Paydirt February 2015

WA mining on the rise: CME

The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of is still forecast to grow by 2,300 GWh in
Western Australia (CME) predicts the the same timeframe.

local mining sector will experience a mas- Development of electricity-sector as-

sive shake-up in the next decade. sets should be industry led, driven by

Upon the release of the CME’s 2015- commercial arrangements and supported

2025 WA Resources Sector Outlook, by efficient approval processes, accord-

chief executive Reg Howard-Smith said ing to the Chamber.

the industry’s transition from a construc- The CME reckons water abstraction in

tion to an operational phase will lead to the resources sector will rise from 530GL

widespread changes within WA’s mining in 2013 to 692GL by 2020, with groundwa-

game. ter dewatering predicted to be the largest

An ongoing focus on production will source of water abstracted [115GL higher

likely result in the total resources sec- than 2013 levels].

tor workforce shrinking from 105,200 to Industry should give back to the land,

87,000, according to the Chamber’s re- according to the CME, with groundwater

search, though productivity is expected to reinjection predicted to increase by 55GL

increase by up to 40% until 2017. to 2020, a 50% increase.

The workforce outlook is not all doom Howard-Smith said the industry’s water

and gloom, as the CME believes women’s use needed to be closely monitored.

involvement in the industry will increase “The increasing volume of water ab-

by 1.5% by 2020 and the percentage of stracted for dewatering is expected to be

Aboriginal people in the sector should in- highly volatile and needs to be considered

crease by at least 2.3% in the same pe- against the reliability of supply required for

riod. other uses,” he said.

The report also confirmed that FIFO is The rise of FIFO workforces is expect-

not only here to stay, but is on the rise, ed to put some strain on WA’s aviation

with the transition to a largely operational Reg Howard-Smith industry, with annual passenger move-

phase expected to bump FIFO numbers ments forecast to be 313,000 above 2014

to 63% in 2020, from 40% in 2014. Chamber expects to continue beyond 2025. levels by 2020.

As a result, the proportion of residential Overall, electricity consumption by indus- The State’s ports should also expect more

workers in the operational phase is expected try should grow from 11,712 GWh in 2013 work, with the CME foreshadowing an in-

to decrease by 3% by 2020. to 14,240 GWh by 2020, but self-generated crease of more than 530 mtpa by 2020, rep-

“The majority of the FIFO workforce will power is set to rise by 3,330 GWh, roughly resenting an 80% increase in WA’s entire

be sourced from the Perth/Peel region, with 60% of WA’s forecast electricity growth. seaborne freight volume from last year.

these employees primarily flying to the North By 2020, the CME believes 87% of self- And road use will almost double by 2030,

West of the State,” Howard-Smith said. generated energy on mine sites will be by according to the CME, which reckons freight

“Importantly, FIFO is also occurring from way of natural gas, but purchased electricity moving into, within and out of regions will in-

regional centres, helping to crease from 24 bt/km to 40 bt/

sustain local communities.” km in 15 years.

The workforce in the Pil- The CME believes an

bara region is expected to “arms-length body” should

fall by more than 14,000 be established to advise on

people by 2020, comprising infrastructure strategies for

a reduction of nearly 18,000 WA and improve the level of

construction workers and an coordination between the pri-

increase of 3,600 operational vate sector and Government

workers. for longer-term infrastructure

Industry staff are also planning.

expected to fall in the Gold- “The value of the State’s

fields-Esperance region, resources sector continues

although growth is on the to grow and is a reminder of

cards for the Kimberley. the economic importance of

Workforces in the Mid the sector to the community,”

West, Great Southern and Howard-Smith said.

South West are predicted to “Realising the next wave of

remain relatively unchanged. resources sector investment

Regarding energy con- will require stable and sensi-

sumption, the CME outlook ble policy settings.”

forecasts a temporary rise – Rhys Dickinson
in the use of diesel by 20 PJ

for the next year, before de-

clining to 14 PJ above 2013

levels in 2020.

Natural gas consumption

by the sector is expected

to increase by 41 PJ above

2013 levels, a trend that the Mining jobs will decline as the industry transitions to an operational phase

