in South America, would fail to meet its guidance and that it had started a mine plan review. The TSX-listed stock of Guyana fell to C$0.74 a share on Wednesday, which is a 52-week low and also the lowest point since November 2008.

Mining Weekly editor Martin Creamer unpacks green worker transport in Chile, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation and De Beers’ interest in Cobalt.

South Africa-focused Orion Minerals on Thursday said that a optimisation work at its Prieska copper project was progressing well, with the company hoping to complete an improved and simple-to-execute project plan by next year. Key studies currently under way at the Prieska project includes water treatment trials, investigating supplementary means of dealing with the water to be pumped from the underground workings, value engineering of the ore processing plant designs and layouts to improve operational... Читать дальше...

Mining major Rio Tinto on Thursday flagged a 5% increase in iron-ore shipments for 2020, compared with 2019, while also deferring $500-million of planned capital expenditure from 2019 to 2020. The miner told an investment seminar in London that total capital expenditure for 2019 would be $5.5-billion, with the 2020 capital expenditure guidance standing at $7-billion.

Rio Tinto has changed its exploration strategy to consider smaller ore deposits that have growth potential, as the likelihood of finding large, low cost mines dwindles, an executive said on Thursday. Global mining giants like Rio Tinto and BHP Group have long banked on finding large mineral deposits that can weather commodity price cycles because of economies of scale - so-called "tier one" deposits.

Nickel hopeful St George Mining will raise A$5.7-million through a share placement to fund work at its Mt Alexander project, in Western Australia. The company will issue nearly 39-million shares, at a price of 15c each under its existing placement capacity.

Copper developer Hillgrove Resources has announced a maiden underground mineral resource estimate for the Kavanagh underground area, at its Kanmantoo copper mine, in South Australia. The Kavanagh underround deposit is estimated to host some 957 000 t of ore, grading 1.7% copper and 0.14 g/t gold, as well as 3.8 g/t silver, for some 16 200 t of contained copper.

Coal miner Paringa Resources has continued to ramp up production from its US operations during the three months to September. The ASX-listed miner on Thursday reported that run-of-mine production from its Poplar Grove operation, in western Kentucky, had increased to 277 600 t during the September quarter, up from the 95 000 t produced in the previous quarter, while saleable coal production had increased to 143 300 t, from 26 700 t.

Base metals developer Pacifico Minerals has reported an increase in the mineral resource estimate of its Sorby Hills project, in Western Australia, on the back of a successful drilling programme. Pacifico on Thursday reported a 20% increase in the global resource estimate at Sorby Hills, which now stood at 36-million tonnes, grading 4.7% lead equivalent, and 0.5% zinc equivalent.

South Africa to test market for emergency power ‘gap fillers’ as IRP is finalized; And, SA moves to give new impetus to exploration, following years of stagnation