Mining and Exploration

Terra Nova Minerals Inc. has signed an agreement with Geokinetics (Australia) Pty. Ltd. of Brisbane, for a 127 square kilometre 3D seismic survey.

Geokinetics will undertake the survey on the northern boundary of Petroleum Exploration License (PEL) 112 on the western flank of the Cooper Eromanga Basin in South Australia.

The survey is expected to commence in early August 2012 and will include the shooting and processing of the 3D data acquired. Crews are currently in the field completing line clearing and survey work.

Harvest Gold Corporation has reached terms with San Gold Corp. to sell its CUD 3 claim in the Rice Lake Gold Belt in Manitoba, Canada.

The CUD claim is located 7 km from the gold mining community of Bissett, Manitoba, where San Gold operates two mines and a mill.

San Gold will acquire 100 percent of the CUD 3 claim in return for a payment of $225,000 to Harvest Gold, and will pay a further sum of $225,000 if and when any gold is produced from the CUD 3 claim.

Convincing mines to spend more money up-front on the expectation of lower life-of-mine costs is what one South African supplier is working hard to do.

One of Poland’s biggest companies has embarked upon a campaign of global expansion, positioning it among the world’s largest copper and silver producers and paving the way for future growth.

One South African mining company is producing a refractory material on whose properties the world’s iron and steel producers depend.

In the production of iron and steel, refractory materials fall into the category of consumable commodity—hovering somewhere in the background until all the glamorous hard work has been done and the melted, smelted, refined liquid metal needs moving in a refractory lined vessel from one part of the plant to another.

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

The Wealth of Nationsby Adam Smith. It reveals the theories that have inspired powerful economic and social changes in the world.

Someone you would most like to have met, living or dead, and why?

Warren Buffet. I admire thisbillionaire investor’s unique approach to management and investment. The opportunity might arise in the near future to have lunch with him and potentially do business together.

In a collaboration with Genesis Soils, dust control and soil stabilization specialist PennzSuppress has announced the introduction of PZS/Bio-Gen.

Due to the increased need for aggressive mine tailing remediation and erosion control, PennzSuppress D has been combined with mycorrhizal fungi and beneficial bacteria and grass seed in a liquid combination which virtually eliminates the need for traditional hydro seeding applications in most situations.

Richard Kelertas, senior vice president, corporate development, explains why the Dallol Project in Ethiopia is perfectly placed to satisfy the growing demand for potash.

The race is on to satisfy accelerating world demand for potash, and in this Olympic year Allana Potash is in gold medal position as its Dallol Project in the Danakhil region of Ethiopia has the finishing line in sight.

London-listed Petra Diamonds has announced that the IFC has agreed to a $25 million loan to expand Petra’s Finsch Diamond Mine in South Africa.

Petra said that given the lead times between its now larger diamond tenders (after the acquisition of the Finsch mine) and the volatility experienced over the last 12 months of both the rand and diamond prices, the new revolving credit facilities will give it additional scope and flexibility to execute its capital expenditure programme and bring its stated production and revenue growth opportunities to fruition.

London-listed Heritage Oil has invested £541 million in a number of assets in Nigeria, it has been announced.

The company is buying a 45 per cent stake in OML 30, a producing oil mining lease in Nigeria, from Shell, Total and ENI, as well as a 45 per cent interest in other assets under the OML 30 joint operating agreement.

OML 30, located onshore in the Nigerian delta, includes eight producing fields and associated infrastructure, including a segment of the 850,000 bopd-capacity Trans Forcados pipeline.