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 51

VICTORIA

Crocodile gets rocking in Victoria

Crocodile Gold Inc has continued its recent secutive quarter of consolidated gold produc- “strong”.
turnaround in performance, posting a sec- tion above 53,000oz.” Production from Cosmo in the NT also
ond consecutive year of record production
from its Australian operations. The turnaround has been led by the per- achieved record levels for 2014, increasing
formance of the company’s Fosterville mine. 4.9% to 77,740oz.
TSX-listed Crocodile announced record
group production of 222,312oz from its three Fosterville, 20km east of Bendigo, pro- Lamond said the performance from all
operations in Victoria and the Northern Terri- duced 105,342oz in 2014, up 7% from 2013. three mines had left Crocodile in a strong
tory. Even more encouraging was its ability to cash flow position.
do so at lower cash costs with all-in sustain- Crocodile has seen consistent production
ing costs of $US1,285/oz for the year and C1 improvements from Fosterville, acquired in “We are extremely pleased to have ended
cash costs of $US944/oz. 2012 from AuRico Gold Inc, with 29,045oz 2014 with a solid cash and gold bullion bal-
produced in the December quarter. ance of $US37 million. We have entered 2015
Crocodile had initially struggled to generate with strong momentum and confidence in our
positive cash flow from Stawell and Fosterville The company said the 7% increase across plans to improve shareholder value through
in Victoria and Cosmo in the NT but having 2014 could be attributed to a 2% improvement consistently delivering positive physical and
driven down cash costs in the last two years in grade to 4.62 g/t gold, a 2.9% increase in financial performance from operations.”
(all-in costs reached $US1,680/oz in 2012), milling rates and improved blending practices
the company is now enjoying strong cash flow in the mill which resulted in record annual re- Corporate moves are also expected to de-
from operations with a 4.1% improvement in coveries of 86.4%. liver increased cash flow. In January, Croco-
operational cash flow to $US48.9 million in dile announced it had struck agreement with
the first nine months of 2014 compared to the Production guidance for 2015 is 100- AuRico Gold to terminate the two companies’
corresponding period in 2013. 105,000oz at operational cash costs of net free cash flow sharing agreement over
$US670-750/oz with the operational focus ex- Fosterville and Stawell.
Crocodile chief executive Rodney Lamond pected to be on increasing underground min-
said the company was “very pleased” with the ing productivity. Under the sharing agreement – struck
outcome. when Crocodile acquired the assets in 2012 –
“During the year, we strategically man- Crocodile took the first $C60 million of cumu-
“Fosterville and Cosmo gold mines both aged our capital allocation and delivered cost lative net free cash flow from the operations,
achieved record annual gold production and efficiencies to drive down operating costs AuRico the next $C30 million, with subse-
Stawell continued to deliver impressive results throughout our business,” Lamond said. quent cash flow shared on various terms.
from its underground mining programme. “Furthermore, although lower gold prices
remained a challenge in 2014, consistent Crocodile has paid AuRico $C20 million to
“The solid operating performance during production and our effective management of terminate the agreement with AuRico retain-
the fourth quarter demonstrates our ability to costs enabled us to generate positive cash ing a 2% net smelter royalty for Fosterville
deliver and maintain a sustainable production that strengthened our treasury.” and 1% for Stawell.
level. Our fourth quarter consolidated gold
production set a new quarterly record with At the company’s other Victorian opera- “This is a critical step in supporting the fu-
58,796oz produced and marked a sixth con- tion, Stawell in south-west Victoria, also met ture growth toward the five-year strategy of
guidance, producing 39,230oz for the year. Crocodile Gold,” Lamond said.
Lamond described Stawell’s performance as

Eclipse shines brightly for Navarre

While some Victorian explorers appeared Navarre managing director Geoff McDer- to apply for a grant to conduct a co-funded
to be sitting on their hands in 2014, Na- mott said the results gave the company hope drilling programme at Eclipse,” McDermott
varre Minerals Ltd pushed ahead with work at of a deeper target zone. said.
its budding Western Victoria copper-gold pro-
ject. “Our systematic approach of chasing this Navarre was also focused on extracting full
mineralisation progressively deeper is deliv- value from a new gold play, Tatyoon, located
Navarre started work at the Eclipse pros- ering results; a methodology we believe could in the Stawell Gold corridor.
pect, 300km north-west of Melbourne, within offer the best opportunity for a significant dis-
the Western Victoria project on January 25 covery,” he said. The Tatyoon licence area covered 242sq
last year. km and contained a number of shallow gold
“The results give us confidence to expand targets hosted in a similar geological setting
The first seven holes of an 11-hole, 1,000m drill testing into the other two undrilled geo- to Stawell’s Magdala gold mine.
drilling campaign netted intersects of 23m @ physics targets at Eclipse.”
0.7% copper from 30m, including 5m @ 1.8% “Appraisal of drill data from former explorer
copper and 45m @ 0.4 g/t gold from surface, A subsequent drilling campaign in August Leviathan Resources Ltd has confirmed the
including 1m @ 3.3 g/t gold. revealed an extension of a chalcocite copper presence of Stawell-style gold mineralisation
zone at Eclipse, with a best intersect of 44m at shallow depths within black suplhidic mud-
Further good news was reported from the @ 0.1% copper from 94m, including 3m @ 1% stones in contact with a basalt dome on the
remaining four holes with intersects of 8m @ copper. Grange prospect,” McDermott said.
1 g/t gold, including 1m @ 3.6 g/t gold within a
broader zone of 43m @ 0.5 g/t gold and 10m In its latest quarterly report, McDermott “Due to further corporate takeover activ-
@ 0.3% copper from 30m down hole. said Navarre hoped to test at least two more ity, no further drilling has been undertaken at
targets at Eclipse by this month. Tatyoon sine the discovery of gold in 2005.
The results prompted Navarre to take a Modelling of existing gravity data by Navarre
second run at Eclipse in June by the way of a It was also hopeful of securing some help … has defined a cluster of three shall basalt
30-hole, 3,000m drilling campaign. from the State Government to prove up the dome structures in the centre of the tenement
prospect. which will be the focus of ongoing work.”
That programme intersected broad zones
of gold and copper again, including 136m @ “Following the recent release of the Victo-
0.3 g/t gold from 6m and 107m @ 0.2% cop- rian Government’s new $15 million TARGET
per from 31m. minerals exploration initiative to boost miner-
als exploration in Victoria, the company plans

