Mining and Exploration

Mineral Processing Manager Greg Rasmussen talks about the role of one of the leading exponents in new mining technology in the introduction of new ideas to the industry.

Ralph Waldo Emerson promised that if we built a better mousetrap, the world would beat a path to our door. It’s a common theme, though, within the mining industry, that customers aren’t so easily weaned away from the technology they know and love.

Part of a strategy by the government to counteract the loss of oil revenue following the session of South Sudan in 2011, the Sudan Gold Refinery is expected to produce more than 328 tonnes of gold per year.

According to the Reuters news agency, Sudan hopes to sell gold worth up to $3 billion this year, a figure that works out to double that of 2011’s gold revenue. The refinery, which will also process silver, is the first project of its kind in Sudan and the second in Africa for producing and extracting the two minerals with high quality and purity.

Gold Fields aims to be the global leader in sustainable gold mining. That does not mean staying in business for ever; but rather leaving behind a viable economy, a clean environment and a thriving community.

One of Turkey’s most important home-grown mining companies is weathering the decline in demand for chromium ore and continuing to supply its customers year-round.

Fortescue Metals Group has seen its share price rise by up to 17 percent after the Australian miner confirmed it had secured a $4.5 billion credit facility to pay down debts and boost liquidity. What this means is that the company has effectively extended its repayment deadline for its to debts to November 2015.

Temporary power generation and temperature control services provider Aggreko has officially opened its new service centre in Walvis Bay, Namibia.

The new facility was formally inaugurated by Honorable Willem Isaak, Deputy Minister of Mines of Namibia and Martin Foster, head of local business, Aggreko Southern and East Africa. Cleophas Mutjavikua, the governor of the Erongo region, was also in attendance. 

The facility is Aggreko's sixth service centre in Southern and East Africa and is the first operation to be based in Namibia.

Nobody’s perfect. What quality or ability do you wish you had?

I wish I had the ability to choose the right employees and the patience to train them. It seems anytime I find the right person, they get hired away from our small company and those that want to stay don't always develop skills.

What is the best business book you have ever read, and why?

MINExpo International 2012
24-26 September 2012
Las Vegas Convention Center
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

The Olympic event for the mining industry, MINExpo International takes place every four years. Unlike the Olympics, however, the venue has not changed since it was first held in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1996.The 2008 MINExpo drew over 44,000 people (an increase of over 44 percent from the previous show in 2004), and was the largest mining trade show in the world. With your help, this year’s event could be even bigger.

A new product emerging onto the world market is setting the bar much higher for pipe construction. Alan Stothard, managing director of IQS International, explains how Huachuang steel reinforced HDPE pipe can deliver significant financial and environmental savings.

By world standards it might be a small operation but one new venture in Turkey is making a big contribution to the local community.

Nature has been very uneven in its distribution of bounties. Take gold, for example. Plenty has been found throughout North and South America. Africa and Australia are similarly blessed. China is by far the largest source of gold; but poor old Europe has been left holding all the low cards.