St George Mining Limited (ASX:SGQ) has announced significant developments in its exploration efforts at the Myuna Rocks Project in Western Australia's Ravensthorpe region. The project, owned by Lithium Star Pty Ltd (a joint venture between St George Mining and Amperex Technology Limited), has seen its tenure double in scale, now spanning 546 square kilometres. The newly granted Exploration Licences E74/789 and E74/790 have expanded the project's area, with the land package extending over 50 kilometres north-west along a regional greenstone corridor, starting just five kilometres north of the Mt Cattlin Lithium Mine. This corridor hosts active explorers such as Fortescue,…
The Australian government has recently announced a significant investment of up to $840 million in the Arafura rare earths project and a $230 million loan for Liontown Resources. These investments are part of the government's efforts to boost critical minerals projects and strengthen Australia's position in ethical and sustainable manufacturing of rare earths. The investment in the Arafura rare earths project aims to support the development of the Nolans Project, a rare earth mine located north of Alice Springs. The funding package includes $495 million from the Critical Minerals Facility, $200 million from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF), $115…
It’s possible that a domestically-listed gold explorer, which boasts a not-too-shabby evolving flagship project in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt, may be looking to lithium to help boost its languishing market valuation. No doubt the WA-based junior is also hoping that a farm-in agreement it made back in 2022 with a fellow exploration house will garner some much-needed shareholder interest sometime in the future. When Austgold Ltd (ASX: AUC) presented at Vertical Events’ RIU Explorers Conference in February last year, its share price was around the 0.05 cents mark, giving it a market capitalisation of $105 million. By the same time this…
A West Australian junior involved in a number of exploration projects is confident it has come across an iron oxide-gold-copper (IOCG) deposit in its home state. Late last year, Miramar Resources Ltd (ASX:M2R) said that a review of historical drilling data had “potentially” revealed very significant magnetite iron opportunities at its wholly-owned Whaleshark project, which sits within the Carnarvon Basin in WA’s Ashburton region. Field work conducted in the area by Western Mining Corporation (WMC) in the 1990s whilst exploring for an IOCG intersected significant widths of magnetite-rich banded iron formation (BIF) averaging above 25 per cent iron beneath younger…
Joint venture partners Covalent Lithium, Wesfarmers and Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM) have opened of the Mt Holland lithium mine and concentrator project. The Mt Holland lithium project consists of an open-cut mine and concentrator, located 110km southeast of Southern Cross in the Wheatbelt region, and a refinery currently being constructed in the Kwinana Industrial Area. With an expected cost of $2.6 billion, the project is supporting 1,000 jobs during construction and 350 jobs during operations. Mt Holland will produce 380,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate per year, which will be refined into 50,000 tonnes of battery-quality lithium hydroxide.…
BMG Resources Limited has announced promising results from its ongoing exploration review of the Dragon project neighbouring WA1 Resources’ site in the West Arunta region of Western Australia. Multiple targets showing structural and magnetic features have been identified at the Dragon Project — features similar to those that represent mineralised carbonatites at WA1 Resources’ ground and the nearby Aileron Project of Encounter Resources. BMG’s Dragon Niobium-REE Project is immediately adjacent to and shares a 30-kilometre-long border with the West Arunta Project of WA1 Resources. BMG Non-Executive Chairman John Prineas said: “Our ongoing review of exploration data for the West Arunta…
Pantera Minerals Limited has announced a substantial expansion of its Smackover Brine Project in North America, with the acquisition of 3,553 acres, representing a 26 per cent increase in leased acreage. The company's total net leased acreage now surpasses 17,000 acres. The bulk of the new acreage comes from a key lease with a mineral owner covering 2,194 acres, placing Pantera in a unique position of strength. This expansion not only enhances the project's scalability but also consolidates Pantera's control, with 100 per cent ownership of the project now under its purview. Pantera, the sole junior company listed in the…
Australian junior miner Southern Gold Limited has completed field work in the Jinan and Neungju Basins in South Korea, which has confirmed new gold mineralised areas that warrant follow up work. The intensive reconnaissance sampling program involved 238 new samples being taken and submitted for analysis. Several rock chip and float samples returned anomalous grade gold results. Work included field traversing and extensive rock sampling. This process has succeeded in finding multiple untested vein systems in addition to very small-scale historical mine workings. The two regions investigated were the Neungju Basin surrounding Southern Gold's Neungju Project, including follow up sampling…
A mining company seeking to become Nigeria’s first integrated steel producer is expected to move its head office to South Australia next month. Since 2012, ASX-listed company Kogi Iron Limited (Kogi Iron) has been working on a plan to establish an open-pit iron ore mine in Kogi State using Australian expertise. Yet the fall in the iron ore price in recent years has caused the company to pivot from an ore exporter to a steel billet producer with a cast steel feedstock plant in Nigeria to supply local industry. The appointment of Adelaide-based managing director David Turvey and Chairman Greg…
Endeavour Mining Corporation and SEMAFO Inc. have entered into a definitive agreement whereby Endeavour will acquire all of the issued and outstanding securities of SEMAFO through a Plan of Arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Québec). The Transaction will create a top 15 global gold producer and the largest in West Africa with six operations and an attractive growth pipeline. Due to the strong strategic rationale for local consolidation, both sets of Board of Directors have unanimously approved the Transaction. Michael Beckett, Chairman of Endeavour said the agreement will create one of the leading gold companies, with the largest portfolio…
The proposed expansion of the Pueblo Viejo gold mine will extend its life as well as its significant contribution to the Dominican Republic’s economy until 2040 and beyond. The project would require an initial investment of $1.3 billion to expand the process plant and the tailings facility. Extending its life would unlock the mine’s potential to increase exports by $22 billion and generate more than $4 billion in taxes at a gold price of $1,500 per ounce. Between 2013 and 2016, Pueblo Viejo paid $1.8 billion in direct taxes and last year its exports accounted for more than 38 per…
Newcrest has finalised the sale of its Newcrest Singapore Holdings Pte Ltd (NSH) to Indotan Halmahera Bangkit for $90m. NSH owns 75 per cent of PT Nusa Halmahera Minerals (PT NHM), which operates the gold and silver Gosowong mine in Indonesia. All conditions precedent have been satisfied and economic ownership has transferred with an effective date of 31 December 2019. The sale of NSH follows a strategic review of the asset by Newcrest and to comply with the amended PT NHM Contract of Work which required at least 51 per cent of PT NHM to be owned by Indonesian parties…
Copper Mountain Mining Corporation has revised its mine plan and project schedule at its Copper Mountain Mine, located in Southern British Columbia, Canada, in response to current market conditions and uncertainty. In order to maintain positive margins and cash flow amidst near-term copper price uncertainty as a result of the Coronavirus’ impact to metal prices, the company will make the following changes: Deferral of Ball Mill #3 installation capital expenditures, saving US$22 million in 2020. Reducing operating costs by re-sequencing short term production to lower cost mine phases. Preserving high grade ore in Pit #3 scheduled for mining in 2020…
AngloGold Ashanti has reached an agreement to sell its remaining South African producing assets and related liabilities to Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited. Consideration for the transaction is in cash and deferred payments with expected proceeds of around $300 million, subject to subsequent performance, and with additional proceeds if the West Wits assets are developed below current infrastructure. AngloGold Ashanti announced in May 2019 that it was undertaking a process to review sale options for the portfolio of assets, principally comprising the Mponeng underground mine, where further capital, necessary to extend the mine life was in competition with other, higher-return…
