Mining and Exploration

A project without equal

John Gladston, Trident Resource Optimisation Manager, discusses the history and growth of the Trident project, the largest single investment project that Zambia has ever witnessed.

“Trident represents the biggest single project investment in Zambia that has ever occurred, totalling some $2 billion,” states John Gladston, Trident Resource Optimisation Manager. “As is typical of First Quantum, the project is going great guns and is progressing on-time and to budget.”

The new Prime Minister of Australia, sworn in today, has pledged his government to abolish the country’s carbon tax, and within 100 days to introduce legislation to abolish the mining tax that has been blamed for damaging jobs and investment.

However the mining community can’t breathe easily quite yet. When Labor introduced the mining tax on 1 July 2012, it also extended onshore the petroleum tax and imposed the tax on Australia’s largest gas exporting facility the North West Shelf LNG project: that measure will be retained.

Historically the most sparsely populated province in Zambia, the North-Western Province is in the midst of something of a social and economic revolution, one that has been propelled forward by the activities of some of the biggest mining ventures in the country. These include Barrick Gold’s Lumwana Mining Company, First Quantum Minerals’ (FQM) Kansanshi Mine and now the latter’s Trident development.

Working to the highest international standards, Global Sourcing & Supply (GSS) is an integrated facility management and contract supply operation supported by an advanced logistics capability.

Without beating around the bush, the gold industry as it stands in mid-2013 is under pressure and not just when it comes to the recent falls in gold price. This pressure also stems from issues including resource nationalism, labour concerns, political and legislative uncertainty, and increased environmental requirements.

As much of the Western world spent the latter years of the last decade and the first few of this battling the global recession, the economies of Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi have flourished. With each country experiencing economic expansion of between five and ten percent during the years during and following the crisis it comes as little surprise that East Africa has since been considered the core of Africa’s growth.

It was more than a decade ago now that Paul Peng, at the time working for another company designing his own unique grinding media, decided it was time to go it alone and set up his own business. It was this calculated determination that led the creation of Sino Grinding.

Balancing risks against opportunities is always a difficult call, and it is a problem that ASX listed Middle Island Resources takes very seriously. That is why the company, which was established to develop gold prospects in West Africa, has focused on countries that have an ‘acceptable’ level of sovereign risk, and in which there has been some precedent of successful mining.