a very low capital expenditure of a decision to mine, but that’s obvi-
$US29 million but produce a signifi-
cant amount of graphite,” Christens- ously dependent on how the mar-
en said.
ket fluctuates between now and
“That’s the result of the orebody
itself. Our reserve estimate [45.2mt then and what success we may
@ 7.9% TGC for 3.6mt] is the fifth
largest reported reserve in the world or may not have on the marketing
and it’s a reserve that it located in
one orebody, not a number of ore- side,” he said. “With the cash in the
bodies that are put together. This
is one big, massive orebody which bank and the project the way it is,
translates into a low mining cost and
that gives us a very low opex.” I think we’re reasonably optimistic.”
Ongoing independent test work Renascor is also rejuvenating
has also confirmed Siviour graphite
material meets or exceeds industry some of its historical exploration
specifications for use in lithium-ion bat-
tery anodes. This follows Renascor be- projects, namely Olary, on the back
ing given the technical green light in Feb-
ruary to pursue downstream processing of strong cobalt prices to see what
options for the project.
additional value can be added for
A PFS on spherical graphite produc-
tion is under way to build on the positive the company’s shareholders.
scoping study results reported earlier
this year for standalone and integrated Positive surface sampling results
development of a downstream facility.
David Christensen reported from the Bulloo Creek
“It’s important to get the confirmation
test work and we feel really good about and Shorts Dam prospects – both
that because that [batteries] is a poten-
tially very big market,” Christensen said. “It’s not the only market, but it could be proximal to Cobalt Blue Holdings Ltd’s
a key market for us, and the fact we’ve Thackaringa project, near Broken Hill –
been able to at least hit the standard prompted Renascor to seek immediate
across every measure is really good approvals for drilling later this year.
news. It’s another arrow in the quiver “Previously we’ve looked at trying to
about where we might be able to sell it.” offload those into a different vehicle, but
Renascor recently collected $7.7 mil- we’ve determined that the best way to
lion from a share placement and SPP get shareholder value is to take a bit of a
which Christensen said would see the punt ourselves,” Christensen said.
company through to a decision to mine. “It won’t cost us a lot of money and it
A DFS on Siviour is due to be completed won’t take too much to get a result that
in Q1 2019. will be very good for everybody.”
“If marketing talks go well at the same – Michael Washbourne
time, then we can move immediately into
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JULY 2018 PAGE 101
SAREIC PREVIEW
Auroch settles in SA
After several years testing the explora- Auroch is hoping to start drilling at Bonaventura this month
tion waters abroad, Auroch Minerals
Ltd has settled on two base metals pro- Auroch has wasted no time on the small historic mines for zinc, lead, cop-
jects in its own backyard. exploration front since receiving share- per, iron and manganese. Artisanal
holder approval to acquire Arden and mining activities were carried out for 70
The ASX-listed explorer acquired Bonaventura in early April, completing years until 1920 before Kennecott re-
the Arden and Bonaventura projects in geophysical reinterpretations of histori- sumed exploration in the 1960s.
South Australia earlier this year after cal data over both projects.
electing not to exercise options over bat- Kennecott identified a 10km strike of
tery minerals assets in Portugal and the Arden, about 100km north of Nyrstar’s potential sedex zinc mineralisation, but
Czech Republic. smelter in Port Pirie, contains several only 200m was tested by drilling. Since
Aidan Platel, who worked as a consult-
ant for the company and carried out the
due diligence over both projects, was
appointed Auroch’s chief executive last
month and has been tasked with driving
its new base metals strategy.
“We engage a rigorous project selec-
tion process and Australia, with its stable
economic and regulatory environment,
has always been an attractive destina-
tion for mining,” Platel told Paydirt.
“We are not opposed to overseas pro-
jects, but our project selection process
identified South Australia as a mining
friendly state and our focus is firmly on the
exploration of Arden and Bonaventura.”
PAGE 102 JULY 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
1980, the project area has been The nearby Angas zinc mine is
mostly subjected to diamond explo-
ration. also a sedex-style deposit hosted in
“Australia has a reputation for be- the Adelaide Geosyncline, which is
ing pretty picked over, but effectively
there hasn’t been any modern-day also home to Hillgrove Resources
exploration for base metals on this
site, despite its historic high-grade Ltd’s Kanmantoo copper operation.
mineralisation,” Platel said. “Our pro-
ject selection process identified this Platel said the company would
oversight and we are really excited by
its prospects.” continue to be aggressive with its ex-
Bonaventura, located in the central ploration plans, with drill rigs expect-
north of Kangaroo Island, also con-
tains several small historic zinc, cop- ed to turn concurrently at Arden and
per and gold mines and was most
recently explored by Monax Mining Ltd Bonaventura in the coming months.
as late as 2014.
“I think with any decent results,
Seventeen targets areas were recently
identified by Southern Geoscience Con- we’re just going to press the button
sultants from the reinterpretation of high-
resolution aeromagnetic, radiometric, and throw more rigs and resources
gravity and IP data. A new IP survey was
being flown over three priority targets at No modern exploration for base metals has been at it and really look to fast-track a
the time of print.
carried out over the Arden project maiden resource estimate and scop-
Drilling at Bonaventura could begin
this month, pending the award of the re- ing study over the next 12 months,”
quired regulatory permits.
seem to be – it’s all freehold land, no he said.
“We are planning to begin drilling in
July, assuming there’s nothing raised by Native Title and cleared for grazing – “It was a conscious decision of ours
other government, which there doesn’t
we’re expecting licences in the next few not to be one of those junior explorers
weeks,” Platel said. that just sort of plonks along. We have
Earlier reconnaissance rock-chip sam- roughly $4.9 million in the bank, so we’re
pling at Bonaventura confirmed the pres- funded to do the exploration and we want
ence of high-grade base metal content, to get in there and aggressively explore.
with results of up to 28% zinc reported, “We didn’t want to have one of these
as well as 33.3 g/t gold from a historic projects which looks good and we can
waste dump. dress it up, get a good ramp-up on the
At Arden, reconnaissance mapping share price and then it turned out to be
and sampling from the historic Kenne- nothing. We wanted something substan-
cott trenches also returned high-grade tial that we can take through and we be-
results of 5-7% zinc and confirmed the lieve we have that with these projects.”
sedex potential of the ground. – Michael Washbourne
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JULY 2018 PAGE 103
SAREIC PREVIEW
Marmota cashes up for
drilling push
At the time of print, Marmota Ltd was Kevin Wills for Dominion Mining in the early 1990s.
headed for the field after receiving With Wills on board, Marmota is well
commitments for a $1 million placement
at 1.8c/share to sophisticated investors. placed to execute its two-pronged strat-
egy around Challenger and Aurora Tank.
The cash comes at a good time, with
the company identifying 10 new gold tar- “The Challenger gold mine was dis-
gets over the past two years surrounding covered by drilling around calcrete gold
the Challenger gold mine in South Aus- anomalies peaking at 620 ppb gold. In
tralia. this case, the mineralisation was present
at, and very near, the current land sur-
Marmota is now in a position to drill face so high levels of calcrete anomalism
test more than 10 new gold-in-calcrete were present. Other anomalies originally
target zones this month and attack the located by Dominion have led to miner-
Aurora Tank gold project, where recently alisation at the Typhoon, Monsoon, Golf
drilling opened up new opportunities Bore and Campfire Bore areas and are
to the north, north-east and extensions now being followed up by Tyranna Re-
down plunge. sources [NL]. Overall however, there
has not been another significant phase
Marmota has been able to outline gold of testing new regional anomalies for 20
mineralisation at Aurora Tank by follow- years since the late 1990s,” Wills said.
ing up calcrete gold anomalies; a pro-
cess developed originally for the Gawler “At Aurora Tank, surface calcrete
Craton by Marmota’s director Kevin Wills anomalism peaks at 38 ppb gold though
when he was local exploration manager it is mostly in the 10-20 ppb range. Mar-
PAGE 104 JULY 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
mota found that by broad-spaced drilling Marmota’s recent $1 million placement allows it to launch into drilling on
in the vicinity of the anomalies on an 80m 10 new gold targets in SA
by 40m pattern, it was able to define ar-
eas of broad anomalism in shallow [less
than 50m depth] weathered bedrock over
100 ppb gold. The best mineralisation did
not directly underlie the highest calcrete
anomalism so the levels of secondary
gold were used to define future targets.
The magnitude of calcrete anomalism at
Aurora Tank is caused by the diluting ef-
fects of a layer of Jurassic sandstone up
to about 10m thick which directly overlies
the mineralisation. This sandstone layer
is not present at Challenger.”
Wills said Marmota’s success at Au-
rora Tank could therefore be attributed to
following up surface calcrete gold anom-
alies and then vectoring towards higher
grade mineralisation by wide-spaced drill
testing of the most anomalous zones of
secondary dispersion at shallow depth.
Recent RC drilling at Aurora Tank
yielded excellent high-grade intersec-
tions close to surface, which included 4m
@ 23 g/t gold from 44m, including 12m
@ 8.6 g/t from 40m; 4m @ 8.5 g/t from
32m; 4m @ 6.9 g/t from 32m and 4m @
6.9 g/t from 36m.
