Новости за 29.11.2019

The Lusaka High Court has granted the board of Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) and Vedanta Resources an injunction order, preventing the sale of the KCM mining right areas by KCM provincial liquidator Milingo Lungu. The court order comes after Vedanta and KCM became aware of the liquidator having entered into a consent judgment in Zambia’s court of appeal, which would result in KCM’s sale of Lot 649/M Chingola for $20-million to three companies with whom KCM had been in a legal dispute over the area since 2016.

Aim-listed Edenville Energy has reported operational delays, owing to working capital constraints and the start of the rainy season in November, in Tanzania, where the company is developing the Rukwa coal and power project. The company on Friday said production levels had been lower, with 820 t of washed coal produced from September 21 to date, while the plant has a 12 000 t capacity.

Indonesian coal miner PT Arutmin Indonesia, a unit of PT Bumi Resources, has proposed extending its contract and converting it to new licensing system, the energy ministry said. According to a 2009 mining law, coal miners in Indonesia are required to convert their contracts of work, which are long-term deals that include specific tax rules, to new special mining permits known as IUPK, that broadly follow prevailing law.

Gold miner Troy Resources on Friday told shareholders that a restart of operations at the Karouni gold project, in Guyana, would be dependent on a number of issues, including securing additional funding. Troy in October this year suspended operations at Karouni following a fatality at the mine, and the issue of a Cease Work Order from the Ministry of Social Protection forcing a cease on all mining and milling activities.

Uranium developer Peninsula Energy will raise A$9.1-million through a share placement and entitlement offer to fund work at its Lance uranium project, in Wyoming. An initial A$7-million will be raised through an institutional placement, with 42.42-million shares to be issued at a price of 16.5c each to new and existing institutional and sophisticated investors.

North American-headquartered miner Lucara Diamond Corporation expects to recover between 370 000 ct and 410 000 ct of diamonds from its Karowe mine, in Botswana, in 2020. The company on Friday provided its operating guidance for next year.

One of the oldest and largest polymetallic mines in the world, operating for almost 400 years, Cerro de Pasco is changing hands. CSE-listed Cerro de Pasco Resources (CDPR) announced on Thursday that it would buy the companies that own the mining and processing assets comprising the complex in central Peru from Volcan Compañia Minera for $30-million in cash, a variable consideration and a net smelter royalty.

Canada’s Group Eleven announced on Thursday that John Barry, cofounder and VP for exploration and strategy, has stepped down from his position and resigned as director of various Irish subsidiaries with immediate effect. In an announcement, Barry said that after 32 years of exploring for metals on five continents, it was time for him to pursue other ideas outside of mining and mineral exploration. He will keep some involvement in the sector through independent consulting.

It is unacceptable that tailings dam failures are reported to be about ten times more frequent than water dams on a ratio basis, says geotechnical engineering company Geotheta CEO Ian Hammond, particularly in terms of loss of life, livelihood or environmental damage.

Holistic solutions that consider closure, social, environmental and technical best practices will be important for the sustainability and longevity of the African mining industry, say independent consulting engineers and scientists SRK Consulting.

Further advances in battery technology are expected as new options come to market and new economies of scale are achieved, says independent consulting engineers and scientists SRK Consulting.

Incredible as it might seem, one can, without too much exaggeration, argue that the space mining sector has already gone through its first boom and bust cycle. Of course, it was, by the standards of the conventional mining industry, a tiny boom, and consequently a tiny bust (although no less painful for those involved). Perhaps the two earliest space mining companies were Planetary Resources, launched (no pun intended) in 2012, and Deep Space Industries (DSI), founded not long afterwards. Planetary... Читать дальше...

Mine safety equipment supplier Booyco Electronics CEO Anton Lourens is anticipating a surge in demand for proximity detection systems (PDS) next year. In 2017, the Department of Mineral Resources, as it was known then, issued a 2020 deadline for mining companies to implement stipulations laid out in the 2015 amendments to Chapter 8 of the Mining Health and Safety Act (MHSA).

The draft regulations proposed by the Mine Health and Safety Council (MHSC) were akin to overregulation in several instances, law firm ENSafrica executive consultant Willem le Roux said at the Mine Health and Safety Seminar, hosted by ENSafrica's department of mine and occupational health and safety in Sandton last month. He believes that the proposed draft regulations – an effort by the MHSC to be “progressive” in terms of ensuring better health and safety – could actually suffocate the industry in certain respects... Читать дальше...

Semi-industrial and artisanal diamond mining cooperatives in Angola will lose their mining licences if they remain inactive for more than six months, Geology and Mines State Secretary Jânio Correia Victor warned recently. He was speaking in Luanda at the First Meeting on Semi-Industrial Diamond Operations in Angola.

Diamond mining major De Beers Group has not recorded any cases of tuberculosis (TB) among its permanent South African employees in 2019. South Africa’s overall TB infection figure is about 567 per 100 000 people, with the country’s mining industry at about 435 per 100 000 people according to the Minerals Council South Africa, explains De Beers Group senior occupational health manager Dr Tshepo Sedibe.