Mining Breaks

Chinese-owned Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia will gain material for more detailed studies into development pathways for the Pioneer Dome lithium project in WA’s Eastern Goldfields following completion of a positive scoping study.
The study by leading engineer Primero was conducted for current owner Essential Metals, which last month agreed to a $A136M cash takeover by Tianqi.
The acquisition of Pioneer Dome’s 129,000t mineral resource (11.2Mt @ 1.16% Li2O) is a key to plans by Tianqi and JV partner IGO to build a globally significant lithium business.
The study outlines a $A293M pre-production capital cost for a development that will deliver 8.8Mt @ 1.11% Li2O at $1,030/t of 5.7% spodumene concentrate over a 7.3-year mine life, calculating a base case post-tax NPV at 10% discount of $367M, IRR of 40% and 1.7 years payback.

Canadian-based international miner Centerra Gold has mobilised an emergency response team from its Öksüt mine site in Turkey to assist state and regional organisations following the disastrous earthquakes in SE Turkey-N Syria.
Centerra’s 100%-owned openpit mine, about 180km NW of the tremor site, has continued to operate normally. The company reports no injuries or infrastructure damage.

African-focused explorer Cassius Mining has formally commenced its international arbitration action against the Ghanaian government, claiming more than $US275M for losses and damages over its Gbane project in the gold-rich Talensi District.
Cassius claims the government breached the terms of its large-scale prospecting licence by failing to stop a rival explorer encroaching on its holdings.
The Ghana government has 30 days to respond to the case in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

West Australian explorer Kalamazoo Resources has set the base to accelerate development activities at its Ashburton gold project with the posting of an independent indicated-inferred mineral resource of 1.44Moz (16.2Mt @ 2.8g/t).
Indicated resources have grown by 68%, reflecting its improved interpretation of the project 35km S of Paraburdoo and higher confidence in the continuity of higher-grade zones particularly at the Mt Olympus deposit.
Exec director Paul Adams says the optimised pit shell-constrained resource at Mt Olympus now stands at over 800,000oz.

West Australian explorer Alliance Nickel has partnered with Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate Vingroup to negotiate a project financing and offtake agreement for its planned NiWest project in the WA Nickel Belt.
The MoU allows for consideration of debt, offtake prepayment and project equity options for the proposed mine and refinery development to deliver 97,000tpa battery-grade nickel and cobalt sulphate products.
MD Paul Kopejtka says the Vingroup agreement, following its similar MoU signed in Oct 2022 with global auto giant Stellantis, advances Alliance’s strategy targeting potential strategic offtake and financing partners.

Canadian-based miner First Quantum warns it may be forced to shut down its 90%-owned Cobre Panama mine over its escalating fight against government demands it pay higher revenue.
First Quantum says the Panama Maritime Authority halted concentrate loading at the Punta Rincon port after ordering a change from internationally accepted weighing system certification processes. With limited storage capacity at the port, it says mining may have to halt by mid-Feb.
Panama’s campaign has previously included attempts to block copper exports and orders seeking to force the mine on care and maintenance.
First Quantum says it remains ready to conclude a reasonable long-term agreement.

Completion of the Central Shaft at Caledonia Mining’s Blanket mine in Zimbabwe has delivered a 52% increase in measured and indicated mineral resources to 1.095Moz gold (10.7Mt @ 3.18g/t). Proved and probable mineral reserves have grown by 1% to 395,000oz (3.94Mt @ 3.12g/t).
CEO Mark Learmonth says the update, calculated by Minxcon from data reflecting the Central Shaft completion and migration to fully digital estimation protocols, secures the mine’s long-term future.
Achieving its long-term target of producing 80,000oz gold in 2022, coupled with a high gold price, positions Caledonia to progress its new portfolio of assets supported by cash generated by Blanket.

Australian No 1 gold producer Newcrest Mining has advised shareholders to sit tight while it ponders a revised indicative takeover proposal from world leader Newmont Mining.
After its previous offer of 0.363 Newmont shares for each Newcrest share was rejected, US-based Newmont has submitted Tom Palmer says a transaction would join industry-leading portfolios of assets and projects to create long-term value across its combined global business.
Its proposal would be subject to due diligence on both sides, a scheme implementation agreement and a positive Newcrest board recommendation.

Australian kaolin producer Suvo Strategic Minerals has validated its capacity to produce about 50,000tpa hydrous kaolin after completing the upgrade and optimisation of its 100%-owned Pittong mine in Victoria ahead of schedule and on its $A2.3M budget.
It says an independent review confirmed its ability to produce about 60,000tpa under favourable operating conditions.
Exec chairman Henk Ludik says the upgrade allows Suvo to more than double production while reducing operating costs and generate a lift of up to four times in EBITDA.
Actual production at Pittong will increase as Suvo negotiates increased offtake orders.

Australian developer Hastings Technology Metals has lifted the minelife planning target at its Yangibana rare earths project in WA’s Gascoyne region to at least 17 years after increasing its total proved and probable ore reserves to 20.93Mt @ 0.9% TREO.
The update, which is based on the company’s 2021-22 exploration and the acquisition of Cadence Minerals’ 30% Yangibana JV interest, increases its neodymium+praseodymium content by 19% to 69,500t.
CEO Alwyn Vorster says it’s another key milestone as it seeks a funding solution to support project main construction in 2023.

The strategy that drove the recent merger of Australian explorers AIC Mines and Demetallica has been borne out by a more robust mineral resource for the Jericho project near Cloncurry in Qld.
The share-swap deal was framed around combining Demetallica’s Jericho project with AIC’s nearby Eloise mine and processing facility.
AIC says the 9.8Mt @ 1.8% for 180,000t copper and 0.4g/t for 110,600oz gold at Jericho lifts their combined mineral resource to 14.6Mt @ 2% for 295,000t Cu and 0.6g/t for 210,700oz Au.
MD Aaron Colleran says the transformational result provides potential to increase production and mine life while reducing operating costs, with further upside expected from continued drilling at depth and along strike.