– Mark Andrews
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JULY 2018 PAGE 105
SAREIC PREVIEW
Gindalbie steels for crack
at Mt Gunson
As the chief executive of ments, Gindalbie has a then feed with a bit more certainty into
Gindalbie Metals Ltd, good handle on the pro- our models. Then, based on that, we will
Chris Stevens has come to ject, with Stevens confi- undertake a study to look at other options
terms with the lack of trac- dent a “fairly simple and as well,” Stevens said.
tion his company is receiv- reasonably standard
ing in the market. flowsheet” can be ap- With some $36 million cash reported
plied to materials mined in the coffers last quarter ((plus remain-
“I think it will take a little from Mt Gunson. ing contingent liabilities of approximately
longer for people to cotton $200 million under cross guarantees for
on to what we are doing but “That is a break- loans taken out by Karara Mining Ltd,
I think that is something that through. Historically no- and which have been progressively re-
we are at peace with as a one has been able to do ducing since 2015), there is no need for
group. We are a relatively this before at the project, Gindalbie to raise money to complete fur-
conservative group, that so for me being able to ther studies in the near term.
doesn’t mean slow, we are get a flowsheet where
certainly putting in a sig- Chris Stevens you are able to poten- The company, however, does need to
nificant amount of work in,” tially optimise the min- determine the extent of the project it has
Stevens said. erals and look towards on its hands, as the Emmie Bluff copper-
ultimate sale-ability of products is a good cobalt-silver prospect starts to emerge
Stevens spoke to Paydirt in light of outcome,” Stevens said. as having significant potential.
the Gindalbie board green-lighting entry Preliminary test work results indicate
into stage two of the Mt Gunson cop- there is potential to use a conventional An initial concept study on Emmie
per-cobalt project, 35km south-east of flotation-based circuit to produce a bulk Bluff, which is on the northern boundary
Woomera. copper-cobalt concentrate or copper of Mt Gunson, has resulted in a strong
and cobalt concentrates from MG14 and case for further investigations to be con-
The go-button was hit after Gindalbie Windabout. ducted.
completed a preliminary mine scoping The company has also assessed
study update on the indicated copper- the viability of using the trademarked “I think that is a very interesting value-
cobalt-silver resources at Mt Gunson, GlyLeach glycine technology, particu- add opportunity for the project,” Stevens
which is underpinned by the MG14 de- larly at MG14 which might afford Gindal- said.
posit – 1.83mt @ 1.24% copper, 334 ppm bie the opportunity for a fast start-up, low
cobalt and 14 g/t silver – and Windabout capex option for project development. An experienced mineral economist,
– 17.67mt @ 0.77% copper, 492 ppm co- “We have been looking at quite a novel Stevens was appointed chief executive
balt and 8 g/t silver (cut-off grade 0.5% technology and we continue to look at of Gindalbie in May 2016 after a stint with
copper equivalent). GlyLeach which we still hold our global PwC in Perth as WA Mining Consultant
licence with MPS. That is something that Leader. His time with the accountancy
Stage two of the farm-in with Torrens we would like to leverage in this project, firm meant he experienced many “sleep-
Mining Ltd subsidiary, Terrace Mining but also outside of this project for future less nights” conducting M&A project
Pty Ltd, requires Gindalbie to complete business development,” Stevens said. analysis. This experience provided some
a PFS on expenditure of about $2.5 mil- “We are in a good position in that we comfort that Mt Gunson was the right as-
lion. Upon PFS completion, Gindalbie have a stock standard potential base set for Gindalbie when it decided farm-in
can more than double its ownership of Mt case conventional processing and shov- terms with Terrace Mining last year.
Gunson to 51%, with the company poten- el-and-truck operation and then more
tially able to earn a total 75% by taking options to potentially improve on that as Stevens said the dearth of copper ex-
the project further down the development well.” ploration across the globe in the last few
chain. Deposits in this particular area of years and the rising importance of cobalt
South Australia are generally undercover were compelling reasons to take an inter-
Stevens said the PFS would most likely and don’t outcrop, with Windabout ex- est in Mt Gunson.
be completed in the second half of 2019. pected to be a higher strip ratio deposit.
Stevens said further work was being However, Stevens’ bullishness on co-
“The critical path is really being driven done to determine potential cost savings balt was not realised overnight, as shown
by getting more metallurgical samples on the mining side, with the company by a piece of literature he created with
and undertaking detailed test work. I be- close to finalising a very detailed pattern Jake Fraser, resource economist at
lieve this will be a project where as you of information to be put to possible con- and former Mannkal scholar.
go through the PFS you are really going tractors.
through the traditional phased feasibility “We’ll go after some early contractual The piece – Cobalt: The Forgotten
and taking it through a number of options involvement, get some technical input Mineral in the Lithium Boom by Fraser, J
of what it can be and refining it into what on potential mining costs which we can and Stevens, C. 2016 – appeared in the
it will be. Taking it through that stage Mannkal Economic Foundation E-focus
means the BFS, I’d imagine, would hap- newsletter in August 2016.
pen relatively quickly,” Stevens said.
“It is proof we got our analysis right and
Having completed the scoping study were thinking of it long before Gunson
update and stage one earn-in require- was on the scene,” Stevens said.
– Mark Andrews
PAGE 106 JULY 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
Leigh Creek flows into production
First gas flow from the pre- In-situ gasification – the conversion of coal to synthesis gas (syngas) underground –
commercial demonstra- at Leigh Creek is proving to be a viable energy source
tion stage of the Leigh Creek
energy project, 550km north “The big pay day event is when we ing a look at going up the value chain
of Adelaide, is expected
soon. upgrade the contingent gas resource to with this syngas from Leigh Creek.”
Since the Leigh Creek a proven and probable reserve,” Lawry Stage two scale-up options being in-
coalfield was closed in 2016,
ASX-listed Leigh Creek En- said. vestigated include urea and methanol
ergy Ltd has been assessing
the viability of in-situ gasifi- “Gas reserves have a commercial val- production, with the company reporting
cation (ISG) from the site.
ue and the conclusion there is that our encouraging results from the fertiliser
The company achieved
a major milestone in April shares are trading at 2.5c/gigajoule of and petrochemical arenas.
when the South Austral-
ian Government granted gas, when gas is worth 50c-$1.50/ giga- – Mark Andrews
environmental approval for the project on joule so our share price has a long way
the back of strong endorsement by the
State’s regulator based on an independ- to go.”
ent assessment report.
The company will be able to upgrade
The report was formulated by three
internationally renowned subject matter its gas resource,
experts who – among various positive
outcomes – concluded the Leigh Creek and ultimately de-
site as one of the best in the world for
ISG production. fine a bankable
“First and foremost they concluded asset, within 8-10
that there are material differences be-
tween the Leigh Creek site and the Linc weeks of gas flaring
Energy [Ltd] site in Queensland. Sec-
ondly, they have concluded that we have which is expected to
the best site in the world for ISG; that is
big news and why we got the approval,” start in early Q3.
Leigh Creek Energy corporate and inves-
tor relations manager Tony Lawry told With a significant 30 - 31 July 2018
Paydirt. resource already at
Lawry said the market was still con- Leigh Creek, Lawry Hilton Adelaide
cerned about the technology risk associ- said the project was
ated with ISG, which involves converting
coal to synthesis gas (syngas) under- not only shaping
ground and then brought to the surface
for processing, distribution and sale. as important to the
“We will demonstrate that there is zero State, but Australia
technology risk in early July,” he said.
in general.
At the time of print, Leigh Creek had
secured two of three Activity Notifica- “You not only
tions (AN) related to pre-commissioning
demonstration operations, with operat- have the signifi-
ing, decommissioning and monitoring of
operations in play once the final AN is cance of the energy
obtained.
source and in terms
First gas flow will then proceed, while
upgrading its 2C resource (2,963.9 peta- of contingent gas,
joules) to a 2P reserve is expected to trig-
ger some excitement in the market. it is 8% of the East
Last month, Leigh Creek had a mar- Coast’s contingent
ket cap of $83.1 million and was trading
at 20c/share, with China New Energy gas resource, so it
Group Ltd (32.8%) and CITIC Australia
Pty Ltd (4.2%) among the largest share- is massive. It is a
holders.
very significant gas The CD-Rom of the 2018
resource,” Lawry South Australian Resources and
said.
“Australia is short Energy Investment Conference
of energy for power will be available soon
and electricity and
one of the areas of CD-Rom – $60 (inc.GST)
focus at the moment Phone (+61) 8 9321 0355 or email [email protected]
for our commercial
studies team is hav-
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JULY 2018 PAGE 107
REGIONAL ROUNDUP
Bannerman raises hope for
Namibian yellowcake
Bannerman Resources Ltd has Upon unveiling its care-and-
rebooted a “sombre” uranium maintenance plans for Langer
community in Namibia with an Heinrich, Paladin flagged that
oversubscribed $8 million capital the operation could be one of the
raising that ensures the company first to resume production should
is funded through to a final invest- the uranium price emerge from
ment decision on its Etango project. its seven-year slumber.
Less than a fortnight after Pala- Potential price triggers could
din Energy Ltd announced it was include Cameco Corp moving
mothballing its loss-making Langer its suspended McArthur River
Heinrich operation, Bannerman mine to care-and-maintenance,
tapped institutional and sophisti- as well as further production
cated investors via a placement cuts from leading producer Ka-
managed by Euroz Securities Ltd zAtomProm.
and Morgans Corporate Ltd. Further supply disruption will
Funds from the placement will be be lapped up by what is now a
used to undertake further optimisa- Bannerman is now funded through to a final investment dwindling number of uranium
tion work on Etango as part of an decision on its Etango uranium project in Namibia hopefuls, including Bannerman,
updated DFS due for completion which has been plugging away
next year. Langer Heinrich became the latest at Etango for more than a decade.
Bannerman chief executive Brandon casualty of persistently low uranium pric- Bannerman is currently pulling togeth-
Munro said while the placement had es when it was moved to care-and-main- er the findings of separate membrane,
“raised a few eyebrows” from those out- tenance in late May, just three months mining and processing optimisation stud-
side of the uranium sector, it demonstrat- after embattled Paladin resumed trading ies into an updated DFS which Munro in-
ed an appetite for yellowcake stories, following an $800 million debt restruc- sisted his company would not rush.
particularly from the top end of town. ture. “There’s too many rocks to overturn
“Within the sector itself, we’ve seen Paladin was reportedly producing now in terms of technology improve-
increased interest in the uranium story uranium oxide from Langer Heinrich at ments, so we will give ourselves the time
over the last several weeks and it culmi- a cost of $US29.82/lb, but achieving a – and now the budget – to work system-
nated in a very high level of institutional sales price of just $US22.15/lb when it atically through a whole range of poten-
involvement in the raising,” Munro told opted to shutter the operation, striking a tial wins on the project,” he said.
