This University of Leicester picture shows Nyree Hill, PhD Research in the Department of Geology. University of Leicester geologists are applying new scientific prospecting methods. Scotgold Resources has just won planning permission to open Scotland’s first gold mine since gold was mined 500 years ago at Leadhills to make the Scottish crown jewels. Now the University of Leicester is involved in the search for the next natural treasure trove.
Over the next decade or so, it is planned that the Cononish deposit near Tyndrum in the Scottish Highlands, will produce 20,000 oz gold and 80,000 oz silver each year. After that, though, the currently known resources will largely be worked out.

Therefore research being undertaken at the University of Leicester, in conjunction with Scotgold Resources and in collaboration with researchers at Aberdeen & Glasgow Universities and the British Geological Survey, will be key to finding the next gold mine. If successful, employment and the local economy - and income for the UK - can be sustained beyond the lifetime of Cononish.

University of Leicester PhD student, Nyree Hill, explained: “The problem is that gold is found scattered throughout the Scottish Highlands, but so far none has been found as concentrated as at Cononish. This is despite the Highlands being one of the first areas in the world to be studied by geologists. One explanation for this is the challenging climate and mountainous terrain, and also much of the rock is buried by glacial deposits.”

The gold at Cononish has ancient roots. Before the Atlantic Ocean opened, the Highlands formed part of a mountain belt that extended from Canada through Ireland and Scotland into Scandinavia. This mountain-belt formed as the Iapetus Ocean, a fore-runner of the Atlantic Ocean, was destroyed by the collision of tectonic plates half a billion years ago. This joined Scotland and England together as we know it today.

The gold was concentrated, deep underground, as rising granite magma heated water, which circulated through large faults. That hot water, at 100s of degrees Celsius, carried gold, silver and other metals, and deposited them, with quartz, into veins. The process, repeated time and again, brought the gold to economic levels.

Hill is examining rocks from a series of new targets close to Cononish in order to identify key ‘fingerprints’ for gold mineralisation. She said: “Traditional exploration strategies look at how gold is related to other metals and minerals. However, my study is using detailed chemistry of the gold and associated minerals to map the pathways through the rock along which the gold-bearing fluid flowed.”

“Applying this approach will help identify future targets and maximise our chances of finding the next Cononish.”

Dr Gawen Jenkin, Senior Lecturer in Applied Geology at the University of Leicester, said: “The go-ahead for mining at Cononish will galvanise exploration activity across the Scottish Highlands - a mini gold-rush perhaps - meaning that Nyree’s work will be of wide application. I was involved in the early work to understand how Cononish formed and was therefore very keen when asked by Scotgold to be involved with their current exploration program.”

Tucson-based Mintec officially launched its Version 4.0 of its MineSight Schedule Optimizer (MSSO) mine scheduling software package on October 26. The statement said that chief among the enhancements is MSSO’s seamless integration with MineSight Haulage, plus its upgrade to 64-bit technology. Using Canvas for flowsheet design and “an attractive, new graphic user interface” (GUI), Version 4.0 now takes advantage of haulage data prepared by MSHaulage. MSSO imports destinations (lift, subzone, ton/volume capacities, filling sequence) directly and automatically from MineSight Planning Database, plus equipment set and parameters (truck, shovel and delay time), cycle time, cycle distance, cycle path and fuel consumption.

The company stated: “By simply dragging and dropping, Canvas allows you to graphically and intuitively define mining areas, destinations, and material routing. Thanks to the improved GUI, most of the panels are dockable, allowing you to open them side by side. MSSO now generates schedules that satisfy quality, quantity, and blending requirements, as well as satisfying truck and shovel hour constraints. Because of their relationship, material routing scheduling and equipment scheduling are conducted simultaneously.” Version 4.0 calculates truck hours based on the cycle time from each cut to each possible destination. It calculates shovel hours based on the load time and the number of trips for sending materials in each cut to each destination. Total truck and shovel operating costs are calculated and incorporated into cash flow calculations to satisfy net present value objectives.

During schedule calculation, truck and shovel hours, plus haulage costs, are calculated on the fly. “The integration of MSSO and MSHaulage provides a quantum leap forward in the capability of MSSO to produce realistic mining schedules,” said John Davies, President of Mintec, adding: “These improvements, and a host of other goodies in MSSO Version 4.0, mean short- and medium-term planners now have all the data they need in an attractive, highly responsive format. The 64-bit version of MSSO solves very high-end scheduling problems. If you ever ran out of memory in earlier versions of MSSO, you may want to try the 64-bit version.”

Mechel OAO, one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, has announced that its Southern Urals Nickel Plant has opened an experimental industrial complex to produce ferronickel. The industrial complex will produce ferronickel by electric smelting. The complex’s launch is part of the reconstruction of the plant’s smelting facilities, aimed at increasing production efficiency, lowering production costs and dramatically reducing the volume of waste released into the atmosphere. The new technology will also allow the plant to significantly decrease operating costs by excluding several expensive components from the technological cycle.

The 12MW complex’s annual production capacity is some 4,500 t of ferronickel, with an average 20% nickel content. The smelting complex was designed by Bateman Engineering in South Africa, based on state-of-the-art technical developments employed for the ferroalloy industry and environment protection. In developing the project Bateman used an integrated approach, which made possible a combination of lower production costs with higher metal extraction levels and improved equipment endurance and reliability.”Launching this unique industrial complex for ferronickel production, with its 12MW electric furnace, which will be used to master the technology and train our personnel, marks the beginning of the plant’s sweeping modernisation. The development strategy implemented by the plant is due to ensure not only the present, but also the future for South Urals Nickel Plant and dramatically improve the facility’s economical and ecological parameters,” Mechel OAO’s Chairman of the Board of Directors Igor Zyuzin said in a statement.

