pd223 Dec14 - Jan15 magWEB

AMERICALATINSAVE THE DATE

20-21 May 2015, Sydney

www.latinamericadownunder.com

To present, exhibit or attend as a delegate please contact
Lauren Carey on (+61) 8 9321 0355 or email [email protected]

REGIONAL ROUNDUP LATIN AMERICA

Aussies in Latin America

Miners and explorers around the world have done it tough in recent times. However, Productora, Hot Chili
there remains a swathe of Australian companies still plying their trades in different El Roble, Metallum
parts of the world.

Latin America has been a popular destination for ASX-listed companies, particularly
Chile and Peru. According to SNL Metals & Mining, there are 30 companies present in
Chile while 17 companies are active in Peru.

Paydirt visited Hot Chili Ltd’s Productora and Metallum Ltd’s El Roble copper projects,
both in Chile, and Inca Minerals Ltd’s Chanape project in Peru to see what each company
has in store for 2015.

For full coverage of each site visit, be sure to get you copy of Paydirt’s February edition

Chanape, Inca Minerals

PAGE 102 DECEMBER 2014 - JANUARY 2015 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

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REGIONAL ROUNDUP

Augur advances Randu Kuning

According to Augur Resources Ltd man- could achieve recovery rates of up to 71% Drilling at Randu Kuning
aging director Justin Werner, the future by gravity from low-grade sulphide ore com-
is bright for the Indonesian explorer, despite posite and 50% from high-grade sulphide ore the Toluludu prospect in October.
some disappointing regional work at its flag- composite. The company picked up 80% of the four
ship Wonogiri project in Java.
Leach tests resulted in an average CIL copper-gold tenements that make up Goron-
Augur sent its drill rigs out to the gold-cop- recoverable gold of 83.2% for the low-grade talo from MMG Ltd for just $200,000 in May,
per prospect earlier this year to add ounces to material and 83.9% for its high-grade ore. when the mining major decided to exit Indo-
the project’s already-promising Randu Kuning nesia due to a change in its global exploration
deposit, which was the subject of a scoping Werner said he expected to roll the drill rigs strategy.
study in March. out to Randi Kuning again shortly for an infill
drilling programme. The rock chip programme returned sur-
The 22-hole diamond drilling programme face samples of 8.69 g/t gold, 8.6 g/t silver
identified a high-grade zone at the Jangleng- “That’s really to move the resource into the and 0.04% copper, while the survey identified
gan prospect, south of Randu Kuning, return- measured category and we are confident we’ll multiple large alteration zones hosting miner-
ing 20.8 g/t gold and 13.4 g/t silver over 0.8m be able to increase the grade as we bring in alisation styles characteristic of porphyry and
from 187.7m and netted intersects of 3.75 g/t that closer spacing,” he said. epithermal type systems.
gold and 24.2 g/t silver over 2m at the Kepil
target, west of Randu Kuning. Augur also has high hopes for its Goron- Werner said Augur was likely to target
talo properties located on Sulawesi, Indone- some of the most promising anomalies in a
Werner said although some of the narrow, sia, following a successful rock chip sampling drilling campaign before Christmas.
high-grade intersections were promising, they programme and ground magnetics survey at
didn’t justify extending the regional explora- The company is in a good position to attack
tion programme. both Wonogiri and Gorontalo, having recently
received financial backing from the influential
“There still remain viable exploration tar- Rajawali Group, according to Werner.
gets but we have gone back to focusing on
the Randu Kuning deposit,” he said. “The Rajawali Group came in as a corner-
stone investor and they now hold 45% of Au-
At present, Randu Kuning boasts a 90.9mt gur and put in about $6.8 million, which has
@ 0.35 g/t gold and 0.10% copper resource us well funded for the short- to medium-term
and is expected to produce 283,000oz gold future,” Werner said.
and 236,000t copper.
“We see one of our key strengths as hav-
“The deposit itself is a sub-outcropping ing very solid Indonesian partners with deep
porphyry deposit, so the stripping ratio is very pockets and good mining history. That is what
low; it’s about 1.17:1,” Werner said. you get in Indonesia: a good, solid local part-
ner.”
“It also has excellent logistics. It’s only a
40-minute drive from the city of Solo, which The managing director said Augur’s ul-
is a major provincial centre. We have two or timate goal within the next few months was
three electrical substations only a few kilo- to produce a PFS for Randu Kuning, which
metres away and accessible water. We have would be the first step toward achieving its
skilled local labour and hospitals nearby too.” 2016 production target.

Augur’s scoping study demonstrated the “In a tough market we’re making good pro-
deposit has the potential to generate a net gress,” Werner said.
cash flow of $US143 million. Its confidence
in the deposit was reassured in October with “We have quite a bit going on, but we are
metallurgical testing revealing the company very optimistic about the future.”

