Mining and Exploration

That was the message delivered by Boasteel president He Wenbo to Australia’s Trade Minister Andrew Robb, on a visit to China.

Mr Robb, the first Coalition minister to visit China since the September election, said yesterday Baosteel president He Wenbo was positive about tax changes proposed by the new government. Mr Robb said the Baosteel chief was pleased with the Coalition's promise to roll back the carbon and mining taxes put in place by the previous Labor government.

As reported last year, just a year in from its $3.3 billion purchase of Western Coal, Walter Energy had succeeded in dramatically increasing the output of the three Canadian mines. Wolverine, Willow Creek and Brule located near the towns of Tumbler Ridge and Chetwynd have all seen further rationalisation and improvement in the intervening year. Dan Cartwright, president of Walter Energy’s Canadian operations, though his brow may be knitted over global coal prices and a market over which he can have little influence, has plenty to be pleased about.

Over the last ten years, the value of Peru’s mineral production has increased dramatically. During the five-year period from 2005 to 2010, mining exports increased from $9.8 billion to $21.7 billion, raising the country’s mining profile internationally and presenting significant consulting opportunities.

The diamond industry has been on something of a rollercoaster ride since the global financial crisis of 2008, with prices plummeting in 2008 and 2009, before rebounding to reach historically high levels in 2010 and 2011. This pattern of extremes was replicated in 2012, with retail sales of diamonds growing 1.8 percent from 2011 to $72.1 billion at the same time that overall prices for rough and polished diamonds declined by 14 percent and 13 percent respectively.

If you were to set out today from Chile’s capital city, Santiago, and head 1,650 kilometres north you would eventually come to what is the world’s largest open pit mine. Based 2,870 metres above sea level, the Chuquicamata Mine is without question one of the jewels in the crown of Codelco, the planet’s largest producer of copper.

Since the early 1990s, the use of modern technology and refined models has seen gold exploration in Tanzania grow rapidly, in turn transforming the country into one of the fastest-emerging gold producers in Africa, behind only South Africa and Ghana. Yet despite the relatively recent expansion of the sector, the presence of gold beneath Tanzania has been known about since it was first discovered in the Geita region in the late 1800s.

“Base Resources Limited is pleased to advise the commencement of ore processing through the mining unit and wet concentrator at the Kwale Project. Following two weeks of water commissioning and control logic testing, the first ore from the central dune has now been taken through the dozer trap mining unit and the wet concentrator,” read a company statement.

It is fair to say that until recently Kenya was not generally renowned for being a destination for mining investment. However now, with the world’s eyes focused firmly on Africa as an epicentre for mining activities, Kenya is emerging as a location of particular interest in the wake of developments that have proven that the country does indeed hold significant mineral-based potential.

Located at the eastern end of the prolific Iberian Pyrite Belt in the province of Seville, Spain, Cobre Las Cruces (CLC) is a highly innovative open pit mine and the first industrial installation of its kind to operate within Europe.

Providing direct employment to 800 employees, as well as generating approximately 1,500 indirect jobs, CLC represents a major €840 million industrial investment into an area that also spans the Spanish provinces of Badajoz and Huelva, and extends through the south of Portugal.

The purchase of Devex will work to strengthen Hexagon Geosystems’ market position and technology in the mining sector by complementing its established Leica Geosystems Mining business.