Aluminium
Aura terminates option on Pine Creek
by Jo Black
Aura Silver Resources Inc. has terminated its option to earn an interest in the Pine Creek Area Properties from Sterling Mining Company. Aura Silver will not conduct further exploration at Pine Creek and will not incur any additional payments or share issuances under the option agreement. Work conducted by the Company at Pine creek determined [...]
Macmahon wins $1.1 billion mine contract
by Jo Black
Macmahon Holdings Limited has been awarded a $1.1 billion, seven year contract for the new Moly Mines Spinifex Ridge Molybdenum project which is located approximately 140 km south east of Port Hedland in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia.
This contract will involve the mining of more than 180 million cubic metres of material over the [...]
Steep rise in silicosis in South African gold mines
by Gill Montia
South Africa’s National Institute for Occupational Health has documented an alarming rise in the prevalence of silicosis in the country’s gold miners.
The disease is caused by inhaling silica dust, which is found in mines and quarries where quartz concentrations are high.
In six years, the prevalence of the disease has almost doubled in both black and [...]
Vale takeover of Xstrata reaches impasse
by Gill Montia
Vale’s takeover talks with Xstrata appear to have reached an impasse despite the fact that all parties, including Xstrata’s biggest shareholder, Glencore, are keen for the acquisition to proceed.
Analysts are expecting the Brazilian mining group to pay over $100 billion for Xstrata, however, a problems has arisen because of movements in the share price of [...]
Fortune Valley drills Porphyry Copper
by Jo Black
Fortune Valley Resources Inc. announces the results of its 2007 drilling campaign on the Incahuasi project located in Region 3 in northern Chile. The Company completed 36 reverse-circulation drillholes totaling 5,113 metres within the roughly 11,000 hectare property position. Results have been received from the first 24 drillholes, which were completed in the 420 hectare [...]
FLSmidth wins order for minerals plant
by Jo Black
Denmark-based engineering company FLSmidth has received a contract worth over AUD 170m (approximately DKK 785m) with Aurox Resources Limited (Aurox) to supply a complete minerals processing plant and related port facilities for the treatment of magnetite iron ore. The plant will be located in the West Pilbara region of Western Australia and is designed to [...]
Antam clarifies on buying PTFI
by Jo Black
PT Antam Tbk makes this announcement with regards to news stories published recently concerning Antam’s potential acquisition of a minority stake in PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI), which owns and operates the Grasberg gold and copper mine in Papua, Indonesia.
Local media has reported that Antam was awarded the right to buy 20% of PTFI. Antam [...]
Accident damage to S.A. smelter sends platinum higher
by Elaine Frei
The price of platinum continued to skyrocket on Friday after a South African miner reported that one of its smelters had sustained damage in an accident and will take up to six weeks to repair.
Also sending prices higher was a projection that supplies could fall as far as 400,000 ounces behind demand this year after [...]
Harvest to commence drill program
by Jo Black
Harvest Gold Corporation announces that a diamond drilling program will commence this week on the Lesavage North Property, in the Rice Lake Gold Belt, located approximately 20 km east of the mining community of Bissett, Manitoba.
The program will consist of 1200m to 2000m of diamond drill testing of targets in three areas of the property. [...]
Paramount updates San Miguel project
by Jo Black
Paramount Gold and Silver Corp. announces assay results from sampling of veins and breccias in the previously untested Guadalupe de Los Reyes area in its San Miguel project, in the Guazapares Mining District, Mexico.
The Guadalupe de Los Reyes area is inside the large rhyodacite dome complex that is exposed between the San Miguel and Montecristo [...]
Laramide announces drill results
by Jo Black
Laramide Resources Ltd. announces drill results from the program completed in the third quarter of 2007 with joint venture partner NuPower Resources Limited. The Northern Territory property is adjacent to Laramide’s Westmoreland project in Queensland. Drilling was conducted on two targets, namely, Northeast Westmoreland and El Hussen South, with assay results received for both.
The [...]
Platinum rises again amid mixed precious metals prices
by Elaine Frei
The price of platinum rose again in New York even though South Africa’s state-owned power company introduced a plan to address issues related to power shortages there which closed platinum and other mining operators there for several days recently and have kept mines operating at less than capacity since then.
April platinum was up $22.20 to [...]
“No Dirty Gold” campaign gains retail support
by Gill Montia
Five leading US jewellers have joined the “No Dirty Gold” campaign, which is backed by environmental organisations and the charity, Oxfam America.
The jewellers have agreed not to use gold from the controversial Pebble copper and gold project near Bristol Bay, Alaska.
The companies are: Jon Bridge, Tiffany & Co, Helzberg Diamonds, Fortunoff, Leber Jewelers, Inc., and [...]
Hecla to acquire assets of ILM
by Jo Black
Hecla Mining Company and Independence Lead Mines have signed an agreement for Hecla to acquire substantially all of the assets of Independence Lead Mines Company (ILM), located in northern Idaho’s Silver Valley. Included in the ILM assets are the West Independence property and ILM’s mining claims pertaining to the DIA agreement with the Lucky Friday [...]
Resource update for Sutter Gold project
by Jo Black
Sutter Gold Mining Inc. announces an updated Mineral Resource estimate for the Sutter Gold Project, in the Mother Lode Gold Belt of California. The 2008 Mineral Resource estimate includes the results from 5,945 meters (19,502 feet) of core drilling completed in 2006-2007.
The Indicated Mineral Resource base for the Sutter Gold Project has increased 30 percent [...]
Seafield drilling at Tango Gold / Silver
by Jo Black
Seafield Resources Ltd. announces that drilling is underway at the Company’s 100% owned Tango gold/silver property in the Rosario precious metal mining district, Sinaloa, Mexico. This initial reconnaissance drill program will complete some 2,100 metres of reverse circulation drilling on a number of targets with anomalous gold, silver and base metals in soil and rock [...]
Platinum prices rise above $2,000 per ounce in New York
by Elaine Frei
The price of platinum rose above $2,000 per troy ounce in New York for the first time on Wednesday as worries continued about power shortages in South Africa, which could continue to hurt production for years.
April platinum was as high as $2.001.40 per troy ounce before easing back to $1,985 per troy ounce, a gain [...]
Rio records 9% profit rise
by Gill Montia
Rio Tinto recorded a 9% rise in underlying profit, to $3.91 billion, in the second half of 2007.
The news was accompanied by a rebuttal of BHP Billiton’s hostile bid for the group with Rio’s chairman, Paul skinner, stating that the bid: “still fails to recognise the underlying value of Rio Tinto’s quality assets and prospects”.
Profit [...]
Cornerstone, Newmont signs agreement
by Jo Black
Cornerstone Capital Resources Inc. has signed a definitive Earn-in Joint Venture option agreement with Newmont Ventures Limited, a subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation with respect to the formation of a regional exploration alliance to explore for gold in southern Ecuador.
Since inception of the Ecuador initiative in 2005, Cornerstone has compiled a significant geological and geochemical [...]
Detour Gold’s drilling results
by Jo Black
Pelangio Mines Inc. has been advised by Detour Gold Corporation that it has released drill results from 38 holes of the Phase II drilling program at its Detour Lake property in northern Ontario. Detour Gold started Phase II drilling in July 2007 and thus far has completed 199 holes totaling 73,620 metres (including 15 holes [...]