Новости за 21.10.2022

Efforts to decarbonise steelmaking include the deployment of new technologies to existing and new steel plants, and changing the format of raw materials, as well as how raw materials are mined, processed and transported. During a panel discussion hosted by news company Financial Times' Mining Summit on October 21, representatives from iron producers through to steel financiers discussed the ongoing work to decarbonise the industry and the expected changes to the industry into the future.

The board of directors of global miner Rio Tinto needs more mining and renewable energy experience and a more diverse geographical background, its chairman Dominic Barton said on Friday. "I think there's a lot of changes that need to occur. On the board we need the mining experience," Barton said in a pre-recorded interview at the FT Mining Summit in London. "I think that capabilities on the renewable energy side (are) going to be quite important to have," he added.

Global demand for platinum group metals (PGMs) is forecast to taper off beyond 2030, despite a robust outlook for increasing automotive sales, according to platinum group metals producer Impala Platinum (Implats) corporate affairs executive Emma Townshend, who addressed a PGMs students colloquium hosted by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, in Pretoria, on October 20. “Legislation is shifting more from focusing on engine-out emissions to decarbonisation, resulting in very strict government... Читать дальше...

BHP Group's CEO Mike Henry said on Friday he was "cautiously optimistic" about the economic outlook for China, despite uncertainty. "There is uncertainty in China – albeit, our view is that China is still going to provide a bit of stability or underpinning to global economic growth over the next 12 months," the head of the world's largest listed mining company said in a pre-recorded interview at the FT Mining Summit in London.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has made progress in implementing transparency in its extractive mining sector but needs to do more in publishing contracts and revenues from the sector, a global anti-corruption body said. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which sets a global standard for good governance in oil, gas and mineral resources, said the DRC has achieved a high overall score in the implementation of the 2019 EITI Standards.

North American precious metals producer Americas Gold and Silver expects its 2022 production to be at the upper-end of its guidance of 4.8-million to 5.2-million silver-equivalent ounces and says its production will rise to between 7-million and 7.4-million ounces in 2024. “The company anticipates a strong finish to the year in the fourth quarter with silver-equivalent production to meet or exceed the upper-end of the guidance range,” president and CEO Darren Blasutti said on Thursday.

Angolan State diamond marketing company Sodiam plans to hold a rough diamond tender in Luanda, Angola, with viewings to take place between October 24 and November 14 at Sodiam’s offices. The online-only bid submission will end on November 15 at 10:00, with the sale exclusively targeting Sodiam-registered customers that have a proven expertise in large diamonds

This week, Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses China becoming the largest market for platinum-using fuel cell electric vehicles, which could spell good news for South Africa; Anglo American and Thyssenkrupp’s memorandum of understanding to decarbonize steelmaking; and Sasol and Freeport Saldanha IDZ's memorandum of understanding.

London-listed Botswana Diamonds has entered into a data licence agreement with fellow-listed Petra Diamonds to gain access to the full library of data on the Reivilo kimberlite cluster. Botswana Diamonds was recently awarded a prospecting licence over the Reivilo prospect, with Petra having been the prior holder of the licence.

Lithium miner Allkem has reported that group revenues for the three months to September had fallen to $298-million, from the $337-million in the June quarter, as spodumene production from the Mt Cattlin operation tumbled. The ASX- and TSX-listed Allkem on Friday reported that during the September quarter the Mt Cattlin operation, in Western Australia produced 17 606 t of spodumene and shipped 21 215 t.

Coal miner Stanmore has reported a solid quarter of production for the three months to September, despite wet weather conditions. Stanmore on Friday reported that run-of-mine coal production in the September quarter had increased to 5.1-million tonnes, up from the 2.9-million tonnes produced in the June quarter, while saleable coal production in the same period increased from 2.2-million tonnes to 3.2-million tonnes.

Copper prices don’t reflect a “strikingly tight” physical market, according to the world’s largest publicly-traded producer of the metal used in everything from computer chips to electric vehicles. Macroeconomic headwinds have pushed copper futures down almost 30% from a peak in March, despite brisk demand and shrinking inventories that are nearing historical lows.