PAGE 52 FEBRUARY 2015 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

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VICTORIA

M&A deal perfect for Octagonal

Octagonal Resources Ltd Halfway through that capital
managing director Antho- raising, a second high-grade

ny Gray is surprised at the lack underground shoot was inter-

of M&A deals in a market still sected and the immediate fu-

struggling to bounce back from ture looked very promising for

a downturn which has crippled Octagonal.

the resources industry. However, the discovery ex-

“It’s very difficult for people citement was short lived and

with a large interest in a com- the company experienced

pany to give a little bit to get problems with grade recon-

more and what I’m seeing in ciliation midway through 2014,

the current market is compa- while a second capital raising

nies issuing equity and diluting was not well received by the

the hell out of their sharehold- market.

ers or basically running their Gray said the setback

companies into the ground meant it was time for a new

just because they think they partnership with A1 to be set

can get a better deal,” Gray in stone.

told Paydirt. “We believe you can still

“The fact is, in the current make money out of the Maldon

market, it is enormously diffi- underground and by having

cult to raise funds and if you’re additional tonnes coming from

going to raise funds as a junior another mine, that really im-

company, you need to have a proves the overall economics

bigger and more compelling Octagonal has agreed to sell its Maldon operations to Victorian of the operation,” Gray said.
story for the market to sit up neighbour and fellow junior A1 Consolidated “I think we’ve built a really
and take notice.” robust and high quality busi-

Gray’s comments came after his company the right time to bring together their Victorian ness at Maldon. It’s only a small operation, but

agreed to sell its Victorian operations, includ- assets. we’ve been strongly supported by the people

ing the 150,000 tpa gold processing plant at “The synergies we’ve known about all along from the local community and we’ve invested

Maldon, to neighbour and fellow junior A1 become very compelling in the current climate funds back into that community through our

Consolidated Gold Ltd in November last year. and I think for junior companies you need to business expenditure and also by supporting

The deal will see more than 330,000oz of recognise that partnerships like this can make tourism in the town.

underground and open pit gold resources you stronger rather than going it alone,” Gray “The real enjoyment for myself has been

come together under the A1 banner, while Oc- said. essentially taking a mothballed mining opera-

tagonal shareholders will be entitled to $5.1 “Both companies are very undervalued tion, recommissioning it and basically starting

million worth of A1 shares at 3c/share. and, even in the current market, it’s apples up the first underground gold mine in Victoria

Gray, who will join the A1 board as a non- for apples. Here you are dealing with two de- since the 1920s.”

executive director, said the processing facility valued stocks and by bringing the mine and The deal brings an end to Octagonal’s

was ideally suited to the forecast production resources together, you have a much better short but productive time as a gold producer

from the A1 gold mine. business proposition.” in Victoria and the company will now turn its

“We have very high-grade gold at Maldon, Octagonal started 2014 on a bright note attention to some copper and gold exploration

but not a substantial volume and by bringing with the discovery of a high-grade under- plays in the Eastern Goldfields of Western

the two deposits together you create syner- ground gold shoot at Maldon and the compa- Australia.

gies which really drive down the processing ny was able to raise $3.2 million on the back Further exploration at the Burns prospect,

costs for all concerned,” Gray said. of that exploration success. within the Hogan’s project, about 30km north-

“Initially Octagonal will be about east of the St Ives gold mine and

a 32-33% shareholder in A1 and renowned Kambalda nickel dis-

we’re proposing to distribute half trict, is at the top of the company’s

of those shares and options to our list of priorities for 2015.

shareholders, so essentially they “When we set up Octagonal,

will end up with indirect exposure the whole idea of our business

to mining in Victoria but they will model was to establish cash flow

also hold shares in A1, giving them out of Victoria to fund exploration

direct exposure as well.” in WA, and that’s where we are re-

The merger of assets had been ally looking to grow the business,”

a deal some time in the making, ac- Gray said.

cording to Gray. Prior to Octagonal “We believe that exploration can

listing on the ASX in early 2011, the be one of the largest value-adders

company held talks with A1 over a to a mining company, but we’ve

potential toll treating arrangement been neglecting it because we’ve

using the gold processing plant at been working so hard to establish

Maldon. cash flow.”

That arrangement contrib- – Michael Washbourne
uted towards A1’s float almost 18

months later and the two compa- The 150,000 tpa gold processing plant at Maldon is ideally suited to

nies have since been waiting for the forecast production from the A1 gold mine

PAGE 54 FEBRUARY 2015 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

A1 ready to pour first gold

The new look A1 Consolidated Gold Ltd will
enter production later this quarter after
striking a deal to acquire the Victorian assets

of fellow junior Octagonal Resources Ltd.