– Rhys Dickinson

Core from Augur’s Randu Kuning prospect

PAGE 104 DECEMBER 2014 - JANUARY 2015 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

ASIA

Okvau only the beginning

Renaissance managing director Justin Tremain hosted an investor and analyst site tour to Okvau in November which was attended by Paydirt

Renaissance Minerals Ltd’s Okvau scoping The Okvau deposit will be mined via a sin- Okvau. Most of the targets we will be testing
study is merely a stepping stone to bigger gle open pit in three stages to optimise waste are within 5-6km of Okvau and the furthest
and better things in Cambodia, according to removal and mitigate technical risk. one … is about 12km away. It’s still within
managing director Justin Tremain. truck-able distance.”
Stage one and two contain 67% of Okvau’s
Tremain told Paydirt the study, published ounces at an average head grade of 2.3 g/t Tremain emphasised the scoping study
on October 29, showcased the strength of with a combined strip ratio of 3.7:1. only factored in Okvau’s indicated resource,
Renaissance’s foundation project, and most which the company compiled in March 2013.
importantly its tight cost structure. “The first stage is at 140m and that has
about a third of the ounces but the strip ratio “What this scoping study does is demon-
Key highlights of the study based on a at that stage is approximately 3:1 with a head strate the quality of our resource,” he said.
$US1,250/oz gold price included an in-pit in- grade of 2.4 g/t – they will be very low cost
dicated mineral resource of 11mt @ 2.3 g/t for ounces and importantly they’ll make up the “It also allows people to get a feel for the
794,000oz. first three years of production,” Tremain said. economic metrics of what we have today,
what production rate it will support and what is
Targeted production of 93,000 ozpa gold “Stage two provides another 2.5 years’ mill the funding rate to get it into production. I think
over an initial eight-year life of mine has been feed and offers a low strip ratio of 4:1 and most people accept the exploration upside.
estimated. grades of 2.3 g/t. Those first two stages of We’ve done some drilling subsequent to that
our pit provide probably five years of our initial around Okvau and the resource hasn’t been
Capital costs of $133 million have been mine life and they’re at a low strip ratio. They updated for at least 18 months. We will up-
guided, with operating cash flow (before roy- are low cost ounces.” date the resource with the drilling that we’ve
alties) of $345 million, financing a 2.5-year done to date and also any other exploration
payback on the mine. Tremain said once Renaissance got to success we have over the next six months.”
stage three [240m], which essentially gave
Tremain said while the aforementioned Okvau its critical mass, the company hoped Tremain said Renaissance’s work on its
numbers were appealing, it was Okvau’s to be substituting those higher cost ounces Okvau PFS was in-progress and although
$735/oz cash costs and $US783/oz all-in sus- with gold from another shallow, low-cost op- its scoping study was quite detailed, more
taining costs that stood out in the study. eration. geotechnical, metallurgical and hydrological
testing and environmental research were re-
“The key is the all-in sustaining costs over “We’ve got 15,000m of drilling under way,” quired before its release.
the life of mine of under $US800/oz, which is he said.
very competitive,” Tremain said. He hoped the PFS would be complete by
“The first 1,000m was diamond drilling mid-2015, allowing the company to start work
“There aren’t many projects that have fore- around the Okvau deposit and we’re just on its DFS by Q3 next year.
cast costs of that level. It’s the grade that is finishing that off now. We’ve been a bit con-
the key, which is 2.3 g/t in an open pit. The strained by the wet season but going forward – Rhys Dickinson
fact is there are few projects that are open pit- the rest of those metres are on targets outside
table at over 2 g/t. Grade drives the costs.”

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2014 - JANUARY 2015 PAGE 105

REGIONAL ROUNDUP

Myanmar crashes the tin party

Raw material from Myanmar has had scenario.
a major impact on the tin market in Since 2009, yearly forecasts have

2014. been for deficits in the tin market and

UK-based tin experts – ITRI – had the outlook for 2015 is no different.

forecast a tin deficit in 2014 however The situation is likely to reach a crit-

small scale mining booms in both My- ical point in supply in the next three to

anmar and Indonesia forced a change four years, leading to historical highs

in outlook for the commodity. in tin prices.

“Everything was on track until about In the late 1970s/early 1980s tin

April but from the second quarter on- traded in the vicinity of $US40,000/t,

wards there were definite changes in which was followed by a period of

extra supply we were seeing from Chi- oversupply and consequent decline in

na, in turn from supply from Myanmar, prices between 1990-2004.

and also a temporary jump in supply ITRI is forecasting tin to return to

from Indonesia as well,” ITRI manager its heyday, with price predictions of

markets Peter Kettle told Paydirt at a $US20,000-50,000/t from 2019 to

tin seminar in Perth. 2023.