Paydirt. further blow to uranium-rich Namibia. “Bannerman is now fully funded
“There’s a desire from institutions in “In Namibia it’s very sombre at the mo- through to a final investment decision.
Sydney and Melbourne to gain exposure ment,” Munro said. The $8 million gives us the ability to do
to uranium as its demonstrating a bot- “You’ve got Langer Heinrich being put all of that technical work and to arrange
toming of the cycle. The raising itself was on care-and-maintenance, you’ve got project financing, so we won’t need to
very successful and I think is a clear in- Husab taking much longer to ramp-up come back to the market.”
dicator the smart money is now gravitat- than expected and you’ve got Rössing Munro, who was elected co-chair of
ing towards uranium in the context of a losing money. There’s a lot of concern in the World Nuclear Association’s Nuclear
number of other commodities displaying Namibia about persistently lower urani- Fuel Demand Working Group earlier this
downward price risk.” um prices and the effect that is having on year, said uranium supply would swing
Bannerman’s ability to collect a siz- the local communities and the country’s into deficit over the next few months,
able sum of working capital for an unde- fiscal situation. paving the way for the sector’s first bull
veloped uranium project was welcome “For a producer, it’s extremely tough run since the mid-to-late 2000s.
news for a sector still struggling to gain times and anyone in the sector’s heart “We are seeing persistently low prices
traction after the Fukushima nuclear in- goes out to the guys who are trying to lead to systemic supply decay and we
cident in 2011. keep their businesses going.” have a high degree of confidence that
Scott Sullivan has been appointed Paladin Energy Ltd’s new chief executive, replac- supply decay will bring on the next bull
ing Alex Molyneux. market – and we all remember fondly
what happened last time,” Munro said.
Sullivan, a metallurgist with more than 30 years of industry experience, was most
recently general manager of Newcrest Mining Ltd’s Telfer gold-copper mine, prior to “Particularly in light of what is expected
which he was managing director of Angolan phosphate hopeful Minbos Ltd and asset to happen in the sector, I think it’s going
president of NSW Energy Coal at BHP Billiton. to be a very exciting 12 months for us
as a company and for the sector more
Molyneux departs after three challenging years in the role during which he over- broadly.”
saw numerous cost optimisation strategies, including the $800 million debt restructure
which pulled the company out of voluntary administration. – Michael Washbourne
PAGE 108 JULY 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
AFRICA
Force brewing with
Winmar in DRC
At a time when miners are push- Force was preparing to drill 3,000m at the Kanuka lithium project at the time of print
ing back against changes to mining
legislation in the DRC, Paydirt took the to confirm the true thickness of the peg- None of the licences were previously
chance to follow two Australian explorers matites. mined for lithium, Brewer told Paydirt last
on the ground and gauge the mood of year, with Force’s due diligence revealing
players in the sector. AVZ is on track to produce a maiden visible spodumene and widespread peg-
resource estimate in July, as Force starts matites across that Kitotolo licence, with
Paydirt senior journalist Michael to get busy at Kitolo, an untouched op- some very shallow pegmatites.
Washbourne was hosted on site by lithi- portunity in DRC’s east-central region.
um-hopeful Force Commodities Ltd, new Assays from Force’s technical
entrant to the DRC, Winmar Resources due diligence returned up to 2.15%
Ltd and Nzuri Copper Ltd. lithium from a limited reconnais-
sance channel test pit and rock
Winmar’s recent board restructure chip sampling programme, with
sees the company led by Jason Brewer shallow pegmatites and lithium
as chairman alongside Thomas Durr and mineralisation also confirmed in
Mike Fry as non-executive directors. artisanal workings still to be tested
for depth and strike extensions.
The new faces have brought a change
in strategy, with the company previously James Sullivan, former con-
focused on the 8.1mt @ 2.31 g/t gold for sultant to AVZ, is Force’s head of
600,000oz Lomero project in Andalucia, exploration and will play a critical
Spain. role in unveiling the potential large-
scale opportunity at Kitolo.
Winmar was striving to improve confi-
dence in the Lomero resource, with drill- Meanwhile, Force has also ac-
ing below mine workings completed in quired a 51% interest in the nearby
FY2017 intersecting massive sulphides Kanuka lithium project and was
of 2.2m @ 11.2 g/t gold and 7.4% zinc preparing to begin a 3,000m drill
and 2.8m, including 0.55m @ 2.05 g/t programme at the time of print.
and 3.77% zinc.
Extensive coverage of Paydirt’s
There was not much love for Winmar’s site visit to DRC will feature in the
Spanish inquisition and despite the DRC special Africa Down Under preview
being on the nose with some investors, edition in August
the company appears to be well-support-
ed for its cobalt game in the central Afri- Winmar has switched focus from Spain to DRC
can country.
Winmar was able to raise $3.1
million earlier this year, via a pri-
vate placement, to pursue cobalt
acquisitions in the DRC and Can-
ada.
Winmar acquired three blocks
of mining claims in the high-grade
silver-cobalt region of Gowganda.
The Gowganda project covers
2,240ha in eastern Ontario, with
mining activity in the district pro-
ducing 60.2 moz silver and 1.3 mlb
cobalt to the end of 1969.
Winmar’s battery minerals strat-
egy in Canada complements a
similar drive Force is attempting in
DRC.
Brewer also heads up Force
which has the Kitotolo lithium pro-
ject, 40km from AVZ Minerals Ltd’s
Manono project.
Last month, AVZ hit 263.24m @
1.52% lithium down-hole, and re-
ported additional drilling is required
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JULY 2018 PAGE 109
REGIONAL ROUNDUP
Sierra Leone pushes
mining law review
Sierra Leone’s new president
will follow through with cam-
paign promises to review mining
contracts and consider changes
to the law that would ensure the
West African nation benefits from
its natural resources, his spokes-
man told Reuters.
Sierra Leone, which is recov-
ering from a devastating 2014-16
Ebola epidemic that killed thou-
sands, is the latest nation to take
a hard line against mining com-
panies in an attempt to ensure a
larger share of revenues.
As commodities recover from
a collapse in 2015 cash-strapped
governments in Mali, Tanzania,
Zambia and Democratic Republic
of Congo have demanded a big-
ger share of the proceeds by in-
creasing taxes and in some cases
banning exports.
Extractives – mostly diamonds,
iron ore and mineral sands – con-
stitute more than 80% of Sierra Sierra Leone is the latest nation to take a hard line against mining companies, following the
Leone’s exports but generate only likes of the DRC in an attempt to ensure a larger share of revenues
15% of its total revenues, accord-
ing to official figures. Iluka Resources Ltd mines mineral sands new investment after a years-long slump
In an address to lawmakers in May, via a subsidiary. in commodities prices stalled projects
President Julius Maada Bio, who was Those companies either declined to and bankrupted some companies.
elected in April, denounced what he said speak about the pending reviews or did Its economy contracted by more than
was an “extreme lack of transparency” in not immediately respond to a request for 20% in 2015 at the height of the Ebola
the sector under his predecessor Ernest comment. epidemic and Bio promised voters a na-
Bai Koroma. “We have to remember that mining tional renaissance.
He called for an immediate review of companies are here for business, to His plans include new legislation that
both the 2009 Mines and Minerals Act make profit at the end of the day,” Sandi would consolidate all mining revenues
and the individual licenses of mining said. “At the same time, as a government into a single account from which funds
companies. it’s our job to ensure that they display could be allocated to health and educa-
“We have to look at these agreements, proper corporate social responsibility tion projects in mining communities.
and we have to look at the laws that gov- and comply with international best prac- Sierra Leone mining law expert Sonki-
ern them,” Yusuf Keketoma Sandi, the tices.” ta Conteh told Reuters that cleaning up
president’s press secretary, told Reuters Democratic Republic of Congo’s uni- legislation and properly enforcing regula-
last month. lateral move to increase mining taxes tions should draw the investors the coun-
“There have been many issues in terms and deny mining companies the right to try desperately needs.
of how concessions were given to mining short-term get-out clauses enraged min- “We’ve been mining in Sierra Leone
companies and treatment of workers that ing executives, but it also has the poten- for the past 80 years, and it’s very hard
people deemed unfair,” he said. tial to stir up resource nationalism across to point to the tangible differences [it has
Major companies operating in Sierra the continent. made to people’s livelihoods],” he said.
Leone include China’s Shandong Iron Mali’s government said in March that it “This is the time to step back and really
and Steel which owns the Tonkolili iron was negotiating with mining companies look with a fresh eye at all of these ac-
ore project. BSG Resources-controlled to draft a new mining code but would tivities and see whether the mining is of
diamond miner Koidu Holdings Ltd is a move to implement a new law unilaterally benefit to these communities rather than
supplier to Tiffany and Co. if no compromise was reached. a few select people and companies.”
Sierra Minerals, owned by Dutch in- However, Sierra Leone faces the tricky – Cooper Inveen, Reuters
dustrial group Vimetco NV, runs the task of squeezing more revenues from
country’s only bauxite mine. Australia’s the extractives sector while attracting
PAGE 112 JULY 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
AFRICA
Volt bonds with local market
Graphite hopeful Volt Resources Ltd Volt is chasing $US40 million from cashed-up investors in East Africa to fund
is close to finalising a $US40 million Stage 1 development of its Bunyu graphite project in Tanzania
Tanzanian bond issue to fund Stage 1 de-
velopment of its Bunyu project. $US60 million? It really could go either and to spend a lot of money develop-
At the time of print, the draft prospectus way. Nobody really knows until you go ing a project, you need to be confident
for the innovative fundraising package
was being reviewed by the Tanzanian out there and see just what the appe- you’re going to be able to shift it. Before
Capital Markets and Securities Author-
ity (CMSA) and the Dar es Salaam Stock tite is, but we think we’re in pretty good we were looking at spending $US150-
Exchange (DSE).
shape to get this done.” 200 million, but I think we would really be
Once approved for distribution, the
prospectus will then be forwarded to In conjunction with the fundraising, Volt struggling to finance that, particularly in
potential investors in Tanzania, Uganda
and Kenya, with bonds to be listed on the has also submitted its applications for Tanzania, that’s virtually un-bankable in
DSE. Specialist investment bank Exotix
Capital is undertaking the note issue on two mining licences and an environmen- the current climate.”