A1 executed a formal share sale agreement

with Octagonal in late December over the lat-

ter’s Maldon operations, including the timely

acquisition of a fully permitted 150,000 tpa

processing facility.

The deal opens the door for the gold hope-

ful to begin staged production from its A1

mine in the near future alongside continued

operations from the Union Hill underground

mine at Maldon.

A1 managing director Dennis Clark said the

acquisition had come at the right time for his

company and the local gold industry in Vic-

toria.

“Six months ago this wasn’t a far-off goal,

but by taking Octagonal’s assets we’ve got

immediate high-grade ore to mine, although Union Hill will soon become part of A1’s gold production profile
limited tonnes, and that means we’ll be in pro-

duction this quarter,” Clark told Paydirt. Other key economics from the updated raise the bar and with Dale coming on board,

“In the next six months, we’ll put the A1 study include a pre-production capex of $2.9 he brings a lot of professionalism and good

mine into full production and we’ll also be million, an NPV of $27.2 million and an IRR of guidance,” Clark said.

mining at the Union Hill mine at Maldon. Our 94% based on an assumed “Dale is looking for the

game, as it always has been, is we want to be gold price of $1,300/oz. same thing as us. He wasn’t

a dividend paying company.” “We put out the [original] looking to come on the board

A1 released an updated scoping study for scoping study in September of a company which is just

Stage 1 of its namesake gold mine last month last year and we were al- going to be an exploration

which highlighted the benefits of the transac- ways very confident with the company. He’s got the same

tion for the ASX-listed company with a market A1 mine that we had a great targets that we have and that

capitalisation of just $10 million. orebody but we didn’t have a is we want to be a producer.”

The study found the Maldon acquisition mill, so this is a real feather Rogers, a self-confessed

would help lift mill recoveries from 80% to in our cap to be able to do gold bull, is the former head

90%, increase total milling costs from $144/t this,” Clark said. of delisted African explorer

to $162/t, reduce all-in sustaining costs from “We knew we were always Albidon Ltd and has estab-

$860/oz to $849/oz and increase the project- constrained by toll milling op- lished a glowing reputation

ed pre-tax net cash from $30.7 million to $35 tions, but now we’ve got this in recent times as chairman

million over the three years of initial mine life. deal in place we can mill and of Australian juniors Phoenix

Stage 1 carries a production target of we can get a higher recovery Dale Rogers Gold Ltd and Primary Gold
378,000t @ 6.52 g/t gold for almost 80,000oz with a reduced milling cost.” Ltd.

of contained gold and following completion of Clark said he had been Phoenix poured the first

the decline development to the 1420RL level, eyeing off the processing plant at Maldon for gold bar at its Castle Hill project in October,

stoping has been scheduled to be mined at a some time as a potential milling solution for just nine months after committing to a staged

150,000 tpa as per the capacity of the Maldon the A1 gold mine and was delighted when his development plan for its Eastern Goldfields

mill. company was finally able to strike a deal with project, and Rogers can already see similari-

Octagonal. ties between the emerging producer and A1.

Shareholder feedback has “Phoenix was a great deal because it was

been positive, according to toll milling and there was no cash outlay, but

Clark, since news of the pro- the opportunity wasn’t there in Victoria, so

posed acquisition hit the market this deal with Octagonal is a good deal for

in November, although the com- everyone,” Rogers told Paydirt.

pany is yet to see its share price “It also gives Octagonal shareholders a

move into double figures. see-through look at production and it de-risks

The Maldon acquisition also A1.

coincided with a reshaping of the “You now effectively have a company with

company’s board, with respect- really no debt at all and looking to move into

ed mining identity Dale Rogers production and cash flow in a relatively short

accepting an offer to become space of time. I’m a mining engineer so that

non-executive chairman. tends to attract me to a company, plus I think

Octagonal managing director it’s in a great location and is a really good

Anthony Gray will join the board place to do business.”

as a non-executive director – Michael Washbourne
when the sale of his company’s

The 150,000 tpa Maldon processing facility is a Victorian assets is finalised.

prized acquisition for A1 Consolidated “As a company we’ve had to

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 55

TASMANIA

Venture benches
troublesome Riley

Troubles at the Riley DSO project forced Venture to turn its attention to exploration at Mt Lindsay late last year