Tin followers have been disap- It is expected that refined tin use

pointed by prices this year, with the in chemicals will rise in the future, as

commodity trading at 15-month lows – will its energy-related usage, boosting

$US19,000/t – on the LME at the time demand.

of print. Peter Kettle However, there remains a lack of

However Kettle believes that the cur- new supply coming to the market and

rent supply from Myanmar – estimated to con- is available, sustainable investment in the there are very few projects at advanced stag-

tribute 25,000-30,000t to Chinese production country is not foreseeable in the next decade, es to satisfy pending demand.

in 2014 and essentially make China a net ex- so anything beyond small scale operations is An incentivised price of $US25,000/t is re-

porter for the year – will taper off within four unlikely in the near term. quired to keep projects moving forward and

years. Furthermore, changes to regulations that encouragement for new players to enter the

While cheap tin concentrate from Myanmar have been talked about in Indonesia for a fray.

decade are starting Australian tin players are well positioned to

to materialise and will take advantage of increased prices and de-

have an impact on the mand, with Australia’s only tin producer – Met-

market. als X Ltd – coming off a production record last

Through a natural quarter at its 50%-owned Renison Bell mine

decline in material and in Tasmania.

new regulations in In- Renison is one of the standout tin projects

donesia, Kettle said in the world, with eight years of reserves

80,000-90,000 tpa (5.5mt @ 1.38% tin) and 16 years worth of re-

2 October 2014 production from the sources (11.5mt @ 1.65% tin) in the pipeline.
Pan Pacific Perth country was not sus- “Our view is that it will continue to grow
tainable.
from there. There is a big future at Renison

“The macro-eco- and there is no reason to see why it won’t

nomic picture is still continue for a long, long, time yet,” Metals X

very uncertain but I executive director Warren Hallam said.

think in terms of the A DFS has been completed at its Rentails

tin specifics, I think project which is primed to produce 5,000 tpa

we will see more con- tin and 2,000 tpa copper.

straints on Indonesian Meanwhile, Moroccan-focused Kasbah

supply due to low pric- Resources Ltd has also completed a DFS at

es and government its Achmmach tin project in March 2014, with

regulations. In Myan- financiers nearing completion of due diligence

mar, we are still not on the $US181 million project.

sure but I think we are Of almost 160 potential tin plays around the

pretty well at the peak world, Achmmach is one of seven genuinely

of production there at poised for production.

The CD-Rom of the 2014 the moment, it will be – Mark Andrews
pretty stable for a year

Australian Nickel Conference or two then it will prob-
ably come down,” Ket-

is available tle said.
Slow growth in the

electronics industry

CD-Rom for conference delegates – $115 (inc.GST) has made consump-
CD-Rom for non-conference delegates – $175 (inc.GST) tion slight however
Kettle said the tin mar-

Phone (+61) 8 9321 0355 or email [email protected] ket was at the height
of the weak demand

PAGE 106 DECEMBER 2014 - JANUARY 2015 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

OPINION ASIA

Myanmar’s mining industry –
realities and visions for
the future

For a vibrant mining industry that makes 2011, the rush of renewed international
a real contribution to a country’s devel-
opment and prosperity, there are two vital mining industry interest in Myanmar has
ingredients; mineral endowment and an
investment environment that encourages not translated into investment in the ab-
risk investment in exploration and mine de-
velopment. sence of regulatory changes. A new mining

Geology and known mineral occurrenc- law has been in the pipeline and is expect-
es in Myanmar indicate substantial poten-
tial for a range of commodities including ed to be introduced next year. The flavour
gold, silver, copper, tin, tungsten, zinc, and
lead. However, since independence, My- of the law is still not entirely clear; many
anmar has failed to create an investment
environment to capitalise on this endow- interest groups have been canvassed and
ment.
the Government has found it difficult to sat-
Under British colonial rule, Myanmar
had a significant mining industry with large isfy widely divergent interests. One of the
operations, such as the Bawdwin silver-
lead-zinc mine, the Mawchi tungsten mine, critical issues is also a much bigger politi-
and the tin mines in Tanintharyi (Tenasser-
im). The period from independence in 1948 cal issue for Myanmar, namely the devolu-
through nationalisation in 1963 until the
major political upheavals in 1988-89 saw tion of power to ethnic-majority states that
rapid decline in mine production and ongo-
ing lack of investment due to the unfavour- cover about 50% of Myanmar’s landmass,
able political and security environment.
much of which has never been under total
New investment and mining laws in the
early 1990s led to a brief exploration boom central government control.
that foundered with the Asian economic
crisis in 1997 and the global downturn in Apart from the investment environment,
the mining industry. However this period
did see development of what remains the the biggest challenge to developing a min-
only large modern mining operation in the
country, the Monywa copper mine, by Cana- ing industry in Myanmar is the almost total
dian company Ivanhoe Mines Inc in JV with
state-owned Mining Enterprise 1. lack of exploration in the past 75 years.