Volt’s behalf.
tal and social impact statement. Both are Matthews said his company would
Currently, there are only four listed
bonds trading on the DSE – three banks key approvals required for Stage 1 devel- continue to progress off-take discus-
and a telco group – but Volt chief execu-
tive Trevor Matthews is confident East opment and production at Bunyu, about sions during the second half of the year.
African-focused fundraising was the best
option for Bunyu’s development, particu- 140km west of Mtwara. Volt already has one bind-
larly in light of uncertainty remaining over
Tanzania’s investment climate. Both 10sq km mining li- ing agreement with Nano
“When you think of how external finan- cences also cover the pro- Graphene Inc for 5,000t of
ciers would look at Tanzania over the last
12 months, they would probably need to posed Stage 2 footprint. graphite product over five
see some things approved or move for-
ward and companies get into construc- A feasibility study on years and non-binding ar-
tion/development before they would be
confident enough to invest in projects in Stage 1 was due at the time rangements with three oth-
the region,” Matthews told Paydirt.
of print and is based on a er groups for up to 40,000
“There are certainly other companies
talking to Exotix that are based in Tan- smaller start-up scenario tpa.
zania, but we were the first ones to look
at that particular option as far as financ- of 20,000 tpa, with Stage Volt’s customer base is
ing goes. I think for now it’s really up to
investors from that region to look at how 2 expected to be about 10 predominantly associated
they could be involved in funding or fi-
nancing projects.” times bigger in size. with traditional markets, in-
Volt was hoping to receive approval to Before Matthews joined cluding building materials,
distribute the prospectus by June 30, but
Matthews said it was more likely to be the company in early 2017, Trevor Matthews but the company has not
granted sometime this month. Volt was focused on devel- closed the door to opportu-
Matthews also said even if the full note oping a 170,000 tpa opera- nities in the flourishing bat-
subscription for $US40 million was not
met, there was still likely to be enough tion at Bunyu, which hosts the largest tery minerals space.
funds to begin road work and key engi-
neering activities at Bunyu. graphite resource (461mt @ 4.9% TGC) “Obviously the battery anode market
“At the end of the day, it’s only a finite in Tanzania. is coming off a fairly low base, but flake
pool that is going to be available for in-
vestment, but I think we’ve positioned “I think we’ve set ourselves up for a graphite for battery anodes is definitely
ourselves as first cab off the rank and I
think there will be a lot of interest how this reasonably quick transition through get- increasing in demand,” Matthew said.
progresses and how successful it is,” he
said. ting our approvals, which can be the “We’ve been having some discus-
“We’re confident we’ll get something biggest delays in these processes,” Mat- sions with major carmakers…there’s no
because it’s not a zero sum game. The
question is do we get $US40 million, do thews said. “It’s important to get those doubt those groups are actively looking
we only get $US20 million or do we get
resolved now rather than trying to come at graphite and intermediate processing
back and get another round of approvals and how they can get into that anode
in 12-18 months’ time when we’ll be look- space and secure supply.”
ing to expand. – Michael Washbourne
“Development risk is much smaller
when you’re developing a smaller project
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JULY 2018 PAGE 113
REGIONAL ROUNDUP LATIN AMERICA
Anglo/Mitsubishi deal on
Quellaveco
Anglo American plc has processing rates at Quellaveco
agreed that Japan’s Mit-
subishi Corp should raise its reach at least 150,000 tpd
stake in the Quellaveco copper
project in Peru by 21.9% for and $US50 million when rates
$US600 million, taking its hold-
ing to 40%. reach at least 180,000 tpd.
Mark Cutifani, Anglo Ameri- The transaction is expected
can’s chief executive, who
wants higher levels of partner- to be closed in the third quarter
ship to spread the risk and cost
of developing new assets, said of this year, subject to regulato-
in a statement the sale aligned
with “a disciplined approach” to ry approvals and endorsement
capital allocation.
by Mitsubishi’s board.
Anglo American will retain a
60% stake in the project which Anglo American’s board also
has an implied full value of
$US2.74 billion. Sources had has to authorise going ahead
previously told Reuters they expected
Anglo American to sell up to 30% of the with the Quellaveco project.
copper project.
Approval is widely expected
over the coming weeks and
would kick off what the industry
says is a much needed large
new copper project after the
Mark Cutifani commodity price crash of 2015-
16 led to reduced spending and
The payment of $US600 million is reduced exploration.
broken down into $US500 million on – Reuters
completion of the deal, $50 million when
LATIN
AMERICA 716-17 May 2018
Pan Pacific Perth YTGOOEUDTRASY
The CD-ROM of the Past and present Conference Proceedings
2018 Latin America Down Under and CD-Roms are available for sale
Conference proceedings is now available
For details or to download an order form visit
Contact Mel on (+61) 8 9321 0355 or [email protected] www.newgengold.com
or visit www.latinamericadownunder.com/2018-cd-rom/
to order yours Phone (+61) 8 9321 0355 or email [email protected]
Jointly organised by:
Keith Yates & Associates Pty Ltd
PAGE 114 JULY 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
REGIONAL ROUNDUP LATIN AMERICA
Way to go Mexico
David Engel
At the time of print, Mexico was gear- 2030 and it will leapfrog Australia in that the US pulled out in January 2017.
ing up for country-wide elections, league table,” Australian Ambassador Nevertheless, the sentiment remains
with the incumbent president expected to to Mexico David Engel told delegates at good for the free trade agreement involv-
take the reins of an economy destined for Latin America Down Under in May. ing the remaining 11 countries – Brunei
big things. Engel said Mexicans were demanding Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Ma-
Prior to the elections, in which leftist change like never before, with an em- laysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Sin-
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is favour- phasis on stamping out corruption and gapore, Vietnam and Australia – with a
ite to win presidency, Mexico was con- improving security key items to address. Comprehensive and Progressive Agree-
firmed as co-host of the 2026 FIFA World “This election will be very powerful and ment signed by the parties in March.
Cup alongside USA and Canada after people can take some comfort that these “Once the TPP-11 is all verified there
the trio’s United2026 bid was successful. issues are now front and centre in the will be much more opportunity for [Aus-
Sweetening things for the football-lov- public consciousness,” Engel said. tralian] METS providers. BMI [Intelli-
ing country was a 1-0 victory over cur- “Mexico wants change and it is remi- gence Group] tells us that the domestic
rent world champions, Germany, in their niscent in many respects to 1972 in Aus- miners in Mexico increased their spend-
opening fixture of this year’s tournament, tralia, I think, this type of sentiment is ing, while most miners in the region cut
“goal celebrations in Mexico City setting very pronounced.”
back, with spending increasing up by
off earthquake sensors. around like 50% in 2017,” En-
The 2026 World Cup is This is my third time here [Latin gel said.
anticipated to be the big- “Australia has a good rep-
gest event of its kind, with America Down Under] and I utation and we need to con-
a mini job boom expected have bemoaned the lack of Australian tinue to put ourselves on the
in Mexico in the build-up, general radar because it is
while benefits from the interest in Mexico in the past, this time a very cluttered screen and
influx of tourists to the when you are destined to be
country during the period there is a growing amount of interest in the 10th largest economy in
will deliver further upside Mexico and long may that continue. the world with a population
to the economy, which is of 130 million people; there is
already in a thriving posi- no end of suitors for Mexico.
tion. “This is my third time here
“Mexico is a country that in the last 20- With Mexicans heading to the polls on [Latin America Down Under] and I have
25 years has become the manufacturing July 1, Engel urged Australian companies bemoaned the lack of Australian interest
powerhouse of Latin America. It has a to take advantage of the unprecedented in Mexico, this time there is a growing
remarkably open economy. It has one of opportunities to do business in one of the amount of interest in Mexico and long
the most well-linked economies in all of most flourishing economies worldwide. may that continue,” he said.
the world in terms of its FTAs and trad- Providing further encouragement for – Mark Andrews
ing partners. It is already the 14th largest tighter economic bonds between Austral-
economy in the world and it is destined to ian and Mexico will be the ratification of
be, I think, the 10th largest in the world by TPP-11, which suffered a setback when
PAGE 116 JULY 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
REGIONAL ROUNDUP
Avanco enters new era with Oz
Avanco’s Antas copper mine was one of the drawcards for Oz to bid for the Brazil-focused junior
Avanco Resources Ltd founder Tony monitor and there were three or four some of my colleagues make mistakes,
Polglase says the risks associated thumbs on it, so every little chance that we could quite inadvertently compromise
with transitioning the successful junior project had to slip away from us or some- our shareholders, our operations and
into the mid-tier space were too great for thing to go wrong, we had the right doctor our relationships with our Brazilian col-
the company to attempt on its own. for the right diagnosis, be it geology, be it leagues. That risk is just too huge for the
mining, or whatever,” Polglase said. business.”
