Iron, vanadium and titanium miner Ironveld reports that its purchase of Rustenburg-based Ferrochrome Furnaces is progressing, with all material underlying agreements required under a debt purchase agreement and share purchase agreement having been signed. The company notes that the timing of the transaction completion has had no effect on its operations, which continue to progress as planned.
Sigma Lithium has started commissioning the first module of the Phase 1 production plant – the Greentech Plant – at its 100%-owned Grota do Cirilo project, in Minas Gerais State, Brazil, on schedule and within budget, with the dry module crushing circuit having started in mid-December. All tests on the crushing plant commissioning were successfully completed and commissioning is expected to be finalised by February.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded NYSE-listed Uranium Energy Corporation (UEC) and TSX-V-listed enCore Energy Corporation with contracts to supply it with uranium concentrates under its new Uranium Reserve Programme. The contracts represent the first uranium purchase by the US government in 40 years, enCore says, adding that it will help the government to establish a strategic uranium reserve.
TSX-listed Taseko Mines has partnered with trading and investment company Mitsui & Co to develop the Florence Copper project, in Arizona. Mitsui will invest an initial $50-million in the construction of a commercial production facility at Taseko's Florence project. The initial investment will be in the form of a copper stream agreement on 2.67% of the copper produced at Florence.
Emerging lithium-boron supplier Ioneer reports that its Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project in Esmeralda County, Nevada, has advanced into the final stage of federal permitting with the decision by the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to publish a notice of intent (NOI) in the Federal Register. This marks a major milestone toward the completion of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process and approval of the project’s plan of operations – which is the foundational permitting document... Читать дальше...
Finnish mining company Terrafame will start extracting uranium by mid 2024 at its Sotkamo mine in Finland, aiming at output of 200 tons per year by 2026, the company said on Wednesday. Terrafame, in which the Finnish state holds 67.1% and commodities trading firm Trafigura, already produces nickel and cobalt sulphates for electric car batteries as well as other minerals at the mine in northeastern Finland.
Diamond miner De Beers sold $410-million of rough diamonds in its final sales cycle of this year. "Demand for our rough diamonds over the final sales cycle of 2022 was in line with expectations, ahead of the normal seasonal closure of polishing factories in southern Africa over the Christmas period and with sightholders taking a prudent approach ahead of restocking after Christmas and the expected reopening of the China market," comments CEO Bruce Cleaver.
Nickel developer Poseidon Nickel has beat its A$3-million raising target in a recently closed share purchase plan (SPP). The SPP was announced earlier this month as part of a A$9-million capital raise to progress the restart of the Black Swan project, in Western Australia. Under the SPP, eligible shareholders were allowed to subscribe for up to A$30 000 of additional new shares in the company at a price of 3.5c each.
Coal miner MC Mining has extended its coal sales and marketing agreement between its subsidiary Uitkomst Colliery Proprietary and Overlooked by six months. The marketing agreement was due to expire at the end of December but has now been extended until the end of June.
Takeover target Oz Minerals has reported ore reserve increases at its Prominent Hill underground operation, in South Australia, and its West Musgrave project, in Western Australia. In its annual mineral resource and ore reserve updates, Oz Minerals reported a near 23% increase to the Prominent Hill underground ore reserve, which now stands at 59-million tonnes at 1.4% copper equivalent, extending the mine life by two years to at least 2038.
