Mining and Exploration

Indonesia has 17,000 islands and though PT Leighton Contractors Indonesia (LCI) works on just a few of those, logistics are a challenge. Mining Indonesian coal destined for China and India may be part of its core business; but diversity is LCI’s second name.

Richard Beazley, managing director of Peak Resources, talks to Gay Sutton about the discovery of a world class rare earths mineral deposit in Tanzania and how the company is transitioning from exploration to mining.

This is the sort of discovery that most geologists go into mining for, and the anticipation is palpable at Australian exploration company Peak Resources. On 29 February, Peak announced its first maiden resource at Ngualla in south-west Tanzania.

Stonegate Agricom Ltd. today announced the results of its pre-feasibility study for the development of an underground mine in its Paris Hills Phosphate Project in Idaho, USA.

The study projects production of 10 million tonnes of direct-ship, concentrate-quality phosphate rock (with no beneficiation required).

The report suggests total project financing requirements for development of $134.3 million, which includes contingency of $16.1 million and working capital of $6.5 million, with a cash operating cost of $72.99 per tonne of saleable product.

Large and small scale electricity storage is at the heart of a new green economy: by 2016 it will demand quantities of lithium not currently available, putting a fair wind behind Lithium Americas Corporation as it positions itself to exploit the salt lakes of northern Argentina.

Panama has become a land of opportunity for the mining sector. Zorel Morales of the Mining Chamber of Panama (CAMIPA) talks to Gay Sutton about the prospects for the industry, and a campaign to introduce environmental and social frameworks to the country’s mining code.

Panama has a fascinating geology, lying over four colliding tectonic plates. The presence of both tectonic movement and volcanic activity over a long period of time has created a very promising area for mineral exploration.

The new Aminpro-Chile metallurgical laboratory, part of Amelunxen Mineral Processing, has quadrupled in size in the 22 months it’s been operating. CEO Roger Amelunxen talks to Gay Sutton about the challenges of the earthquake of 2010, and managing rapid growth.

Osisko’s billion dollar Canadian Malartic mine is the single largest gold reserve in production in Canada. General manager Denis Cimon talks about the challenges and achievements of this unique project.

The town of Malartic, Quebec is sitting on a gold mine—literally. To be more precise, it used to sit on a gold mine until part of the town was moved to facilitate mining operations. But more of that later.

South African mining giant Gold Fields has acquired a 40 per cent interest in the gold-copper Far Southeast Project in the Philippines, it has been announced.

In September 2010, Gold Fields entered into two option agreements with Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company, which owns 60 per cent of Far Southeast; and Liberty Express Assets, which owns 40 per cent. The agreements granted Gold Fields an option to acquire a 60 per cent interest in Far Southeast for a total of $340 million.

Jacques Perron, president and CEO of St Andrew Goldfields, talks about the company’s progress in bringing three mines into production in the Timmins area of Ontario, and prospects for further development.

The city of Timmins in northeast Ontario celebrates its centenary this year. Founded in 1912 by Noah Timmins after gold was found in the Porcupine Camp, it has since earned itself a reputation as the city with a heart of gold, lying within the Abitibi greenstone belt, the heart of gold production in Canada.

Shell Iraq is part of a consortium working to significantly increase production at the Majnoon oil field in southern Iraq. But the project has not been easy: some of the major challenges to date have included de-mining, safety and marsh preservation, as Becky Done discovers.