With Oz Minerals Ltd’s takeover of the
Brazil-focused miner nearing comple- “What I see in this transition process Polglase and fellow directors Simon
tion, Polglase reflected on the company’s [to becoming a mid-tier] is you need that Mottram, Luis Azevedo and Luiz Fer-
long list of achievements over the past 11 same level of care and attention and raz retired from the Avanco board last
years, including the discovery and devel- focus, but how do we do that when we month after Oz received commitments
opment of the Antas copper mine in the we’ve got three projects lining up for that for 72.9% of the target’s shareholding.
famed Carajas region. attention? Well, you have a choice of do-
ing them sequentially or doing them in Avanco’s major shareholders – Ap-
However, in a wide-ranging interview parallel, which is what we’re effectively pian, BlackRock, Greenstone Resources
with Paydirt, Polglase revealed it was doing at the moment. and Glencore – have all either accepted
the company’s ambitions to grow that or indicated they will accept Oz’s revised
led to it searching for a potential suitor to “On a personal basis, I’m worried that bid of 18.1c/share for the company. The
carry the development risk for the rest of as we grow from this size to that size, $444 million cash-and-scrip offer is due
its promising portfolio. the chance of mistakes increases sub- to close on July 6.
stantially and in that process, if myself or
“In the past there was one pulse to Polglase will transition to Oz as chief
executive of its new Brazil-based subsid-
Avanco Resources Ltd and fellow ASX-listed miner Orinoco Gold Ltd were among iary, along with Mottram (head of explo-
those impacted by the nationwide truck drivers’ strike in Brazil in late May. ration) and Azevedo (head of legal and
business development).
Drivers began striking on May 21, demanding a decrease of the diesel price, exemp-
tion from certain tolls and legal and tax reform related to truck driving. “Oz offers the best continued invest-
ment opportunity for Avanco,” Polglase
The strike created a nationwide paralysis of roads and a subsequent a shortage of said.
food, medicines and oil across Brazil, with vehicles also queuing up for several kilome-
tres at petrol stations. “I think I’m doing the right thing by all
shareholders because the transition from
Avanco experienced delays in the delivery of fuel and other consumables to its Antas being a junior to a mid-tier can only be
copper mine and Panterra exploration project, with road blocks on highways also pre- mitigated by looking at other business
venting the dispatch of copper concentrate to the port. opportunities and I’m very proud that a
company as good as Oz is prepared to
Site activities at Antas were scaled back for a week to conserve fuel. Drilling at take up that challenge.”
Panterra was also temporarily suspended.
Retaining Polglase and other Avanco
Orinoco also ceased milling and processing activities at its Cascavel gold mine, but personnel will be critical for Oz given the
was able to resume operations in early June when first fuel since the strike began ar-
rived on site.
PAGE 118 JULY 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
LATIN AMERICA
reputation the junior has established in Avanco’s Brazilian workforce will be retained following the Oz takeover
Brazil since picking up a suite of early
stage exploration projects, including An- be replicated on other projects such as Australians working together that knew
tas, and floating on the ASX via a $4 mil- Pedra Branca, CentroGold and Panterra. exactly what we were all thinking and ex-
lion IPO in 2007. actly what we were doing,” he said.
“The two A300 engines on the small
Polglase, a mining engineer who spent aeroplane was why we succeeded, but “Some of the decisions around the
five years in Portugal with Rio Tinto plc I’m afraid to try something new for fear CentroGold project began to erode away
before setting up Avanco, said Brazil was it may not work as well,” he said. “The the closeness of the management team
not for the faint-hearted and embedding risks to CentroGold and Pedra Branca and we overcame that by dividing the
yourself in the country’s culture was just are huge because the capex tickets on company internally into two businesses.
as important as having the right technical those projects are much, much greater.” But, what I was doing there was almost
skills to build a mining project. beginning to simulate what a mid-tier
Polglase said he knew it was time to mining company does and that’s just not
“There’s been some fairly notable jun- seek out a potential suitor for Avanco what a junior is. A junior should be a very
ior mining failures over the years in Bra- when he had to create separate teams slick, very economic, dynamic organisa-
zil, so it’s a country not for the amateur for the company’s copper and gold busi- tion, which is what I feel Avanco has al-
and it’s certainly not for a management nesses. ways been.”
or board that runs the company remote-
ly,” he said. “I felt that our focus internally was get- Polglase said he expected no impact
ting compromised at times and that’s to the Brazil operations once the Oz logo
“One of things you will identify with the purely based on the fact we’ve been was formally painted over the Avanco
Avanco team right from the very begin- such a close knit team of Brazilians and business.
ning is that we had a large proportion
of executive directors on the board and Tony Polglase “I like the way Oz Minerals behave in
that’s one of the reasons we were suc- the market place, they’ve got a very good
cessful; the decision-makers were at the culture,” Polglase said.
sharp end of the business all of the time
and that facilitated decision-making and “They’re good listeners, which is very
it also facilitated the right decisions to be important because in Brazil it’s very
made in a timely fashion. much about aligning yourself with the
culture as much as the technical issues.
“In my opinion, mining has become a It’s about managing that culture to get
relatively comfortable environment for that culture to do what you need done.
people to work in, certainly in Australia,
so to find people who will make person- “As a foreigner, you can’t do anything in
al sacrifices and go and live in Brazil is Brazil if you can’t align yourself with the
hard. It doesn’t fit with a lot of people’s culture and I think Oz is one of the few
view of quality of life and it obliges you to groups that can absorb themselves into
learn the language and absorb yourself that and they’re one of the few groups
in a very different culture.” that have the tenacity and the balance
sheet to be successful in the transition to
Avanco’s big success story was the bring these other mines online.”
development of the Antas copper mine. It
was built on time and under budget, with – Michael Washbourne
first concentrate sales occurring in early
2016.
Polglase described the development
and operation of Antas as “like a four-
person aeroplane with two A300 jet en-
gines on either side”.
“We’ve had a small, good quality asset,
but the amount of horsepower we’ve had
to fly that project has been enormous,”
he said.
“That’s been very successful; so suc-
cessful in fact that at Antas we’ve never
missed a production target ever. We built
the mine on time and under budget. That
doesn’t happen very often these days
and in Brazil people will tell you it’s im-
possible, but we did it because, in es-
sence, the Brazilians wanted to make it
work and therefore it did work.”
Avanco reported operational free cash
flow of $5.72 million from Antas for the
March quarter, lifting the company’s cash
balance to a healthy $26.3 million.
While the success of Antas has prov-
en to be a reliable development model,
Polglase said that did not mean it could
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JULY 2018 PAGE 119
REGIONAL ROUNDUP
Latin party polarity
Latin America has a wide range of political stances among its 17 countries,
from staunchly right leaning to solidly left, with much of Central America in the middle.
Supplied by Reuters
Upcoming elections
Brazil, Mexico and Colombia — three of Latin America’s largest economies — will hold presidential elections this
year that could change the political panorama of a polarised region, while in Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro is
expected to retain power in a vote widely condemned by neighbouring countries and rights groups.
Colombia
Date: June 17 Term: 4 years Favorite: Right leaning
The traditionally conservative country went to the polls for a second-round runoff featuring the top two
candidates from the May 27 first round election. At stake is Colombia’s business friendly economic
model and the future of a 2016 peace accord signed between outgoing President Juan Manuel Santos
and the FARC Marxist guerrilla group, which ended five decades of armed conflict.
MAIN CANDIDATES Gustavo Petro
A one-time guerrilla and former mayor of Bogota
Ivan Duque
Political protégé of former President Alvaro Uribe The leftist politician was lying second in opinion
polls and is the most likely rival for Duque in a
Duque was leading in opinion polls as the can- second-round to be held in June. His proposals
didate for the Democratic center Party. The 41 to fight inequality and turn the economy away
year old lawyer, who worked at the InterAmeri- from oil have spooked some investors.
can Development Bank until 2014, is consid-
ered the most market friendly candidate but has
questioned some aspects of the peace deal.
PAGE 120 JULY 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
LATIN AMERICA
Mexico
Date: July 1 Term: 6 years Favorite: Left leaning
The presidential election comes at a key moment for Mexico as it tentatively opens its energy sector
to foreign investment and renegotiates the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) amid ten-
sions with its largest trade partner and northern neighbour: the United States. The single-round elec-
tion has in the past encouraged large political coalitions, but the main candidates have so far resisted
alliances amongst themselves.
MAIN CANDIDATES
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador
Former mayor of Mexico City
The left-wing candidate enjoyed a double digit lead in many polls and was the favourite to win the presidency
on his third attempt, campaigning on promises to tackle corruption and reduce inequality.
Ricardo Anaya
Former president of the National Action Party
The candidate of a coalition of three parties from the right and left, Anaya has attacked Lopez Obrador over his
proposal to explore an amnesty for criminals. His candidacy has been overshadowed by accusations that he
laundered money in a 2014-2016 property deal, which he strongly denies.
Jose Antonio Meade
Former finance minister
The candidate for the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Meade resigned as finance minister in No-
vember to seek the presidency but his campaign has failed to capture the public imagination and he remained
a distant third.
Brazil
Date: October 7 Term: 4 years Favorite: Unknown
The election is the most uncertain since the end of the military dictatorship in 1985. With the early
frontrunner in polls, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, likely barred from running following his
conviction in a corruption case, none of the other candidates have more than 20 percent of the vote,
making a second round a virtual certainty.
MAIN CANDIDATES
Jair Bolsonaro
Former army captain turned congressman
The far-right candidate was the second-placed candidate in polls behind Lula but saw his numbers decline
recently. Campaigning on a pledge to end rampant corruption, Bolsonaro has been accused of inciting hatred
with racist statements but retains a strong following, particularly in rural areas.
Marina Silva
Former environment minister
The left-leaning Silva, who came third in the 2014 presidential election, rose in polls recently to be virtually tied
with Bolsonaro. Her candidacy may receive a boost from the decision of former Supreme Court chief justice
Joaquim Barbosa not to run, who would have drawn much of the centre-left vote.
Ciro Gomes
Former governor of Ceara state, head of Brazilian Socialist Party
Gomes is polling in the single figures and is vying to be the representative of the main left-wing parties,
alongside the Workers Party’s Fernando Haddad, the former mayor of Sao Paulo. However, candidates from
traditional parties, including the centre-right PSDB`s Geraldo Alckmin, have struggled to gain traction in polls.
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JULY 2018 PAGE 121
OPINION
What’s happened to lithium?