It appeared Venture Minerals Ltd spent more August 19. In mid-November Venture confirmed the
time in the courtroom than on its exploration Halliday cited “operational risk associated discovery of an additional target at Mt Lind-
grounds in 2014. say, just 2km from the prospect’s main de-
with ongoing appeals against the project’s ap- posit which already has a 13mt @ 0.7% tin
Readying for the start of production at its provals” and “an unfavourable broader eco- equivalent resource.
north-west Tasmanian Riley DSO project in nomic environment” as the major reasons for
January, Venture was still at war in the courts the decision. “Recent work over the area included a re-
after the Tarkine National Coalition environ- interpretation of electromagnetic data, field
mental group appealed the Federal Govern- “After receiving full approvals for the Riley mapping and a first pass soil sampling pro-
ment’s decision to green light the iron ore DSO project in mid-2013 and having secured gramme,” Halliday said.
project. financing, including an iron ore hedge facility
at a time of higher iron ore prices, Venture “Results from the soil sampling identified
Light appeared at the end of the legal tun- was well placed to fully underwrite the life of a coherent geochemical anomaly containing
nel on May 16 2014 when Justice Richard the project,” the managing director said. elevated values in several elements, including
Tracey ruled in favour of the miner, describing lead and boron, which within the Mt Lindsay
the case put forward by the Tarkine National “It is therefore with regret that ongoing ap- area is often coincident with tin mineralisa-
Coalition as “frivolous”. peals have delayed the project and in turn de- tion. Additionally the geochemical anomaly
prived shareholders and the local Tasmanian coincides with an electromagnetic high and
But on June 11 Venture was informed the community of this opportunity in the medium is situated in structurally favourable locations
court’s decision had again been appealed by term.” within the highly prospective Renison Mine
the lobbyists, essentially sending it back to Sequence.”
square one. Chairman Mel Ashton reiterated Halliday’s
views in his annual address on November 25. Ashton also said Venture will continue to
Venture managing director Hamish Halliday explore its options outside of Tasmania, in-
said at the time the company would “remain “Substantial delays due to ongoing appeals cluding projects in South East Asia.
in a production-ready status” while the board to our environmental approvals meant the
assessed a number of factors, including the company could not take advantage of strong “During the year Venture has continued to
economic climate. iron ore prices throughout the preceding 18 advance several tenement applications over
months,” he said. base and precious metal prospects,” he said.
In the interim, the company put in place a
variety of cost cutting initiatives, including a “Moving forward the company will continue “Our exploration team has already defined
20% reduction in executive and non-execu- with the tight fiscal regime it has adopted to a number of prospective ‘skarn style’ targets
tive director salaries and fees and a reduction conserve our cash position.” that warrant further exploration following
in hours for senior executives. granting of tenure.”
Ashton said while Riley was on the back-
Following the economic review, Venture burner, Venture was exploring a range of op- – Rhys Dickinson
decided to suspend all work at the project on tions for the future development of its Mt Lind-
say tin-tungsten project.

PAGE 56 FEBRUARY 2015 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

Henty on solid home run

Although far away from And, given it is a put option, it
most of the scene’s po- means we won’t miss out on any

tential M&A action, Unity Min- upside in the gold price.”

ing Ltd is certainly ready to A strong end to the current era

participate in the predicted of production at Henty may also

junior gold sector consolida- make the mine a more attractive

tion in 2015. proposition for buyers.

“I think there needs to be “A strong 2015 will certainly

amalgamation in the junior allow us to talk to interested par-

gold space and we want to ties with a clean slate,” McIlwain

be part of that,” Unity manag- said.

ing director Andrew McIlwain “I think there is still life left in

told Paydirt. “We have a Henty at some stage. We are

unique offering in the Austral- now getting parties engaging in

ian gold space; a junior pro- discussions with us. Our prefer-

ducer with cash in the bank.” ence is not for an outright sale

The company reported a but rather a JV.”

cash balance of $12.3 mil- McIlwain said Unity would

lion for the December quar- not be spending money at Henty

ter and with its market cap on its own account, preferring to

just $7.9 million at December use the cash at its disposal else-

31 it is the rare example of a where.

producer trading below cash “We believe the best use of

backing. cash is to dedicate to Dargues in

Unity’s market cap had sub- New South Wales rather than on

sequently risen to $14.82 mil- exploration at Henty.”

lion at the time of print. While When the company gets to

a strengthening Australian deploy that cash is still to be

gold price has undoubtedly revealed. It has placed develop-

contributed to the improve- ment at Dargues on hold while it

ment, McIlwain said the applies for changes to its mining

company’s own performance permit.

was an even bigger factor The original licence for Dar-

with the December quarterly gues permitted flotation and

report showing a third suc- gravity separation only, Unity is

cessive period of production bidding to incorporate the use of

and cost improvements at its cyanide on site.

Henty gold mine on Tasma- “We are in that process now

nia’s west coast. but it is an issue that may be fur-

“We are very happy with ther complicated by the upcom-

our recent performance,” he ing state election in New South

said. “We had a less than Wales,” McIlwain said.

glamorous start to 2014 but He admitted there was consid-

the last three quarters have erable local opposition to the use

seen a strong and consistent Unity’s Henty gold mine has been cash flow positive in recent months of cyanide but said the company

turnaround at Henty.” was confident it would be in a po-

Unity has owned Henty since 2009 and has liabilities for Henty, which are around $10 mil- sition to restart development before the end

at times struggled to create sufficient cash lion. You don’t want to be in a position where of 2015.

flow from the notoriously challenging deposit. employees are wondering if they are going to Elsewhere, Unity is also trying to offload