The 2000s witnessed an increasingly diffi- With limited geological and exploration
cult operating environment. Although security
had improved in many parts of the country data, there is no pipeline of prospects
due to government deals with the
ethnic “peace groups”, internation- where further investment is likely to lead
al sanctions stymied investment.
to substantial mine development. The in-
Most fundamentally, the 1994
Mining Law and its implementing dustry therefore requires substantial and
regulations, which had allowed
for reasonable investment terms prolonged investment in exploration; this is
under contract of work-type agree-
ments, was modified unfavourably the highest risk part of the mining industry
with regard to short licence terms,
high acquisition costs (“signa- and requires very favourable investment
ture bonus”) and dead rents, the
demand for production sharing incentives. Without this, exploration will be
agreements with 20-30% of pro-
duction going to the Government, limited and Myanmar’s mining industry will
and additional taxes. In addi-
tion, terms of existing exploration continue to be dominated by small-scale
agreements were modified without
and artisanal operations with poor safety

and environmental standards.

the agreement of the investors. The very underdeveloped infrastructure

In this period, the only significant invest- through much of the country adds to the chal-

ment in mining has been CNMC’s develop- lenges.

ment of the Tagaung Taung laterite nickel Myanmar has the most fundamental ingre-

project. dient to support a mining industry, favourable

Following the change of government in geology. The peoples of Myanmar are also

Dr Neal Reynolds is a director highly motivated to see their coun-
of international resource industry try grow and prosper; development
consultancy, CSA Global. He has of a socially responsible modern
over 25 years’ experience in the mining industry will help achieve
mineral exploration industry from this. Myanmar’s commitment to
project generation to advanced joining the EITI, officially accepted
project stage. Neal has worked on as a candidate in July 2014, is a
projects globally but since 1993 very good indicator of the Govern-
has developed specialist expertise ment’s commitment to this ideal.
in the mineral potential and mining It will not happen overnight, and
industry in Southeast Asia. Neal investors need to have a realistic
has worked extensively on multiple time-scale, but great opportunities
projects in Myanmar over the last exist and the future can be bright
14 years and has in-depth under- for Myanmar’s mining industry.

standing of the mineral industry,

operational environment and ex-

ploration potential in the country

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2014 - JANUARY 2015 PAGE 107

REGIONAL ROUNDUP

Variscan’s search leads to France

Despite being listed on the ASX for more Porte-aux-Moines is one of the advanced plays Variscan is keen on
than 25 years, Variscan Mines Ltd has only
recently been able to claim an advanced asset “Juniors and other mining the wings, Porte-aux-Moines
containing high-grade mineralisation. companies have to be patient.
I don’t think there will be a rush represents its most advanced
Joining the Australian bourse in 1987 as of juniors coming into France,
Platinum Search NL, which was later short- because they aren’t going to be deposit and will be the focus of
ened to PlatSearch and then changed com- able to move quickly enough.
pletely to Variscan Mines in January 2014, it The Government is giving Variscan’s exploration efforts.
has been a long road to France for the com- impressions that it will move
pany. quicker in the future but at this The company’s first prior-
stage it is taking its time.”
In 2011 a subsidiary company – Variscan ity is to collate data from the
Mines SAS – was set up and since then the Jones said it can take more
entity has acquired the St Pierre gold and than two years to have licences French geological survey – Bu-
Merléac zinc-lead-copper-silver licences. granted in France.
reau de Recherches Géolo-
Variscan has three exploration licences Variscan has three licences
granted in France, with St Pierre and Mer- granted and another five pend- qiques et Minieres (BRGM)
léac the cornerstones of future work for the ing, and is hoping to have at least one more
company. It also has the Tennie base metals granted in the near future. – and produce an electronic
project where two zinc-lead anomalies have
been defined in soil geochemistry. While it has prospective licences waiting in format to develop its model.

The company is particularly keen on the “Being the first mover we are
Merléac licence, which was granted in No-
vember and contains the Porte-aux-Moines Greg Jones having to break a lot of ground
VMS deposit in Brittany. here. Getting the licences was

Porte-aux-Moines has been likened to a big thing for us because it
VMS deposits in Australia including Rose-
bery, Woodlawn and Que River. hadn’t been done for 20-odd years. The next

Porte-aux-Moines and the entire 411sq km step is to start the exploration,” Jones said.
Merléac licence has lacked exploration at-
tention in the last two decades, and while it The company has targeted drilling to start
is eager to hit the ground, managing director
Greg Jones told Paydirt that Variscan had to
be patient.

“We are the first mover in there after a 20-
year hiatus and we have accepted that things
will potentially move a little slower, in terms of
getting applications approved, because there
has been an exploration gap from what hap-
pened in the past to what we see now,” Jones
said.

in quarter one or two 2015.

During the late 1970s/early 1980s

the BRGM carried out considerable

exploration at Porte-aux-Moines, giv-

ing Variscan a good starting point.