What was last year’s “next big thing” former SQM chairman and probably its ada’s Nutrien must get the sign-off from
has been pushed out of the investor largest shareholder. Chile’s National Economic Prosecutor’s
limelight by cobalt, another key metallic office, known by its Spanish initials FNE.
input to the electric vehicle revolution and “Probably” because SQM’s own ac-
one with an even more troubled supply counts refer to “Mr Julio Ponce Lerou FNE is a small agency with just 115
profile. and related persons” holding a 29.97% staff and a current head prosecutor who
stake via three complex, intertwined in- is about to step down in August, which
Lithium prices have also been taking a vestment vehicle chains. means a highly uncertain timeline before
breather after their meteoric rise over the it approves the deal or launches a full in-
2015-2017 period. Just about any media reference to Julio vestigation.
Ponce includes the word “controversial”.
The lithium supply chain is currently You won’t see any impact of these con-
absorbing a wave of new production, In a country still haunted by the years voluted Chilean politics on the lithium
much of it coming from hard-rock miners of military rule, the man who was Gen- price.
in Australia. Some analysts are now fore- eral Pinochet’s son-in-law and used that
casting a surplus of lithium over the next position to become first the Govern- There isn’t, yet, an exchange-traded
two years. ment’s representative on the SQM board lithium contract through which investors
and then its major shareholder in the pri- can place their bets on the outcome of
Fears of future shortfall, meanwhile, vatisation process of the 1980s is, well, a the Santiago stand-off.
have been dampened by the prospect of controversial figure.
much higher production in Chile, which Rather, prices track physical supply-
sits on the world’s lithium mother-lode Moreover, by forming a shareholder demand cycles, which means that right
in the form of the brine lakes in the Ata- coalition with Japan’s Kowa Group, he now the price of larger transactions is
cama Desert. has been accused, not least by Corfo, of holding steady and the Chinese spot
running SQM as a private fiefdom. price is edging lower, according to Metal
Chile was the world’s largest lithium Bulletin.
producer in 2016 and has the largest SQM has over recent years been bom-
known reserves in the world, according barded with allegations related to its cor- The Chinese average spot price last
to the United States Geological Survey porate governance, part of a drawn-out month was $US21.38/kg, down from over
(USGS). war of attrition to wrest the company from $US26 at the end of last year.
Julio Ponce’s control.
It also has ambitious plans to capitalise The easier tone reflects the wave of
on its geological good fortune by building A battle was won with last July’s re- new production coming from Australian
out a downstream processing and bat- drawing of the voting rights on the SQM producers and the processing adjust-
tery industry. board, effectively ending Julio Ponce’s ments needed to treat their hard-rock
grip on board decisions. product, according to Metal Bulletin.
However, both Chilean aspirations and
future global supply stability are behold- And the war seemed to be over with It is forecasting lithium supply to ex-
en to a battle for control of the country’s the January agreement between Corfo ceed demand both this year and next but
biggest producer, SQM. and SQM, the latter’s increased quotas expects limited downside to pricing. With
linked to “an obligation ... to strengthen no market of last resort to deliver to, ex-
The news on January 17 that SQM had its corporate governance”, including the cess material will simply be soaked up by
received permission to lift its production appointment of two independent direc- an expanding battery supply chain.
capacity to 216,000 tpa through 2025 tors.
sent a chill wind through the lithium in- Because everyone now knows that the
vestment space. Julio Ponce, however, seems in no lithium story has only just begun and that
mood to step quietly into the background. the EV revolution is still only building mo-
The Global X Lithium and Battery Tech mentum.
exchange traded fund LIT tumbled from He and his brother Eugenio Ponce,
over $US40 to $US35 in the following also a former SQM chairman, have just Supply has reacted, belatedly, to the
days. It has still not recovered its previ- been appointed as advisors to the board. first-wave demand impulse from battery-
ous poise, last trading at $US34.25. makers.
The appointments have not gone down
Never mind that SQM will take years well with the Chilean authorities, the It will need to react again as the sec-
to translate higher quotas into higher country’s finance minister Felipe Larrain ond demand wave builds.
production. The news acted as a reality describing them as “imprudent”.
check that Chile has massively untapped Chile has a starring role to play in that
lithium potential. “We need to check whether it’s a vio- second act. But if it is going to live up to
lation of the contract or the spirit of the its billing, it’s going to have to sort out
The announcement of higher produc- contract from the Government’s point of who really controls SQM.
tion quotas was the result of a peace view,” he said, referring to the January
deal between SQM and Corfo, the Chil- deal with Corfo. – Andy Home, Reuters
ean Government agency that licences
and controls the country’s lithium output. His pledge to “protect the interests of
the Chilean state” is a sign that the inter-
The two entities had been locked in an ests of state and the country’s foremost
acrimonious stand-off for many years. lithium producer are not yet conjoined.
At one level the dispute was conven- Just to add extra spice to this board
tionally commercial, Corfo accusing room drama is the presence of China’s
SQM of underpaying royalties. Tianqi Lithium, currently kicking its heels
waiting for approval to buy a near quarter
At a more fundamental level it was stake in SQM.
about the role of one man, Julio Ponce,
The purchase of the stake from Can-
PAGE 122 JULY 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
wherever we are
trend with us
#paydirtmedia #magazines #conferences
Inca Minerals Ltd’s
former Chanape project, Peru, 2014
SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED www.nucleussc.co.za
coal mining truck excavation works, run-
of-mine rehandling services and main-
tenance of a client-owned shovel and
heavy medium earthmoving equipment.
It is the fifth success contract Thiess
has won to deliver mining services at
Curragh since first arriving on site in
2004.
Symbol stays local for
Macy mine
Local group P.W. Nigeria Ltd will un-
New Century Resources and Sedgman site teams are currently undertaking dertake all open-pit mining and crushing
refurbishment and commissioning works at the Century zinc mine in Queensland services at Symbol Mining Ltd’s Macy
zinc-lead project.
Sedgman maintains haulage, equipment supply and main- Mobilisation of the initial mining fleet
spot for Century rebirth tenance, drilling services and technical occurred early last month, with pre-strip-
and mine management. ping activities beginning shortly thereaf-
Sedgman Pty Ltd has signed a long- ter.
term services contract for operation and Waanyi-Downer is also providing train-
maintenance of the Century processing ing services to Aboriginal and Torres The P.W. Group – which has more than
plant, pipeline and port facilities. Strait Islander people and communities 30 years of operational experience in Ni-
proximal to Century. geria – had already been on site under-
taking construction of the Bailey bridge
The contract is for an initial period of and upgrade of the access road.
The mine services contract is fixed
Thiess tops up Curraghfive years, with an option to extend at
plant owner New Century Resources and variable over Macy’s 12-month life-
of-mine plan and comprises all onsite
contract workLtd’s election.
Sedgman, a member of the CIMIC CIMIC Group, via its global mining ser- mining, crushing and screening activities
Group, is already heavily involved in the vices provider Thiess, has been awarded over that period.
restart of operations at the historic Cen- a $160 million contract
tury mine, with about 100 staff and sub- extension to continue
contractors currently on site executing operating at the Curragh
refurbishment and commissioning works coal mine in Queens-
for the plant and port. The company also land.
provided the restart feasibility study last Under the contract ex-
November and subsequently began en- tension, Thiess will mine
gineering, procurement and operational about 45 million bank
readiness activities. cubic metres of waste
Century is on track to resume process- and coal at Curragh’s
ing operations later this quarter, with first North pit, 30km north of
production scheduled for next month. Blackwater, until June
Meanwhile, Downer EDI Ltd and its 2019.
JV partner Waanyi have been awarded Thiess will also con-
a life-of-mine contract to mine the East tinue delivery of its ex-
Fault and South blocks, immediately ad- isting scope of works
jacent to the Century open pit. under its current $1.1 bil- Symbol Mining has appointed local group P.W. Nigeria Ltd
The scope of work to be carried out lion contract until 2021. to carry out all mining and crushing services at the
includes waste and ore removal and This includes waste and Macy mine
Nucleus Mining Logistics
Providing turn-key logistics and supply chain solutions into Africa
PAGE 124 JULY 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
www.nucleussc.co.za
Newexco the one for cessing, in addition to the processing the environmental and community as-
new entrant in Norway of fresh ore from underground mining. pects of the study.
Commissioning of the mine is set to be-
Leading geophysics consultants New- gin by the end of this year. Consultants will be contracted individ-
exco will review all existing data and plan ually in the fields of geology, marketing
a new geophysics programme, including Mining reclamation rates for the tail- and metallurgy.
delineating drill targets, for newly listed ings ore will be at 190 tph using remote-
Koppar Resources Ltd’s suite of explora- controlled water cannons. Base selects two for
tion projects in Norway. Toliara Sands study
Barra, Conico ramp up
Newexco was selected based on its Mt Thirsty PFS Mineral Technologies and Lycopodium
significant experience in Scandinavia, Ltd have joined forces to manage the
including design and implementation of Barra Resources Ltd and Conico Ltd PFS for Base Resources Ltd’s Toliara
previous modern day geophysics over have awarded a series of PFS work con- mineral sands project in Madagascar.
the company’s Lokken project earlier this tracts for the Mt Thirsty cobalt-nickel pro-
decade. ject, 16km north-west of Norseman. As a collaboration, Mineral Technolo-
gies and Lycopodium have previously
It is expected initial drilling will begin on Amec Foster Wheeler Australia Pty Ltd undertaken studies and projects in min-
priority targets later this quarter. Surface has been selected as the overall study erals sands, including work on Toliara
surveys and sampling of historical core engineer, with Snowden Mining Indus- Sands prior to Base’s acquisition of the
remains ongoing. try Consultants Pty Ltd to consult on the project late last year.
mining aspects of the study. Snowden
Koppar’s projects have combined re- was preferred for its expertise in geo- The PFS is scheduled for completion
corded historical production of 85mt at metallurgical optimisation of the mine during Q1 2019 and will build on the con-
grades of 1-2% copper. plan. siderable body of work completed by pre-
vious owners of the project.