However, with production of 11,370oz gold at be paid at the end.” its Bendigo mine and processing facilities in

an all-in sustaining cost of $986/oz, Henty is To that end, the consistent performance Victoria.

currently paying its way. over the last nine months has given Unity con- “We’ve had a number of parties show inter-

“The guys put a lot of focus on the fun- fidence it can satisfy all requirements. est in Bendigo and a bump in the gold price

damentals of scheduling and have got their “We are comfortable with our ability to pre- always sparks a bit more interest,” McIlwain

heads around the ground control issues. We dict production at Henty for the rest of that said. “Our preference is for a whole asset sale

are in a part of the mine that hasn’t previously period.” but we are also looking at selling various parts

been worked so it was a challenge but we are The mine’s ability to produce positive cash of the plant.”

on top of those issues now.” flow has also been secured by the company’s The Australian junior gold space has seen

Having been mined for nearly 20 years, decision to partially hedge production. The an influx of Asian-backed investors in recent

Henty is due to be placed on care-and-main- company has taken put options over 2,500oz years and McIlwain said both Henty and

tenance by the end of 2015 once current re- gold a month (70% of expected production). Bendigo were attracting interest from a vari-

serves of 72,000oz @ 5.3 g/t gold have been The put option is at $A1,445/oz. ety of parties.

mined. “The hedging decision was fully supported “The interested parties are a bit of a mix of

McIlwain said achieving consistency at board level. We saw the volatility in the gold domestic, offshore and offshore-backed do-

throughout that period was vital as operations price and we had done our forecasts based mestic companies,” he said.

wind down. on a $US1,400/oz price and wanted to make – Dominic Piper
“We have to ensure we cover the employee sure we could underpin our business plan.

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 57

TASMANIA

Severn Stellar’s priority in 2015

Stellar Resources Ltd managing director Pe- Stellar project geologist Ray Hazeldene inspects the latest drill core from Queen Hill
ter Blight says while 2014 was a success-
ful year for the company, 2015 might just be budding Montana deposit and St Dizier PFS we’ve seen in the oil price and similarly in iron
the year that launches its Heemskirk tin project but Blight said much of Stellar’s focus this ore prices. The other factor is, of course, the
into the pre-production sphere. year would be on Severn, particularly the strengthening of the US dollar which means
prospect’s high grade areas. our costs are going to be lower in US dollar
Last time Paydirt spoke to Stellar it had just terms. There’s been a reduction in costs from
capped off a $2.6 million capital raising with “We didn’t get around to doing drilling at that angle, but I think the main point is that
Belgian investors Capetown S.A., of which a Severn last year, mainly because we launched the tin market is in reasonable shape and we
large chunk was used to investigate resource into this review of geology,” he said. think as the year progresses, and when we
expansion options at the project’s most devel- get through this uncertain period, that we will
oped prospect, Queen Hill. “Now that’s given us some better ideas for start to see the fundamentals drive the tin
targeting Severn, particularly focusing on the price, which in my view should lead to higher
On August 25 Stellar announced the results high grade tin areas. We are still formulating prices.”
of a successful three hole drilling campaign at the programme at the present time but the in-
Queen Hill, which netted intersects of 2m @ tention is to test some of these ideas in the A change in government also had Blight
2% tin from 395m, 3m @ 1% tin from 412m early part of 2015.” enthused; with the Will Hodgman-led Liberal
and 5m @ 0.5% tin from 411m. Party’s sweep of last year’s election giving
On tin’s outlook, Blight said he expected him hope of a renewed focus on investment
Most importantly, the campaign proved continued price improvement in 2015. in Tasmania.
tin mineralisation potentially extended 150m
down plunge of Queen Hill’s existing mineral He said demand grew roughly 5% on 2013 He said it was desperately needed, espe-
resource. figures last year and steadily slipped as Indo- cially given the nearing closure of Unity Min-
nesia’s production rates slowed. ing Ltd’s Henty gold mine.
“I suppose you need to put this into the con-
text of the overall geological model, which is “The tin price is now trading around the “We know Henty have indicated that 2015
that the tin mineralising fluids have come from low point in its range of the last 12 months at is likely to be their last year and Mt Lyell is
depth – we are assuming a granite source – $US19,500/t,” Blight said. probably going to restart but at a reduced
and really the only reason we can conclude rate,” he said.
that there is granite about 1km down is from “There have been a number of factors af-
geophysical surveys we’ve done over the fecting all metal prices, one of which is the “With both of those operations winding
area,” Blight said. confidence sapping that has occurred be- down it means there are people around;
cause of the rapid and significant decline people with good experience from the
“We haven’t drilled anywhere near that area that are looking for opportunities.
depth. The deepest we have drilled is about It’s good for us.”
500m below surface so far. What this latest Overall, Blight believed Stellar’s good
drill hole is suggesting is that there is very work in 2014 had it poised for production
good potential in that deeper zone to find in 2017.
more mineralisation and possibly the three “We think the project is very highly
deposits (Queen Hill, Severn and Montana) ranked against the other tin development
coming together as you go deeper down. proposals out there and the key advan-
That’s all quite encouraging. It’s all confirma- tage is the grade of the project and the
tion of the model and gives us confidence that infrastructure we have around us in Tas-
there is a lot more tin to be found.” mania,” he said.
“I think all of those things and the work
Stellar also dedicated much of 2014 to re- we’ve been doing to add value to the pro-
fining its process flow sheet. ject should generate some good results
throughout the course of 2015.”
Blight said a large ore sample from the
Severn prospect was tested on a simpler flow Stellar hopes to be in production by 2017 – Rhys Dickinson
sheet which ultimately reduced tin losses in
sulphide floatation to below 3%.