“Porte-aux-Moines is a zinc-lead

deposit which has had a lot of work

done on it – 9km of drilling plus 2km

of underground developments and it

is relatively well defined. It is pretty

high grade too, so we are enthused

about that, and it is well advanced,

which puts Merléac at the top of the

tree for us,” Jones said.

While focused in France, Variscan

has not cut its ties in Australia, with

investments in Eastern Iron Ltd, Silver

City Minerals Ltd, Thomson Resourc-

es Ltd, WPG Resources Ltd, plus

the Brazilian potash and phosphate-

focused Aguia Resources Ltd.

– Mark Andrews

The south of France may be an idyllic holiday destination, but Variscan is there for the mining
PAGE 108 DECEMBER 2014 - JANUARY 2015 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

EUROPE

Balamara warms to
Poland’s coal fields

Balamara Resources Ltd’s streamlined port- we will also be working the other two Balamara secured an interest in the Nowa Ruda
folio is set to feature a suite of coal assets assets in the background. We picked coking coal project in July 2013
in Poland. up Nowa Ruda before Mariola and we
will continue drilling that and ultimate- ies at its Polish coal projects.
Base metals in the Balkans and phosphate ly take it through the feasibility study While the company is clear of what it is do-
in Togo were once priorities for Balamara, stages,” Ralston said.
however they have been overtaken by the ing in the Balkans and Poland, it is not so sure
Mariola, Nowa Ruda and Sawin coal projects. “We expect Nowa Ruda to be about about its future in Togo.
two years off Mariola in terms of pro-
The company secured the Nowa Ruda cok- duction. We could have worked it a lot Balamara has been working to unlock the
ing coal project in mid-2013 and added Sawin faster if we were doing it on its own but potential of the Togo phosphate project in
to its portfolio in July this year, while a letter of it makes sense to stagger it so we can West Africa for the last five years and remains
intent to acquire 100% of the Mariola thermal use free cash from Mariola to finance one of three companies in contention to win
coal project, southern Poland, was signed in the capex at Nowa Ruda. Sawin falls the tender.
October. a year or two behind Nowa Ruda, and
we will also fund this with free cash “We have been sitting in this position for
Mariola is the most advanced project and from Nowa Ruda and Mariola.” the past 16-18 months now,” Ralston said. “At
is likely to be Balamara’s first producing mine, some stage we are going to get it or realise we
possibly by the end of 2016. At the time of print, Balamara had are not going to get it. It’s simplistic but that’s
about $3 million in the bank – enough what it boils down to.
Balamara managing director Mike Ralston to complete the PFS at Mariola.
told Paydirt that Mariola’s advanced status “At the end of the day we need-
and anticipated low capex and operating However, with a BFS on the hori- ed that project once upon a time
costs would provide early cash flow for the zon and Nowa Ruda requiring deep because we needed a company-
company, which would be reinvested in build- drilling, the company will look to raise maker. Now we have three ex-
ing the larger Nowa Ruda (coking) and Sawin some cash in the first half of 2015. ceptional coal projects and so we
(thermal) coal projects. probably need Togo less so. As
Ralston said sourcing cash from a result of that, if we don’t get a
“Most of our effort at the moment is at Ma- Poland, London, New York and Sin- result or award of that project in
riola. A JORC [resource] review is happening gapore was a better proposition for the next three to six months, we
at the moment and quickly following on from the company rather than tapping Australian may have to make a decision to
that will be a PFS, which will come out in the investors, who have shunned the coal sector move on and focus on the coal,
first quarter of next year,” Ralston said. in recent times. because that is what is most im-
portant for us,” he said.
“That will become the first defining point Balamara would have been in an even bet-
at which the market can see the value in the ter financial position had the $15 million cash – Mark Andrews
project in terms of capital costs, how many sale it had lined up for its base metals assets
tonnes, an idea of costs plus the margins we in the Balkans region not fallen through.
can make. The market can then make a com-
mercial assessment of the project. Another suitor has entered the fray and Ba-
lamara is due $275,000 up front, while it re-
“We believe, from our own internal work, tains a royalty interest upon the project reach-
that it will show some very strong project fun- ing production.
damentals both in terms of low capital costs,
low operating costs and ultimately high mar- Ralston said divesting its non-core assets
gins, which is why we went and got this pro- would reduce the company’s cash burn and
ject in the first place.” allow it to focus on drilling and feasibility stud-

Ralston said bringing Mariola Coal in southern Poland is the focus for Balamara
to fruition could be done for about
$50 million, as it is one of the shal-
lowest underground coal mines in
Poland supported by rail, roads,
power and water, established
when the country was under com-
munist rule.

A maiden resource of 77mt
(indicated and inferred) was an-
nounced in October, which Ba-
lamara hopes will be increased
upon completion of a review in the
near future.