Russia has today taken an important step towards integrating its mining capital structure with the major international markets by joining CRIRSCO, the international committee which co-ordinates public reporting standards for exploration results, mineral resources, and mineral reserves. The Russian national code (the NAEN Code) has been developed by the Society of Experts on Mineral Resources (OERN, a component body of NAEN), in close co-operation with the State Commission on Reserves (GKZ) and with members of CRIRSCO. The NAEN Code is modelled very closely upon the CRIRSCO Public Reporting Template and is issued as a bilingual document in Russian and English. This reporting standard is intended for use principally by Russian companies for independent estimation of their mineral assets, and listing on stock exchanges nationally as well as internationally. Its compatibility with other CRIRSCO-aligned reporting standards will encourage rapid acceptance of the Code around the world.At the same time, the definition of the Competent Person, required in all CRIRSCO codes, will allow for the first time full integration of Russian professional geoscientists into the international geological community, with recognition of OERN as a professional organisation in its own right. NAEN (OERN) has for some years been a member of the European Federation of Geologists, through which its members have been able to receive ‘European geologist’ status, but following CRIRSCO membership, recognition will be extended to all professional members of OERN.

This is an important step for CRIRSCO, whose member organisations define the standards for reporting exploration results, mineral reserves and resources for the world’s major mining capital markets. Although Russia will continue to use its governmental mineral resources reporting system, a ‘harmonisation’ exercise from 2006 to 2010 yielded a set of guidelines which, used in conjunction with the new NAEN code, will make it much more straightforward for Russian mining companies of all sizes to list on the world’s capital markets as well as increase the investment attractiveness of Russian mineral resources to international capital.

Elizabeth Lewis-Gray, Chairman and Managing Director of Gekko Systems and Chairman of CEEC (Coalition for Eco-Efficient Comminution) announced in an October 2011 statement the launch of an inaugural CEEC medal. This an annual award intended to recognise and celebrate the contribution of outstanding published papers, articles or case studies profiling beneficial strategies for eco-efficient comminution. “The CEEC Medal is intended to bring attention to ‘best-in-class’ research or documentation in the field of eco- efficient comminution. This area of mineral processing provides significant opportunities for improved profit and energy savings in the mining industry”, Ms Lewis-Gray said.

The CEEC believes that the new award will contribute to raising the status of beneficial eco-efficient comminution strategies by recognising and celebrating individuals or teams who make an outstanding contribution in the field of beneficial eco-efficient comminution strategies. It will also act to acknowledge individuals or teams who contribute to building global knowledge of beneficial eco-efficient comminution practices by sharing examples of best practice and leadership in eco-efficient comminution and inspiring similar excellence in others. Finally, it will Identify those who build greater awareness and understanding in the wider community of the benefits of knowledge transfer in the area of eco-efficient comminution and energy savings.

The first CEEC medal recipient will be announced in June 2012 and the winner(s) will receive international acknowledgement. As a global award, the winning author/authors will be recognised in their home country at an appropriate ceremony. For those interested in nominating potential winners, papers and articles submitted for consideration for the CEEC award need to be innovative; of a standard suitable for technical review, written or published within the past 12 months; ideally demonstrate on-site pilot studies, and display “breadth and depth of publication of results and findings within the mining sector and research field.” Application information for the CEEC Medal can be found on CEEC’s web site www.ceecthefuture.org. Applications will be received up to March 15, 2012. Further details can be found on CEEC’s web or by contacting CEEC’s Executive Officer via email: Sarah.boucaut@ceecthefuture.org

Aura Silver Resources has identified possible distinct sources of the high-grade gold and high-grade silver surface samples found in close proximity to Aura Lake on its wholly-owned Greyhound project in Nunavut, Canada. Aura Silver’s prospecting has identified multiple surface rock samples ranging up to 5,300 g/t Ag carrying little gold and up to 28 g/t Au with negligible silver. However, drilling to date of structural, geophysical and geochemical targets has been unable to locate a source of these high grade samples. A possible cause is believed to be due to glacial transport.
The difficulty in finding a source of the high-grade gold and silver samples through traditional geophysical and geochemical techniques prompted Aura Silver to employ an interpretative study referred to as Soil Gas Hydrocarbon (SGH) to unravel anomalous trends in the entire area and to pinpoint drill targets. SGH is a deep penetrating organic geochemistry developed by Activation Laboratories (Actlabs) that involves the analysis of surficial samples prospected over potential mineral or petroleum targets (see: http://www.actlabs.com/files/SGH_-_NEW_.pdf). The analysis involves the testing for 162 hydrocarbon compounds in the C5-C17 carbon series range in a wide variety of sample types. The observation of a specific set of hydrocarbon classes provides a forensic signature of mineral identification related to the hydrocarbons synthesized by bacteria that are in contact with the mineral target at depth. The geochromatographic dispersion of the SGH classes in the overburden has been successful in delineating mineral targets found at over 700 m in depth. Over 14 years of research, Actlabs has conducted over 800 SGH surveys with an 85% repeat client base including some of the worlds’ largest mining companies.
The Aura Lake SGH analysis provides compelling results and has defined a separate gold and two separate silver targets. The targets identified reside to the east and southeast of Aura Lake in areas where no previous drilling has occurred. These targets are sufficiently definitive to outline drill targets and have been rated by Actlabs as high-priority targets; with gold receiving the second highest rating of the gold pathfinder class maps and silver of the very highest confirmation level. The results also indicate that gold and silver samples originated from two different mineralising systems with most samples being transported on a north to southerly path.