Recovery gains were made by coarsening
the primary grind size to 260 microns and op-
timising the gravity circuit configuration, lead-
ing to an increase in the proportion of tin
recovered by gravity.

The next stage of the programme was
focused on maximising overall tin re-
covery by optimising tin floatation of the
gravity tail, Blight said.

Stellar ticked off another important
milestone in Q4 2014 by lodging a notice
of intent with the Tasmanian environmen-
tal protection authority.

“That starts the environmental permit-
ting process,” Blight said.

“We haven’t got any response to our
notice of intent but we don’t see any sig-
nificant hurdles. Most of the issues we
have to consider are pretty well known
in that part of Tasmania. We think at this
point it looks pretty straight forward.”

Work also continued at the company’s

PAGE 58 FEBRUARY 2015 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

Shareholders toast Corona

Shareholders are continuing to back unlist-
ed explorer Corona Minerals Ltd despite
the challenges associated with the company’s

Queenstown project in Tasmania.

The Queenstown project, adjacent to the

fabled Mt Lyell copper-gold mine, has previ-

ously chewed up and spat out a host of other

exploration companies unable to cope with

the isolated and rugged terrain of the State’s

north-west.

But the awkward topography, coupled with

Tasmania’s harsh climate, has so far not de-

terred Corona from persisting with the grass-

roots project, even in an equally challenging

financial environment.

And it appears shareholders also have

confidence in both the company and project,

helping Corona raise just over $600,000 last

year to fund field work on the three explora-

tion licences which make up the 205sq km of

prospective tenure.

Corona is currently focused on three pros-

pects at Queenstown, which is considered

to be an extension of the Mt Read volcanics Corona is persisting with the Queenstown project despite the harsh climatic conditions
which host the plus-100-year-old Mt Lyell op-

erations. all the ingredients we’re looking for.” targets we’ve identified, but we haven’t had

Broad copper mineralisation was recently Corona was buoyed early last year by the enough funds to test all these areas and that’s

identified at the Garfield prospect where his- results of its maiden drilling programme at where ranking these targets becomes quite

toric hits of 54m @ 0.53% copper and 0.08 g/t the Prince Darwin prospect, headlined by important,” Hughes said.

gold from 174m and 21m @ 0.91% copper and intercepts of 124m @ 0.4% copper and 0.15 No drilling has been planned for the rest of

31 g/t gold from 142m have been recorded. g/t gold and 40m @ 0.5% copper and 0.18 g/t this field season, which ends in April for areas

Two of the three diamond holes recently gold, including 13m @ 1.2% copper and 0.5 without road access, and the company will in-

drilled by Corona returned intercepts of 76m g/t gold. stead look into completing first-pass metallur-

@ 0.1% copper and 104m @ 0.11% copper, The company has since been complet- gical testwork at both the Garfield and Prince

but there was not enough data available to es- ing further research and development work Darwin prospects.

timate the true thickness of the mineralisation. on the results of that programme to identify Hughes is also keen to follow up on some

Corona exploration manager Charles any link to the mineralisation at Mt Lyell and historical gold targets, about 1.5km from

Hughes said all results so far indicated Gar- whether a possible association would provide the pit wall at Mt Lyell, which have recorded

field was part of a similar mineralised system further drilling targets. grades as high as 6 g/t gold.

to Mt Lyell. Assessing the potential of the rare earths, Corona’s board, comprising former Herald

“We’ve always seen it as being very pro- tungsten and molybdenum discoveries at Resources Ltd executives Terrence Allen, Mi-

spective for the Mt Lyell-style mineralisation Prince Darwin is also on the cards. chael Wright and Brian Hurley, has no plans to

of large tonnage copper-gold and we also Further drilling at the Chamonix zinc pros- publicly list the company given recent share-

know there’s a reasonable strike length to the pect is on hold, however, after a recent dia- holder support.

system,” Hughes told Paydirt. mond programme returned results not in-line “In some respects, we’re protected from

“The system is clearly defined by broad with the company’s model. the market because we’re not listed and our

geochemistry and geophysics that extend an- Hughes said representative sample recov- shareholders are putting money into us know-

other 1km to the north of the drilling, so it’s got eries from the prospect had proved difficult, ing their investment is not really devaluing,”

even with diamond drilling, de- Hughes said.

spite mineralisation being identi- “Certain shareholders have been really

fied over a wide but inconsistent supportive of us and I think it’s a testament

area. to the directors of the company that we keep

“We need to find a cost-effec- getting support from these shareholders be-

tive way to further explore this cause of who they are and what they’ve done

prospect so we’re not spending in the past.”

big bucks on diamond drilling, Hughes was also full of praise for Mineral

but also not returning unrepre- Resources Tasmania’s ongoing support of the

sentative samples through poor Perth-based company, particularly since the

drilling recovery,” Hughes said. change of government early last year.