In the meantime, Ralston said
the company would continue dis-
cussions concerning an agree-
ment with a thermal coal power
station (2km from Mariola) inter-
ested in securing coal from Ma-
riola.

“That is the plan at Mariola, but

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2014 - JANUARY 2015 PAGE 109

SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED

GR Engineering will provide EPCM services at Wetar Island

GR Engineering wins productivity improvements across a number from DDG’s Ashburton West facilities to a
of areas. new power station near Onslow in Western
Australia.
Wetar contact Beadell managing director Peter Bowler
said the deal meant his company did not have

GR Engineering has won the $US8.8 mil- to purchase any further mobile equipment. AMEC and Foster
Wheeler join forces
lion contract to provide engineering, procure-

ment and construction management services Fertoz partners with
for Finders Resources Ltd subsidiary PT Ba-

tutua Tembaga Raya’s Wetar copper project AMEC plc and

second distributorin Indonesia. Foster Wheeler AG

The scope of work relates specifically to Phosphate developer Fertoz Ltd has signed have merged to be-
the design and construction of a 25,000 tpa a marketing and distribution agreement with
processing plant and associated infrastruc- Sunalta Fertilizer Ltd to sell rock phosphate come a £5 billion
ture for the expansion of the project on Wetar from the company’s Wapiti and Fernie pro-
Island. jects in British Columbia, Canada. force in global engi-

GR Engineering started work in November The agreement follows the collection of neering, project de-
and is expected to remain on site until early about 1,200t of rock phosphate from Wapiti
2016. and another 1,500t from Fernie, as well as livery, asset support,

power equipment

and consultancy.

the submission of a small mine application for The new company,

75,000 tpa of rock phosphate at Wapiti. to be known as Amec
Sunalta is a fertiliser company focused on
MACA signs five-year Foster Wheeler plc,

deal at Tucano providing soil solutions to farms with acidic will have a workforce Amec Foster Wheeler
soils in the central Alberta region. above 40,000 in chief executive
more than 50 coun- Samir Brikho
Beadell Resources Ltd has entered into a It is the second marketing and distribu- tries, and would have

five-year mining partnership agreement with tion agreement signed by Fertoz in as many generated pro-forma trading profits of £521

MACA Ltd for the management of all drill, months following a deal with Natures Way Ltd million in 2013.

blast, load, haul, crusher feed and auxiliary in October. Based on 2013 pro-forma numbers, 56%

services at the company’s Tucano gold mine of the combined company’s revenues came

in Brazil. from oil and gas, 19% from clean energy, 9%

Monadelphous boostsThe gold producer’s existing mobile mining from environment and infrastructure, 8% from

fleet and equipment, including related spare oil and gas portfolio the global power division and 8% from mining.
parts and consumables, will progressively be
Amec Foster Wheeler will have a strong

transferred to MACA under a two-year staged Monadelphous Group Ltd has added $90 presence across the onshore and offshore oil

acquisition process valued at $40 million. million worth of construction contracts to the and gas value chain, from production through

Key MACA personnel have been on site engineering company’s burgeoning oil and processing, gas monetisation, midstream, oil

at Tucano as technical advisors since early gas portfolio. refining and chemicals.

September and Beadell has since reported The contracts include a deal with the Aus- The merger is also expected to see Amec

tralia Pacific LNG Pro- Foster Wheeler become a major player in the

ject 1 for construction of mining, clean energy, power generation, envi-

the Spring Gully pipeline ronment and infrastructure markets as well as

compression facility at being a leading designer, fabricator and sup-

Roma in south Queens- plier of advanced boiler systems for the power

land. generation and industrial markets.

Monadelphous will Amec Foster Wheeler chief executive Samir

also assist Queensland Brikho said: “In creating our new company we

Urban Utilities with the are building on the proud heritage, skills and

design, supply, construc- customer relationships of two already suc-

tion and commission- cessful and highly respected businesses.

ing of the flood-affected “Amec Foster Wheeler operates in more

stages of the Oxley than 50 countries worldwide, in strong end

Creek sewage treatment markets and throughout the value chain. With

plant in Brisbane. our strong management team and talented

Finally, the company workforce, we will not only serve our custom-

has signed a contract ers better, but can also offer our highly skilled

with DDG Ashburton Pty employees even better career opportunities.

MACA has signed a five-year partnership agreement with Beadell Ltd for the construction I am proud to be leading the combined busi-

for a range of work at the Tucano gold mine in Brazil of a 24km gas pipeline ness into a new phase of growth.”