Sydney- and Johannesburg-listed Orion Minerals has agreed funding terms with South Africa’s State-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) involving the advance R250-million (A$22 million) as a senior secured, convertible debt facility to fund early works at Orion’s project at its flagship copper-zinc mine in the Northern Cape. “This is a huge milestone for all our stakeholders,” an upbeat Orion MD Errol Smart said of the arrangement which will enable predevelopment work to get underway at the fully permitted Prieska Copper-Zinc Mine.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) has unveiled the re-purposing of the defunct mine in Broken Hill, in New South Wales, for renewable energy storage, using compressed air. Arena has conditionally approved A$45-million in funding to construct a 200 MW / 1600 MWh fuel-free energy storage facility, developed by Canadian energy storage developer Hydrostor Inc, using its Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES) technology.

The Australian resources sector on Friday welcomed the federal government’s National Critical Minerals Strategy, which is being developed in consultation with industry and community stakeholders, including traditional owners. Prime Minster Anthony Albanese said that the strategy would complement other government initiatives including the National Battery Strategy and the Electric Vehicle Strategy.

ASX-listed Whitehaven Coal has completed its initial 10% on-market share buy-back. The buy-back, which started in March this year, saw Whitehaven fork out A$587.9-million for 103.3-million shares, at an average price of A$5.69 per share.

Coal miner Bowen Coking Coal has completed an A$85-million capital raise to fund infrastructure guarantees and prepayments. The company on Friday announced that it will issue more than 283.3-million shares, at a price of 30c each, in two tranches.

South Africa’s minerals potential is not in doubt, with known geological opportunities in chrome, platinum-group metals, gold, iron-ore, titanium minerals and diamonds, as well as several other minerals regarded as critical for the global energy transition. Nevertheless, there is widespread frustration at the slow pace at which the country is moving to ensure that the framework is in place to allow for a genuine assault on the country’s stated goal of attracting 5% of global exploration expenditure in the near term.

Canadian explorer West Mining Corporation announced in October that it had received final reports for initial metallurgical and mineralogical testwork completed on the Gold Mountain and Kena Gold Zones of its 100%-owned Kena Gold-Copper project, in south-eastern British Columbia. The Kena Property hosts several large gold and copper zones.  The Kena Gold and Gold Mountain Zones contain the recent gold resource estimate shells, hosting 2.77-million ounces of gold inferred about 560 000 oz of gold... Читать дальше...

Toronto-based exploration company Eskay Mining announced in October that it had completed 29 500 m of diamond core drilling, substantially fulfilling its planned meterage for the 2022 property wide exploration campaign for the development of precious and base metals projects along the Eskay rift in prolific region of northwest British Columbia known as the “Golden Triangle”. Over the past four months, drilling has been conducted at multiple volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) targets including Jeff... Читать дальше...

Australian exploration company Sarama Resources announced in September that exploration drilling for the company’s 100%-owned Santura project – located in the prolific Houndé Greenstone Belt in south-west Burkina Faso – has returned further significant intersections in near-surface oxide material outside the current mineral resource. These intersections, including 34 m at 1.65 g/t gold, are in a sparsely drilled area at the MM & MC Prospects and open up a new trend for future exploration.

Explosives and blasting contractor Master Blasters uses only the safest primary and secondary explosives – resulting in the least damage to the environment and impact on surrounding communities – for blasts. Explosives can produce toxic gasses after detonation; therefore, the company uses explosives that have an oxygen balance of close to zero, with no harmful carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide released from the blasts as gaseous products of combustion, Master Blasters CEO Dean Pather explains.

Building on the flexibility and accuracy of electronic detonation, digital blasting tools can assist in enhancing mines’ efficiency and reducing carbon emissions, says blasting and explosives solutions provider BME MD Ralf Hennecke. He emphasises that software platform integration is key to ensuring that innovative digital tools can operate seamlessly with a mine’s existing systems. As such, BME’s collaborating with technology partners has aided the development of solutions that will enhance mining productivity.