Heron awards tailings Golder Associates Pty Ltd will consult
mining contracts on many technical functions, including Base is anticipating an accelerated
mineral resources, hydrogeology and feasibility study programme that could
Heron Resources Ltd has awarded two tailings management. proceed to a decision to construct in the
contracts for tailings reprocessing mining second half of 2019.
services and equipment supply at its up- Talis Consultants Pty Ltd will oversee
coming Woodlawn zinc-copper mine in
New South Wales. Amec Foster Wheeler and Snowden Mining are among the key contractors who will
contribute to the PFS on the Mt Thirsty cobalt-nickel project, which is a JV between
National Pump & Energy Pty Ltd will
provide a hydraulic mining equipment Barra Resources and Conico
package consisting of main and standby
track-mounted, remote-controlled water
monitors, water delivery pumps, slurry
pumps, screens and associated infra-
structure, including strategic spares and
consumables.
Paragon Tailings Australia Pty Ltd will
oversee the process design, mine plan-
ning, construction supervision and sup-
port, and provide operator training and
personnel to support the tailings recla-
mation operations.
Historical tailings of 9.5mt grading 6%
zinc equivalent from the previous opera-
tions at Woodlawn are slated for repro-
NUCLEUS MINING LOGISTICS PROVIDES HIGH LEVELS
OF SERVICE TO CLIENTS SEEKING WORLD-CLASS
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS.
greenfield exploration / construction projects / operational logistics
+27 (0)71 6788184 [email protected] www.nucleussc.co.za
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JULY 2018 PAGE 125
DRREIGLLIOBINTSAL ROUNDUP Safely Exploring Your Future bostech.com.au
ration, Xanandu believes it has defined a
significantly sized body of mineralisation
at Zarra.
“These latest high-grade results at
depth combined with our recent discovery
of the near-surface expression of the sys-
tem where it was expected, validates our
undercover targeting methods and the im-
portance of these techniques as key ex-
ploration tools in unlocking the potential of
the large porphyry district,” Xanadu chief
Handheld Nitron XRF analysis detected assays as high as 34.6% zinc over 1m over the executive Andrew Stewart said.
120.4m to 126.4m interval at G2 Through the extensional drilling pro-
gramme, mineralisation at Zarra has
Heron hooks high- Xanadu wraps up been extended 280m to the south-west
and remains open in all directions. Dia-
grade at Woodlawn results mond drilling underway at the time of
print was focused on delineating the
Heron Resources Ltd has struck shal- Final assay results from the latest drill- near-surface oxide gold enrichment
low high-grade intercepts at both the G2 ing programme at the new Zarra porphyry zone and targeted the highest grade pri-
and Lisa lenses at Woodlawn, 250km discovery at Kharmagtai, Mongolia, are in mary portions of Zarra.
south-west of Sydney. hand for Xanadu Mines Ltd’s.
Intercepts at G2 extend the mineralised Extensive intervals of copper miner- Legend results from
zone closer to the mine portal, potentially alisation combined with significant inter-
giving Heron an opportunity to mine shal- vals of high-grade mineralisation were Rockford
low ore in the early stages of production reported from KHDDH466, while broad
at the Woodlawn zinc-copper project. intervals of high-grade porphyry min- Aircore drilling at Rockford has deliv-
Results included: 6.1m @ 37.2% zinc eralisation at depth were intersected at ered “outstanding outcomes” for Legend
equivalent from 120.3m (22% zinc, 1% KHDDH467. Mining Ltd.
copper, 7.1% lead, 3.3 g/t gold, 115 g/t sil- While still in the early stages of explo- “We now have a significant plus-0.2%
ver); 1.9m @ 8.2% zinc eq. from 138.3m
(4.1% zinc, 0.3% copper, 2.2% lead, 0.5
g/t gold, 27 g/t silver); 8.3m @ 15.6%
zinc eq. from 128.7m (8.2% zinc, 0.3%
copper, 4.8% lead, 0.6 g/t gold, 62 g/t
silver) and 6.5m @ 5.6% zinc eq. from
153.5m (3.7% zinc, 0.2% copper, 1.2%
lead, 0.1 g/t gold, 9 g/t silver).
Meanwhile, intercepts at the Lisa lens
– 8.6m @ 3.6% copper (12.5% zinc eq.)
from 202m (0.3% zinc, 3.6% copper,
0.04% lead, 0.8 g/t gold, 8 g/t silver);
3.8m @ 6.9% zinc eq. from 228.3m (2%
zinc, 0.2% copper, 1.4% lead, 1.9 g/t
gold, 47 g/t silver) – confirm the up-dip
extension to the mineralisation.
Further drilling was underway at the
time of print, with 10 core holes for
1,770m completed. Xanadu is making significant strides in the copper-gold rich South Gobi region of Mongolia
Celebrating 25 years
PAGE 126 JULY 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
Safely Exploring Your Future bostech.com.au
phides comprising chalcopyrite, galena Vanadium drilling sure
and sphalerite with minor pyrhotite. Port- to fire
able XRF scanning of the core indicated
significant mineralisation in the intersec- At the time of print, drilling was under-
tion, and samples have now been cut way at Surefire Resources NL’s Unaly Hill
and submitted for laboratory analysis. vanadium project, south of Sandstone, in
Western Australia.
Based on pXRF readings an inter-
val of 24m from 185.5m to 209.5m at A diamond drill hole to 350-400m to
18MHRCDDH031A returned 2% copper, test a large cross section of the orebody
0.9% lead, 2.4% zinc for total base met- was planned.
als of 5.3%.
Surefire hoped new assay data would
Mark Wilson Empire in A zone provide more information on the vana-
nickel and plus-0.1% copper footprint dium and other potential economic min-
A recent two-hole RC drilling pro- erals, additional structural and rock type
gramme at the A Zone prospect has pro- geological data plus fresh drill core for
vided Empire Resources Ltd with some advanced metallurgical test work.
excitement at the Yuinmery copper-gold
project, 80km south-west of Sandstone, In the meantime, RC drilling was also
Western Australia. being planned to further delineate the
resource.
around holes 151 and 183 including a Results from hole YRC18-01 returned Greenfields delight for
plus-100m wide zone of visible sulphides 12m @ 2.05% copper and 0.31 g/t gold
in the same host rock as the Nova-Bol- from 138m down-hole, including 2m @ Aeris at Kurrajong
linger orebody,” Legend managing direc- 5.1% copper and 0.5 g/t gold from 138m.
tor Mark Wilson said. A Zone is 1.3km along strike from Aeris Resources Ltd’s greenfields
Aircore drilling assays reported from Empire’s inferred and indicated 1.27mt strategy at its Tritton tenement package
Rockford last month included: 19m @ @ 1.9% copper and 0.7 g/t gold (based in New South Wales is bearing fruit, par-
0.23% nickel, 0.33% copper, 0.02% on 1% copper cut-off) Just Desserts de- ticularly at the Kurrajong prospect.
High-grade mineralisation now extends
cobalt from 52m to end of hole, includ- posit.
over 500m down dip, with 19.4m
ing 1m @ 0.31% nickel, 0.68%
@ 2.18% copper, 0.3 g/t gold, 7
copper, 0.02% cobalt in bottom
g/t silver intersected at TKJD014
of hole; 36m @ 0.39% nickel,
and 4.6m @ 5.09% copper, 0.79
0.23% copper, 0.04% cobalt
g/t gold, 17 g/t silver; 5.65m @
from 62m.
2.52% copper, 0.2 g/t gold, 6 g/t
Todd getting the silver from TKJD015.
The results from Kurrajong are
nod at Mt Hardy adding to Aeris’ belief that fur-
ther discoveries are to be made
Todd River Resources Ltd’s within its 1,800sq km Tritton ten-
ongoing diamond drilling at its ement package.
100%-owned Mt Hardy copper-
zinc project in the Northern Ter-
ritory has intersected a thick
zone of massive sulphides at
the EM1 geophysical target.
Hole 18MHRCDDH031A,
which was completed recently
a broad interval of massive sul- Kurrajong is providing greenfields excitement for Aeris in NSW
Industry leaders in Aircore
Deep hole Reverse Circulation
Experienced in complex remote exploration drilling
29a Clayton St, Bellevue WA 6056
www.bostech.com.au 08 9250 4252
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JULY 2018 PAGE 127
COMINGS AND GOINGS
Simon Iacopetta has suc- Davis is also an experienced Crow, who decided to retire tionally and played key roles
ceeded Stephane Gaudu- engineer who was involved due to increasing other busi- in the discoveries of the Dal-
cheau as chief financial of- in the project delivery of the ness commitments. Rex Turk- garanga, Duketon, Koolan Is-
ficer and company secretary London Bridge Rail Station ington has also assumed the land and Wingellina projects.
at Terramin Australia Ltd. (Thameslink). chairmanship of the company
Iacopetta was most recently until a permanent appoint- Peter Alexander, Marcel
chief financial officer for gold Lithium Power International ment is made. Hilmer, Daniel Ryan and
producer Ramelius Resourc- Ltd (LPI) has appointed James Harris have resigned
es Ltd. Chilean-based pair Martin Sean Bennett as directors of Caravel Min-
Borda and Cristobal Garcia- erals Ltd following a board
Geoff Williams Huidobro to its board as non- Brad Sampson has been spill. Alasdair Cooke, Wayne
executive directors. Borda is appointed chief executive Trumble and Alexander
Sheffield Resources Ltd president of the company’s of Kore Potash plc. A mining Sundich were subsequently
has added Geoff Wil- JV partner Minera Salar engineer, Sampson was most elected to fill the vacancies,
liams and Kristy Prowse to Blanco SA (MSB) and is also recently at the helm of copper with Daniel Davis also replac-
its Kimberley-based team as a substantial shareholder of producer Tiger Resources Ltd ing Dale Hanna as company
it prepares for the two-year LPI. Garcia-Huidobro is chief and has held senior positions secretary and chief financial
construction of the Thunder- executive of MSB. within Newcrest Mining Ltd, officer.
