Новости за 08.07.2022

Having completed a new long-term plan and mine redesign study, JSE- and TSX-listed midtier platinum group metals (PGMs) miner Eastplats envisages restarting mining operations at its flagship PGMs and chrome operations, Crocodile River Mine (CRM), in South Africa’s North West province in the third or fourth quarter of this year. Restarting underground mining at CRM is dependent on whether Eastplats can secure sufficient funding, as well as the obligatory board approval, with the miner currently conducting... Читать дальше...

TSX- and LSE-listed Taseko Mines has extended its copper price protection with the acquisition of a copper collar for the first half of 2023 to secure a minimum price of $3.75/lb and a ceiling price of $4.72/lb for 30-million pounds of copper. The collar was purchased in mid-June when the price of copper averaged $4.20/lb.

Japan-based equipment manufacturer Komatsu has partnered with Chilean State-owned miner Codelco to trial a new tunnel excavation method using a newly launched tunnel boring machine (TBM). The trial will start in 2024 at Codelco’s Chuquicamata mine, in Chile.

Canadian miner Yamana Gold, which South Africa’s Gold Fields has made a play for, on Thursday announced strong production results, which exceeded its budget, keeping the company on track to achieve both its yearly production and cost guidance. The miner, which operates in Canada, Chile, Brazil and Argentina, produced 260 960 gold-equivalent ounces (GEOs) in the June quarter, with 232 542 oz of gold and 2.36-million ounces of silver.

Blockaded roads and disruption of transport routes associated with the Mpumalanga shutdown have served to twist the knife in commodity exporters already struggling to move product out of the country. A shutdown campaign gripped Mpumalanga on Wednesday when taxi and truck drivers blockaded critical transport routes, and even offloaded tonnages of coal onto highways, in protest of escalating fuel prices. On Thursday, disruptions spread to the R34 connecting Richards Bay and Empangeni.

Canadian miner Asante Gold has poured first gold at its Bibiani gold mine, in Ghana. The company acquired the mine in August last year and has since been refurbishing and upgrading a Knelson concentrator and other processing equipment, a tailings storage facility and mine site infrastructure.

Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP has lost an appeal in a London court seeking to block a five-billion pound-plus ($6-billion-plus) lawsuit by 200 000 Brazilians over a dam failure that triggered Brazil's worst environmental disaster. The Court of Appeal ruled on Friday that the group lawsuit, which is seeking damages for the 2015 disaster and is one of the largest in English legal history, can proceed in English courts.

In the rolling hills of South Africa’s Mpumalanga province, hundreds of builders, welders and engineers are putting the final touches to a gigantic new power station that’s set to burn as much as 15-million tons of coal a year until it is eventually shuttered in 2073. The 4 800 MW dry-cooled Kusile plant and the almost identical Medupi facility, which was completed last year, will be key to meeting demand for energy in a country that’s been plagued by rolling blackouts since 2008. Environmentalists... Читать дальше...

There seems to be no end in sight yet for the strike at the Raglan nickel mine, in Quebec, with the United Steelworkers Union (USW) Local 9449 on Thursday withdrawing from mediated negotiations. The strike at the Glencore-owned mine in Quebec is now in its sixth week. Some mining activities are currently under way, with operations carried out by professional staff and contractors who were already performing similar work prior to the dispute.

Copper miner Sandfire Resources has appointed Sally Martin and Rob Edwards as independent non-executive directors, effective immediately. The ASX-listed company on Friday said on Friday that the new board appointments continued’ the company’s board succession process, which was started in 2020, to ensure the right balance of skills, experience and diversity to effectively oversee the company’s growth aspirations.

Canadian diversified miner Teck Resources has achieved its second-quarter steelmaking coal sales guidance, with output of 6.3-million tonnes. The group’s previously announced guidance was 6.3-million to 6.7-million tonnes.

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses the reverse listing of Big Tree Copper into SHiP Copper Company on the AltX of the JSE in October; whether an energy emergency should be declared in South Africa; and the big new industrial pillar available for the taking.

Brazil relaxed rules on lithium exports in a bid to cement itself as a global supplier and tap into surging demand for the metal used in electric vehicle batteries. Mines and Energy Ministry Adolfo Sachsida on Thursday told Reuters the measure is expected to move lithium investments in Eastern Europe and Asian countries towards Brazil instead, calling his country "safe haven".

Chile's State-owned Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, said on Thursday that it will begin construction on a long-delayed $1-billion desalination plant this year to supply its largest operations in northern Chile. Construction was delayed in December 2019 after the company canceled the contract it had awarded to a consortium due to technical adjustments to be made to the project.

Aluminium major Alcoa refused to be drawn into speculation on Friday that it was considering a takeover offer for its Portland smelter, in Victoria, from Dutch group Aloft Holdings. The smelter, which has been operational since 1986, is a joint venture between Alcoa of Australia, Citic and Marubeni Aluminium Australia, with Alcoa running the day-to-day operations.

Mining company Orosur Mining announced in March that its geology teams have mobilised to Santa Cruz province, Argentina, to commence the company’s first field exploration programme at the El Pantano gold/silver project. The field programme is expected to last about two weeks and will involve extensive mapping and surface sampling (soils and rock chip) programmes over the two most attractive prospects that have been identified following examination of historical data and previous due diligence visits.

Canadian miner Filo Mining announced in May that the ongoing 2021/22 campaign for the miner’s 100%-owned Filo del Sol copper/gold/silver deposit – located in Chile’s Region III and the adjacent San Juan province in Argentina – continues to deliver exploration success. The campaign extends one of the high-grade breccias and defines continuity of strong mineralisation in the Aurora zone.

Mineral exploration and development company Montero in its blog last month noted that it is assembling the geological puzzle of its Avispa copper project thorough its exploration work. According to the company’s website, the project is located in the Atacama region of northern Chile, west of the town of Calama and 220 km north east of Antofagasta, Chile’s largest commercial deep-water port. The project is connected by asphalt road to the ports of Tocopilla and Antofagasta.