Improved geological understanding of the deposit has resulted in Predictive Discovery’s flagship Bankan gold project in Guinea growing to 4.2Moz (76.8Mt @ 1.69g/t) ahead of the completion of a scoping study in late 2023.
The update by CSA Global increases NE Bankan openpit resources to 3.52Moz (67.4Mt @ 1.62g/t), of which 1.75Moz is now in the indicated category. The indicated resource sits in the top 250m of NEB’s optimised resource pit shell.
Its high-grade underground resource has also grown to 335,000oz (2.2Mt @ 4.75g/t), still based on limited drilling.

Project owner Northern Dynasty Minerals, industry groups and Alaskan state political leaders say they will continue to fight for the right to develop the massive Pebble mine in the face of the latest US government setback.
For only the third time in 30 years, the EPA has used its powers to prohibit the discharge of dredged or fill material in the pristine environment – a ban that will prevent the proposed opencut mine development.
State governor Mike Dunleavy says the veto sets a dangerous precedent, disregarding state rights to stop development in any area with wetlands and fish-bearing streams.
Alaska Miners Association executive director Deantha Skibinski says improperly shutting one of the world’s most significant sources of copper puts its green goals at risk.

Australian explorer Resource Base has established a maiden mineral resource of 21Mt @ 767ppm TREO at its Mitre Hill rare earths project in the Murray Basin straddling the Victoria-SA border.
The mineralisation is drawn from a single exploration licence, highlighting its significant potential. RBX has established an exploration target of 13-34Mt @ 630-830ppm.
Chairman Maurice Feilich says it’s taken the company less than a year to declare a robust resource estimate over a concentrated component of the underexplored project package. The exploration target could be quickly scaled up through additional drilling.

Australian-based explorer Pivotal Metals plans to restart the San Finx tin and tungsten project in NW Spain have been boosted with Galician regional approval to begin discharging treated water from the underground mine.
The water discharge permit was the final condition for Pivotal’s approval to commence operations at San Finx.
San Finx, last mined in 2017, is 50km from Pivotal’s Santa Comba mine and gives Pivotal a strategic regional position for its long-term goal to become a significant supplier of tungsten and tin.

West Australian explorer Magnetic Resources has updated the indicated and inferred mineral resource for its Lady Julie project near in the Laverton region to 605,000oz gold (13.5Mt @ 1.4g/t).
The update, incorporating recent drilling results at the Lady Julie North 4 and Lady Julie Central deposits, establishes LJN4 at the largest resource in the field. LJN4 remains open at depth and Magnetic is now focusing on the search for more deposits along the 12km Chatterbox shear.
MD George Sakalidis says project studies are being carried out concurrently with drilling to advance its development and production opportunities.

Miner First Quantum has suspended openpit operations at its Trident copper-nickel project in Zambia following the death of a worker in a collision between a dump truck and light vehicle. Another worker was medically evacuated with severe injuries.
The company is conducting an internal investigation and will assist Zambian mine safety officials following the collision,.
It says the suspension will continue until it’s deemed that operations can resume safely.

Continued focus on the domestic market has see leading Indonesian miner/trader PT Antam boost gold sales for the year to Dec 2022. Gold sales rose to 1,124,215oz, from 944,750oz in the previous year.
Antam posted FY22 production of 24,344t nickel within ferronickel (FY21: 25,818t Ni), 8.6Mwmt nickel ore (11Mt), 40,767oz gold (54,270oz), 263,732oz silver (353,369oz), 1.65Mt bauxite (1.67Mt) and 151,565t alumina (95,209t).
The company’s nickel ore production was used as ore feed for its ferronickel plant as well as domestic sales.

Uranium explorer Deep Yellow is targeting a go ahead in the first half of 2024 after completing a highly positive DFS on the Tumas project at its 100%-owned Reptile project in Namibia.
The study outlines an estimated $US372M initial capex development of a conventional opencut operation producing up to 3.6Mlbpa U3O8 plus 1.15Mlbpa vanadium by-product over an initial 22.25 years, with potential to extend to 30-plus years.
MD-CEO John Borshoff says DYL’s dual pillar strategy aims to develop Tumas and Mulga Rock in Western Australia to capitalise on forecast improving uranium prices from 2024.
DYL will now focus on detailed front-end engineering and design, project financing and offtakes ahead of a final investment decision.

Australian mining and engineering services company SRG Global has extended its working relationship with gold major Northern Star Resources, securing contracts that now cover its Kalgoorlie Super Pit, Thunderbox, Carosue Dam and Bronzewing operations.
The deals, worth about $A220M, include a new 5-year contract at Bronzewing and a 2-year extension at Thunderbird and Carosue Dam covering drill and blast, explosives management and grade control drilling.
SRG was awarded a 5-year contract in mid-2022 adding geotechnical services to its existing scope of works for Northern Star’s Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines.

Australian explorer Legend Mining believes it has established a base for further growth at the Rockford project in WA's Fraser Range district by posting a maiden mineral resource of 1.45Mt @ 1.14% for 16,500t nickel, 0.74% for 10,600t copper and 0.07% for 1,100t cobalt at the Mawson deposit.
Legend holds the Rockford project, 300km E of Kalgoorlie, in a 70%-30% JV with leading prospector/investor Mark Creasy’s private vehicle Rockford Metals.
Legend says the Mawson mineralisation is 65-305m below the surface and remains open with the main source still to be discovered. It holds a pipeline of targets within its 3,000sqkm area.