bird mineral sands project. including general manager of
Williams, formerly chief op- Global Geoscience Ltd its West African operations. Pip Darvell has succeeded
erating officer at Kimberley has appointed Michael Outgoing chief executive Lindsay Dudfield as man-
Diamonds Ltd and general Le Page and Yoshio Nagai Sean Bennett will continue to aging director of Jindalee
manager nickel and chro- as directors. Le Page will consult to the company on an Resources Ltd. Darvell was
mite at Consolidated Miner- be responsible for commer- ongoing basis. appointed Jindalee’s chief ex-
als Ltd, has been appointed cial matters while Nagai will ecutive last September, hav-
register manager and owner oversee sales and business Rob Brierley has been ing previously been explora-
works manager for Thunder- development relating to the appointed a director of tion manager for Atlas Iron
bird, while chemical engineer company’s flagship Rhyolite Emergent Resources Ltd. Ltd. Dudfield will remain on
Prowse will act as an owner Ridge lithium-boron project in He is expected to take on an the company’s board as an
works planner. Nevada. executive role with the com- executive director.
pany upon completion of its
Kristy Prowse Discovery Capital Partners proposed acquisition of Pro- Clifford Tuck has joined
co-founder Adam Santa metheus Mining Pty Ltd and Aurelia Metals Ltd as a
Egan Street Resources Ltd Maria has joined the board of the Iron Ridge DSO project. non-executive director. Tuck,
has boosted its manage- Auroch Minerals Ltd, replac- a corporate and transactional
ment team with Jed Whitford ing David Lenigas as a non- Gregory Starr has as- lawyer who spent 10 years
and Jason Davis appointed executive director. sumed the chairman- with Newcrest Mining Ltd in
general manager and project ship at Diatreme Resources various in-house roles, was
manager respectively for the Strandline Resources Ltd Ltd from William Wang, who nominated to the board by
Rothsay gold project. Whit- has appointed former will remain on the company’s the company’s largest share-
ford is a mining engineer with Fortescue Metals Group Ltd board. Starr joined the miner- holder Pacific Road Capital
extensive experience in the commercial manager Flavio als sands hopeful as a non- Management Pty Ltd.
mining and extraction of pre- Garofalo as chief financial of- executive director last Octo-
cious and base metals while ficer and company secretary. ber and has more than two Paul Adams
Garofalo takes over the roles decades of executive experi-
previously held by Tony Bra- ence, including a recent stint Paul Adams has been ap-
zier and Geoff James. as managing director of Cra- pointed managing director
ter Gold Mining Ltd. of Spectrum Rare Earths Ltd.
Pierre van der Merwe has Adams was previously head
replaced Angelo Gaudio Donald Thomson has of research and natural re-
as company secretary and joined Nelson Resourc- sources for stockbroking firm
chief financial officer at Re- es Ltd as senior geologist. DJ Carmichael Pty Ltd.
nascor Resources Ltd. Gaud- Thomson has more than 30
io had been with the company years of experience in explo-
since 2011. ration in Australia and interna-
Former Jupiter Mines Ltd
chief executive Greg Du-
rack has been appointed
a non-executive director of
TNG Ltd. Durack, who was
also a key member of the
senior development team at
upcoming lithium producer
Pilbara Mineral Ltd, replaces
long-serving director Stuart
PAGE 128 JULY 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
SUBSCRIBE NOW
Australia’s Paydirt (11 editions) Gold Mining Journal (4 editions) Both (15 editions)
Within Australia $130 $50 $180
PNG, New Zealand & Asia $205 $110 $305
Elsewhere $240 $125 $345
(GST included where applicable)
PERSONAL DETAILS
Name: ...........................................................................................................................................................................
Company Name: ..........................................................................Position:..................................................................
Postal Address: ............................................................................................................................................................
Postcode: ..................................State: .........................................Country:..................................................................
Phone: .......................................Email:.........................................................................................................................
PAYMENT METHOD Tick here to pay your bill automatically annually
EFT Name: Paydirt Media Pty Ltd Bank: ANZ Bank Branch: West Perth
Post BSB: 016 498 Acc: 8371 62319
International SWIFT Code: ANZBAU3M *Please quote company name
Cheque Payable to: Paydirt Media Pty Ltd PO Box 1589, West Perth, Western Australia 6872
Credit Card MasterCard Visa Amex Diners
Card Number – – –
Expiry Date:
Amount: $AUD ................... Name on Card:.................................................................... CVV / CSC No: ....................
Signature: .....................................................................................................................................................................
P: +61 8 9321 0355 F: +61 8 9321 0426 [email protected] www.paydirt.com.au
LEFTFIELD
Village people get physical
Men living in remote West Austral- The importance of exercise is being promoted can’t necessarily get to a scheduled live
ian mining communities are being heavily on some of WA’s mine sites class due to their roster,” Taylor said.
encouraged to put their own health and
wellbeing at the forefront and take pre- manager Andrew Taylor said the initia- “It’s great to be able to do our part to
cautions to improve their overall men- tive had been a success in the participat- contribute to enhancing environments
tal health and wellbeing, during Men’s ing villages, and was glad to be able to for all Australians. Exercise is such an
Health Week last month. provide a flexible service to help people important part of our overall health and
improve and maintain fitness goals and wellbeing; it really does impact on our
Two sites in the Pilbara region launched enhance living environments for men in mental wellbeing.”
Les Mills Virtual group fitness classes, remote communities.
an initiative that aims to provide residents Hamish Johnston, Les Mills national
with flexible, convenient and accessible “Virtual group fitness is a great supple- manager – health and recreation servic-
workouts at any time of the day. ment to live classes, especially for those es, said the virtual group fitness initiative
people like FIFO and shift workers who was just one way the company hoped to
Every year, Men’s Health Week high- improve village life and overall health and
lights the importance of talking about wellbeing for FIFO workers, particularly
men’s health. Research shows that from males.
the start of life, males suffer more illness,
more accidents and die earlier than fe- “It’s very important for us to be able to
males. provide options and outlets for men to
talk and do something about their health
Men’s Health Week directly focuses on and wellbeing. Virtual fitness studios pro-
improving the environments for boys and vide an additional stress outlet and we’re
men in Australia. really hoping it will enhance the environ-
ment of these communities.”
Les Mills Asia Pacific Australia general
INDEX
Adriatic 41 Empire 127 Legend 126-172 Rex 91
Aeris 127 ENAMCO 66 Leigh Creek 91, 107 Rio Tinto 14, 46, 74, 119
Alkane Endocoal 88 Linc Energy Riversgold
Alto 52 Enterprise 40 Lithium Power 107 Roy Hill 56-58, 91
Anglo American 12 Estrella 88 Lynas 128 RNC 18, 22
AngloGold 91, 114 Evolution 30 25, 80 78
Antipa 23 Explaurum
Arafura 24 59-60 Magmatic 52 Sandfire 4, 40-41
Argosy 82 Marmota 91, 104-105 Saracen 24, 25
Atlas 25 Fe 41 Metalicity Shandong 112
Aurelia 4, 128 Force 109 Metals X 70 Sheffield
Auris 25, 128 Fortescue 4, 128 Minbos 50 Sibanye 25, 128
Auroch 40 Mincor 108 Sierra Leone 21
Avanco 102-103, 128 Galileo 44 Mineral Resources 26, 78 Sojitz 112
AVZ 24, 118-119 Mitsubishi 4, 26, 44, 74 South32 80
109 Gangfeng 26 MOD 114 Spectrum 91
Molycorp 25 SQM
Gascoyne 4, 25, 38, 60 Monax 80 St Barbara 128
103 Strandline 122
Gindalbie 106 Sumitomo
Surefire 32
Bannerman 108 Glencore 30, 40-41, 118 Symbol 128
Barra 125 23, 25
Barrick 16, 21, 30, 91 Global Geoscience 128 127
Base 125 124
BCI 25, 74 Gold Fields 4, 16-23, 25, 52, 57 Nelson 128
BHP 4, 6, 60, 78, 91, 108
Gold Road 12, 16-23, 25, 54, 57 Neometals 26
Great Western 40 New Century 25, 124
Newcrest 16, 32, 108, 128
Hancock 4 Newmont 16, 64-65 Talisman 4, 40-41
Haoma 88 Tawana 25, 26
Cameco 108 Heron 125, 126 Northern Dynasty 58 Terramin
Capricorn 38 Hillgrove 103 Tianqi 98, 128
Caravel Northern Star 25, 84-85 Tiger 122
Carpentaria 128 TNG 128
Catalyst 94 Nyrstar 102 Todd River 128
Chalice 32 Torrens 127
China Northern Nzuri 109 Troy 106
Cobalt Blue 66-67 Tyranna 12
Conico 82 Iluka 112 104
CopperChem
Consolidated Minerals 101 Independence 4, 34-37, 44, 78, 85 OceanaGold 64-65
Crater Gold 125 Orion 37
Cygnus Intermin 67 Orinoco 118
34 Oz
128 Investigator 91, 98 24, 91, 118-119
128
25, 54 Jindalee 128 Paladin 108 Volt 113
JOGMEC 80 Panoramic 78
Jupiter Pantoro
88, 128 Peel 25, 46, 62
Pilbara 32
Karara 106 Prodigy WAF 24
25, 36, 70, 128 Western Areas 25, 46
Dacian 4, 25, 38, 60 KazAtomProm 108 32 Westgold 25, 50, 78
Diatreme 128 Winmar
Doray 56 Kimberley Diamonds 128 109
Draig 25
Duketon 32 Kimberley Mining 70
Kingsgate 54 Xanadu 26
Kirkland Lake 67 Ramelius 128
Randgold 23
Koppar 125 Red 5 24 Yunnan Copper 41
Renascor
Egan Street 128 Koidu 112 100-101
Emergent 128
Kore 128
PAGE 130 JULY 2018 AUSTRALIA’S
paydirt
front and back cover
supplied seperately
CAPRICORN
PAGE 132 JULY 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT