Botswana Diamonds has concluded a mining contract with Palaeo Minerals, covering both bulk sampling activities and future full-scale mining, at the Thorny River project, in South Africa. Palaeo is an experienced mining contractor that operates in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Production growth green shoots are emerging among Indian State-run coal mining companies, but it is unlikely that demand from thermal power plants will be met. Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), which has mining operations in the southern parts of the country, produced 5.27-million tons in October 2018, registering growth of 31% over the corresponding month of previous year.
The newly commissioned Verkhne-Munskoe deposit, in western Yakutia, has yielded its first large diamond, Russian miner Alrosa reported on Wednesday, announcing the recovery of a 51.49 ct rough diamond. The transparent round-shaped octahedron crystal has an insignificant yellow hue and measures 23 mm by 22 mm by 15 mm.
TSX-listed Guyana Goldfields said on Wednesday that executive VP of finance and CFO Paul Murphy had taken a medical leave of absence and VP of finance, Christopher Stackhouse, had been appointed interim CFO. The board wished Murphy a speedy recovery and said that it had confidence in Stackhouse to steward the company’s financial, accounting and reporting needs.
Aim-listed Premier African Minerals’ share price on the LSE fell by 39% on Wednesday after it announced a proposed restructuring of its Zimbabwean minerals projects and a demerger. Premier plans to establish a new wholly-owned subsidiary Newco, into which it will consolidate its entire interests in the RHA tungsten mine and processing plant, the Tinde fluorspar and barite project, the Katete rare earths project and the Zulu lithium project.
The share price of diversified junior Savannah Resources jumped 6% on Wednesday on news of three newly discovered pegmatites at the Pinheiro deposit at the Mina do Barroso (MdB) lithium project, in northern Portugal. Pinheiro is now the fourth major deposit in the mining lease and has the potential to increase the mineral resource estimate to more than 20-million tonnes, for over 200 000 t of contained lithium, the company said in a statement.
Quebec miner Stornoway Diamonds is investigating a potential new openpit at the Renard diamond mine, which earlier this year transitioned to underground operations. The new openpit being studied is located at the Renard 4 and nearby Renard 9 kimberlites and will supply ore feed earlier in the mine life. Such a pit, the company said on Wednesday, would allow the extraction of about two-million carats of diamonds in the top 140 m of Renard 4.
Albemarle's claim to have developed a unique process that would more than triple its lithium production from Chile's Atacama desert without using more water is drawing increased scrutiny from regulators and investors pushing for more details. The development could help Albemarle cement its position as the world's largest lithium company, just as global demand for the light metal is spiking for use in batteries that power electric vehicles and consumer goods.
Poland's JSW is interested in taking over Australia's Prairie Mining, CEO Daniel Ozon confirmed on Wednesday. Sources told Reuters in September that JSW, the European Union's biggest coking coal miner, wanted a controlling stake in Prairie Mining.
Anglo American is going where larger rivals fear to tread, returning to its African roots to tap mineral assets with compelling returns. The storied mining company, founded by Ernest Oppenheimer in Johannesburg a century ago, is devoting a third of its exploration budget to the continent, including searching for copper and cobalt in Angola and Zambia.
Tahoe Resources Inc posted a quarterly loss on Tuesday that was less then Wall Street expected although it widened from a year earlier, while the gold and silver miner predicted that its production for the year would be at the low end of guidance. Tahoe's Escobal silver mine in Guatemala, the world's second largest, has been effectively mothballed since last year after officials suspended the miner's license to operate, part of a long-simmering feud with the Xinca indigenous population.
Canada-based Iamgold has a robust pipeline of development projects and is looking to bolster its credit facility to facility its growth strategy, president and CEO Steve Letwin said on Tuesday, after reporting lower third-quarter production and revenue. The company, which operates mines in the Americas and Africa, is in advanced discussions with a syndicate of lenders to increase its existing credit facility from $250-million to $500-million to provide additional flexibility to execute its growth plans. Читать дальше...
Despite lower gold prices in the second and third quarters of the year, Canada’s large-cap gold companies are trending towards a stronger second half and most of them are looking to finish the year strong, EY Canada Mining and Metals transaction leader Jay Patel said on Tuesday. The gold price decreased by 5% in the third quarter, consistent with the decline in the second quarter, mainly owing to the strong US dollar and the recent Federal Reserve rate hike in September.
South Africa-focused coal miner MC Mining has secured a R20-million facility from South African financial services provider ABSA Bank for its Uitkomst Colliery, to fund a potential expansion of operations. Uitkomst transitioned to an owner-operated mine in August this year, with the acquisition of the independent underground mining contractor’s business operations, which included mining equipment and the transfer of approximately 340 contractor employees.
Glencore’s sudden discovery that some of its cobalt is radioactive couldn’t come at a better time. After a surge in prices last year, enthusiasm for cobalt has been fading, partly because of a surge in new supply. But sentiment could be changing after Glencore’s unit in the Democratic Republic of Congo suspended cobalt sales after detecting low levels of radioactivity.