Mining and Exploration

Construction of one of the world's largest uranium mines was officially inaugurated on April 18 this year, with fireworks, foot-stomping, marimbas and a fountain that danced to classical music, when a ground breaking ceremony took place at the mine site in the desert near Swakopmund in Namibia.

SEAMIC traces its origins back to the late 1970s with the establishment of the Eastern and Southern African Mineral Resources Development Centre (ESAMRDC), supported by UNDP and various bilateral support programmes from the UK and Japan. Its headquarters were established in Dodoma in central Tanzania, and in those days its remit was principally to carry out regional geological surveying and to provide consulting services for programs of its founding member states, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Mozambique.

First listed on the AIM in 1997, with a market capitalisation of £10 million, Petra Diamonds has since grown into a leading independent diamond mining group and an important supplier of rough diamonds to the international market.

Mr Teke, who is non-executive director at Optimum Coal, replaces out-going president Mark Cutifani. Other appointments announced at the Chamber’s 123rd Annual General Meeting included Khanyisile Kweyama, executive director of Anglo American South Africa, being made first vice president and Graham Briggs, CEO of Harmony Gold, being made second vice president.

Peru’s rich mining history is well documented, with the roots of what has become a hugely attractive region for the industry dating back centuries. Such a legacy can be seen in the development of the Colquijirca mine, the origins of which pre-date the era of the Incas, when it has been documented that ancient tribes silver mined the surrounding foothills of Puntac-Marca.

Mining operations rely on their equipment, and there’s no doubt that each site has a lot of moving parts in its conveyors, trucks, shovels, milling and grinding trains, not to mention its associated drilling programmes. All of this has to be nursed and protected with the right oils and greases. As any operations manager knows, lubricants can be a big budget item and one that pays back in proportion to its contribution to things like frequency of maintenance, equipment life and the avoidance of running problems that involve stopping the machine.

If the title is a nod to Gabriel García Márquez examination of how love can adapt in a time of ‘cholera’ KPMG International’s July 2013 guide, subtitled Managing transactions in the mining sector if less literary, seeks to focus on some of the strategies companies could adopt in managing their relations with the global trading realities, the investor community and the stock market.

Over the past four years, KPMG firms have successfully emerged as a leading force in mid cap M&A, having built up a significant network of local M&A teams and investment banking professionals, hired from major investment banks around the world. Says Rama Ayman: “I joined KPMG because it has an extensive presence in metals and mining globally across many functional areas, with a strong commitment to build out its M&A advisory capabilities in this sector.”

Rio has said it will receive a total of $1.02 billion from the sale of the mine in Queensland State, Australia, where the coal that is mined is burned to produce electricity. "The sale... will allow us to realise value for our shareholders as we continue optimising our portfolio," a Rio statement said. Rio say made a point of saying that it remained "committed to a long-term future in central Queensland" at its other mines.

The iron ore deposit, known as Isua, is located 150 kilometres from Nuuk and represents the largest commercial project in Greenland’s history.

In a statement on its website, London Mining said the mine was expected to produce 15 million tonnes a year of "very high quality iron ore concentrate to the global steel industry". It is thought that the company will now begin a search for investment partners for what will be a multi-billion dollar project.