PAGE 110 DECEMBER 2014 - JANUARY 2015 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

Accenture on board million Australia-wide and have
with Northern Minerals picked up two more contracts
recently with another two due to
Northern Minerals Ltd has selected consul- be signed off in the New Year,”
tancy firm Accenture to provide capital pro- he said.
ject management and procurement business
process services for the company’s Browns PYBAR strikes PYBAR is expected to start contract work at the
Range project feasibility study. gold with Vivien Vivien gold project in January

Under the terms of the agreement, Accen- Underground mining special- Pilbara miners increase
ture will collaborate with Northern Minerals ists PYBAR Mining Services the Tempo
to establish capital project services, includ- Pty Ltd has been named as the
ing integrated planning, cost control and risk preferred contractor for develop- Tempo Australia Ltd has been awarded
management. ment and production mining at $1.5 million in new contracts for work in the
Ramelius Resources Ltd’s Vivien Pilbara region in Western Australia.
Accenture will also use its business pro- gold project, 15km west of Lein-
cess expertise, advanced analytics tools and ster in WA. One contract is a service agreement with
extensive delivery capabilities to help North- McConnell Dowell for the installation of portal
ern Minerals standardise controls, improve The contract is expected lathes at BHP Billiton Ltd’s ore car repair shop
transparency and achieve scale within the to start in January, subject to near Port Hedland.
company’s operations. Ramelius board approval, with a
peak team of 49 PYBAR employ- Tempo has also partnered with CITIC Pa-
The consultancy firm intends to leverage ees. cific Ltd and Civmec Ltd for respective work at
capabilities from Procurian, a procurement the Sino Iron project at Cape Preston and Rio
services provider acquired by Accenture in It follows the extension of PYBAR’s con- Tinto Ltd’s Nammuldi mine near Tom Price.
December 2013, to provide business process tract at Saracen Minerals Holdings Ltd’s Red
services and advice such as procurement October gold mine, also in WA. The two-year Ongoing contract work at Rio Tinto’s Cape
analytics, indirect spending, cost reductions, extension will see PYBAR continue develop- Lambert port expansion project, announced
and improved compliancy and operational ment and production at the mine until June in July, is understood to be progressing well
quality. 2016. and a peak workforce of 90 was anticipated
before the end of November.
Whittens snares top PYBAR’s long-standing relationship at
construction prize Glencore’s Mount Isa copper mine in Queens- Tempo has also entered into national la-
land was also extended in September with the bour hire agreements with First Quantum
Perth-based civil construction company award of a one-plus-one contract. Minerals Ltd and UK-based construction firm
Whittens Pty Ltd has been awarded a Cer- Laing O’Rourke.
tificate of Excellence for construction of ROM Callide contract
walls at the Roy Hill iron ore project in West- extension for Hughes Project consultants
ern Australia. arrive at Carmichael
Hughes Drilling has been awarded a con-
The award was announced at the annual tract extension for the provision of overburden
Concrete Institute of Australia Awards in early drilling services with Anglo American Coal plc
November, rounding out what has been a at the Callide mine in Queensland.
successful year for the company in a tough
market. The contract has been extended to Decem-
ber 2015 and the drilling company will use ex-
Whittens chief executive Phil Alcock said isting plant of equipment.
his company’s workforce had increased from
150 people on the ground to 550 on the back Callide is an open-cut mining operation
of a stronger focus on safety, quality and pro- providing low sulphur, sub-bituminous coal
ductivity. primarily for Queensland’s domestic power
generation and produces about 8 mtpa of
“We are currently managing seven projects thermal coal.
with an estimated value of more than $156

Parsons Brinckerhoff has entered into an
agreement as the project management con-
sultants for Adani Mining Pty Ltd’s multi-billion
dollar Carmichael integrated coal mine, port
and rail project in Queensland’s Galilee Ba-
sin.

The Carmichael project is an open-cut and
underground operation with an anticipated
yield of 60 mtpa and is one of the largest ther-
mal coal pit-rail-port projects currently under
development.

Parsons Brinckerhoff will be responsible for
managing and providing assurance services
for the multiple engineering, procurement and
construction contracts.

A sizeable project management consultan-
cy team is expected to operate out of a Bris-
bane office and across multiple site-based
locations at the project.

Whittens has received recognition for its construction work at the Roy Hill iron
ore project in Western Australia

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2014 - JANUARY 2015 PAGE 111

