Latest issue of International Mining Project News available (September 11): There has been an influx of iron ore news in the last fortnight with this issue covering reports from 15 prospective projects. Gindalbie Metals has received final state environmental approval for its Karara project in Western Australia; FerrAus has executed two binding agreements with China Railway Materials for development of its East Pilbara iron ore projects and Northern Iron is undertaking a A$61 million equity raising for its Sydvaranger project in northern Norway. There is still some huge news in other metals though. Terrane Metals Corp has received the Mines Act Permit for its Mt Milligan copper-gold project in Canada; Paladin Energy has outlined its expansion plans at the Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia; Cougar Energy has taken part in a capital raising and share placement to develop its Kingaroy underground coal gasification (UCG) project in Queensland; and Barrick Gold has signed an agreement with Silver Wheaton Corp to sell 25% of the life-of-mine silver production from its Pascua-Lama project on the border between Chile and Argentina (see IM June 2009, pp 52-53 for more info).
In more iron ore news, Atlas Iron has signed a landmark Native Title Mining Agreement with the Kariyarra people in the Pilbara. This is an important milestone for the company’s Wodgina project and will provide enterprise opportunities for the indigenous community, preserving cultural values in the region and minimising any impact on the environment. Still in the Pilbara, Iron Ore Holdings has details of its exploration and operation activities at its Iron Valley project. Ongoing drilling is continuing to test depth and strike extensions and aggressive exploration, including a total of 44 holes (4,000 m), is also being undertaken to increase the resource base. This is all part of the company’s strategy to fast track Iron Valley into early production.
The recent news of the engineering prefeasibility study being awarded to Sinclair Knight Mertz for new port facilities at Port Hedland in Western Australia has been met positively by North West Iron Ore Alliance (NWIOA) members. Brockman Resources (one of four members of the NWIOA) sees it as “compelling evidence that Western Australia’s next generation of iron ore miners would soon have their own port.” The study is due to be completed at the end of this year, whilst construction of the port is scheduled for completion in 2013. Brockman’s own Marillana project in the heart of the Pilbara is set to benefit from the port development. The operation, according to the company, has the potential to produce in excess of 950 Mt of iron ore grading 57.4-60% Fe.
Murchison Metals and Crossland Resources also have some positive news on their Jack Hills iron ore project in Western Australia. Crossland, after reporting early drill results from the A$23 million, 70,000 m drill program, is targeting an additional 400 to 1,000 Mt of primary beneficiation feed ore (BFO), with a component of direct shipping ore (DSO). If fully realised, the additional exploration targets would lift the project size to between 1,500 – 2,100 Mt with further exploration targets to come.
Moving away from iron ore, Avalon Minerals has successfully undertaken a share placement to raise $1.3 million. The proceeds will enable the company to complete an RC and diamond drilling program at Viscaria, an application for a mining concession at the project tenements and progressing the feasibility and de-watering studies. The mine, located in the Norrboten area of northern Sweden, has JORC code resources of 39.9 Mt of copper mineralisation. In coal, Cougar Energy’s successful capital raising and share placement will result in proceeds of A$14.29 million for the Kingaroy UCG project in Australia to be used in the construction and operation of the project’s pre-production facility in Queensland and forward design items for the operation’s power plant.
Terrane Metals Corp’s permit news follows a comprehensive and detailed review led by the Mining and Minerals Division of the British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. The permit will allow the company to proceed with the project awaiting further approvals that are expected in the last quarter of this year. Mt. Milligan (British Columbia) contains Proven and Probable reserves of 334 Mt averaging at 0.217% Cu and 0.428 g/t Au containing 1,600 MIb of copper and 4.6 Moz of gold. The near-surface and tabular configuration of the reserves make them well-suited to low unit cost open-pit development at the life-of-mine waste/ore ratio of 0.82/1.
In Namibia, Paladin Energy is expecting construction at the Langer Heinrich uranium project to commence late this year. The third stage expansion will help the company reach its target of ramping up to 5 MIb of U3O8/y by the end of next year. Paladin’s Managing Director, John Borshoff said the project is expected to reach nameplate production of 3.7 MIb/y U3O8 this month from 2.6 MIb/y currently, following commissioning of the completed $55 million stage two expansion in July. Borshoff: “The new expanded mine plan integrates the increased 164 Mlb (66 Mlb reserves) resource base for Langer Heinrich and this will help deliver a sustainable longer mine life for this flagship asset.”
In addition, there are reports on Antofagasta’s Antucoya copper project in Chile and Iamgold’s Essakane project in Burkina Faso, in addition to many more reports.
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