COMINGS AND GOINGS

Silver Lake Resources Ltd has his nine years with the company, finance for Billiton plc and corpo- cial officer. Boys was formerly a
completed its management with his most recent being EGM rate finance and advisory director practicing partner of PwC and
transition with long-time manag- project development and opera- for HSBC. has more recently been involved
ing director Les Davis retiring. tional improvement. Hess suc- in providing financial advisory
Davis’ replacement is former ex- ceeded Gary Stafford who served Vincent Algar and investment banking services,
ecutive director operations of the as managing director for over 18 accounting and secretarial ser-
company Luke Tonkin. Joining years. Vincent Algar has been ap- vices to several ASX-listed and
Davis in retirement is Silver Lake pointed chief executive of unlisted public companies.
director of exploration and geol- Royce McAuslane has been Australian Vanadium Resources
ogy Chris Banasik. Bansik is a appointed managing direc- Pty Ltd. Algar, who helped float Resource Base Ltd has ap-
founding director of the company tor of RNI NL. In a restructure of Shaw River Manganese Ltd, pointed Michael Kennedy
and has overseen its rise from the board, Miles Kennedy has started in November upon the as a non-executive director to
800,000oz gold entity into the 5.7 become non-executive chairman resignation of Lorry Hughes. represent the company’s major
moz ASX-listed outfit it is today. and executive technical director shareholder Asipac Group Ltd.
Albert Tham has become a non- Lorry Hughes Kennedy has held a number of
Les Davis executive director. senior marketing and logistics
Pauline Carr has been ap- roles with CRA/RTZ Group and
Base Resources Ltd has ap- Legacy Iron Ore Ltd has ap- pointed as joint company was the resident director of the
pointed Mike Stirzaker as a pointed Devanathan Ra- secretary of Wolf Minerals Ltd. Korea Zinc Group of companies
non-executive director, while Tre- machandran as a non-executive Carr will team with chief financial in Australia from 1991 until 2005.
vor Schultz has retired from the director of the company. Ra- officer Richard Lucas to support
board. Shultz’s retirement comes machandran has more than 30 the board as he takes on increas- Foyson Resources Ltd has ap-
as the Base board evolves in line years’ experience in mining and ing responsibilities related to the pointed Bevan Dooley and
with the company’s next phase of fertiliser industries, including development of the Hemerdon Paul Dickson as non-executive
development. stints in corporate, technical and project. directors of the company. Dooley
operational roles with BHP Bil- co-founded and served as techni-
Colin Beckett has joined Beach liton Ltd, Rio Tinto plc and Vale. Norm Coldham-Fussell has cal director, chief executive and
Energy Ltd as an independ- retired as chairman and director of Australian Biodiesel
ent non-executive director. Beck- Executive director of Gold non-executive director of Mesa Group Ltd while Dickson founded
ett’s appointment will take effect Road Resources Ltd Ziggy Minerals Ltd. Coldham-Fussell and owns Dickson & Dickson
in April 2015. Lubieniecki will retire at the end has been chairman of the com- Healthcare Ltd.
of 2014. Lubieniecki’s career pany since 1999 and guided it
Medusa Mining Ltd has ap- spans more than 25 years, seven through the development of its George Oupa Magashula has
pointed Robert Gregory as of which have been dedicated to manganese assets and technol- resigned as a director of ASX
chief operating officer, while Gary exploration with Gold Road. Fol- ogy through to its acquisition of and JSE-listed Firestone Energy
Powell will take up the full-time lowing his retirement he will re- Mineral Resources Ltd in 2010. Ltd.
position of manager of geology main as a consultant and advisor Coldham-Fussell will be replaced
and resources. Powell was previ- within the company. by Collis Thorp, who is currently Broken Hill Prospecting Ltd
ously a non-executive director of the chief executive of Image Re- has announced that Robert
the company. Justin Osborne, who joined sources NL. Barnes has retired, however, he
Gold Road as exploration will remain as a consultant to the
Areview of costs and efficiency manager in October 2013, will Zane Lewis has resigned as company.
initiatives has seen Bathurst be appointed as executive direc- Pilbara Minerals Ltd’s com-
Resources Ltd reduce its board. tor and head of exploration from pany secretary. Lewis has been James Hamilton has stepped
David Frow and Rob Lord have January 1 2015. replaced by Alan Boys, who also into role of managing director
departed as directors, leaving assumes the role of chief finan- at Spitfire Resources Ltd. One
the board comprised of Malcolm Justin Osborne of the founders of the company,
Macpherson (chairman), Toko Hamilton was previously chair-
Kapea (non-executive director) Elemental Minerals Ltd has ap- man and is the company’s sec-
and Hamish Bohannan (manag- pointed Tom Borman as its ond biggest shareholder.
ing director). Marshall Maine has new chairman and Mike Golding
resigned as chief financial officer as a non-executive director. Bor- Shaun Usmar has been ap-
and joint company secretary. man is currently a non-executive pointed senior executive vice
director of TSX listed Alphamin president and chief financial of-
PanAust Ltd has appointed Resources Corp and JSE-listed ficer designate at Barrick Gold
Fred Hess as managing di- Metmar. He also recently became Corp. Usmar will become chief
rector. Hess had held several ex- a director of the Univeg Group of financial officer on February 18,
ecutive management positions in companies. Golding was formerly 2015 following the departure of
head of South African corporate Ammar Al-Joundi. Meanwhile,
Sergio Fuentes has been ap-
pointed executive project director
for Pascua-Lama in Chile.

PAGE 112 DECEMBER 2014 - JANUARY 2015 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

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