Corona has 136 different “I’m sure the mines department is under a

prospects across its three ex- lot of stress like everyone else at the moment,

ploration licences and is con- but everything seems to be working just as

stantly ranking each one in a bid well as it always has done and I know they’re

to make every exploration dollar particularly supportive of us,” Hughes said.

go as far as possible. – Michael Washbourne
Broad copper mineralisation has been identified “Obviously we’d love to go

at the Garfield prospect and poke holes into a lot of these

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 59

REGIONAL ROUNDUP AFRICA

IMX, Ntaka Hill back on track

The resurgence of IMX Resources Ltd has Ntaka Hill back on the map because when
continued with the Tanzanian-focused ex- MMG pulled out the market seemed to think
plorer entering into a new JV over the Ntaka that Ntaka Hill was dead, but MMG were look-
ing for a very particular style of mineralisation
Hill nickel project. and when they withdrew it was because they
didn’t find that style of deposit meeting their
IMX has signed a project acquisition agree- development parameters, not because what’s
there isn’t valuable.
ment with Loricatus Resource Investments, a
“Since MMG’s withdrawal, I have main-
vehicle for Mauritius-based mining private eq- tained that Ntaka Hill underwrites IMX’s mar-
ket cap [$8.05 million at the time of print] and
uity fund Fig Tree Resources Fund II, over two this transaction more than proves that be-
cause the cash alone from the transaction is
central tenements on the large 6,800sq km equal to the entire market cap of IMX prior to
us signing the deal with Fig Tree.”
Nachingwea property in south-east Tanzania.
The deal also allows IMX to independently
Fig Tree will initially acquire 70.65% inter- pursue its graphite and gold exploration ac-
tivities at Nachingwea.
est in Ntaka Hill from the Nachingwea JV (IMX
IMX announced last month it had engaged
85%/MMG Ltd 15%) for $US5.88 million and a Perth-based processing engineering con-
sultants BatteryLimits Pty Ltd to undertake a
commitment to sole fund completion of a fea- study into the feasibility of various develop-
ment options for the Chilalo graphite deposit.
sibility study.
Recent assays from a drilling programme
If Fig Tree does not complete a feasibility conducted at Chilalo late last year include
32m @ 11.4% TGC, 16m @ 11.7% TGC, 18m
study within the next five years, its interest in Phil Hoskins @ 11.8% TGC and 14m @ 13% TGC, with
high-grade mineralisation confirmed over a
the project reduces to 50%. 1km strike length.

The deal is a boost for IMX and the stalled ration Nick Corlis in early December before A maiden resource for Chilalo is also ex-
pected to be released in the coming months
Ntaka Hill project after MMG withdrew from entering into the agreement, which was still following completion of some metallurgical
testwork.
the original partnership over the Nachingwea subject to satisfaction of certain conditions at
“Anything plus-10% TGC is high grade and
property last July. the time of print. given the location of the deposit, we’re very
confident it will have excellent flake size distri-
IMX also saw the South Australian-based “A lot of money has been spent on Ntaka bution,” Hoskins said.

component of its business collapse midway Hill already and it really required a partner “There’s evidence from other graphite de-
posits around the world that proximity to an
through last year when the iron ore price with deeper pockets than us to come in and intrusion is thought to upgrade flake size, so
we are confident that our deposit will exhibit
crashed to a five-year low. push it forward,” Hoskins said. some very good metallurgy.”

However, things appear back on track at “It’s a tremendous deal for IMX. The signifi- Hoskins, who served as the company’s
chief financial officer from 2012, was officially
IMX if this latest deal, coupled with recent cant interest in the asset enabled us to dictate appointed to the top executive role at IMX
in January and said he was looking forward
graphite and gold exploration success in Tan- the transaction structure and take some cash to better year for his company after a “very
tough” 2014.
zania, is a sign of things to come. off the table upfront as well as being sole
A recent research report from Canaccord
IMX chief executive Phil Hoskins said Fig funded to a feasibility study and retaining a Genuity Australia Ltd supports that belief, tip-
ping the valuation gap between IMX and East
Tree had approached the company during meaningful interest in the project. African neighbour Magnis Resources Ltd to
close if IMX sticks to its development timeta-
Paydirt’s Africa Down Under conference last “Unlike the MMG JV that covered the entire ble and successfully secures graphite sales
contracts during the current wet season.
September about doing a deal over the nickel Nachingwea property, the Ntaka Hill JV with
“We are now a pure-play Tanzanian explor-
sulphide prospects at Ntaka Hill. Fig Tree covers two central tenements and er with some excellent earlier stage explora-
tion opportunities and if we can continue to
Fig Tree representatives completed due dil- one of the other attractions of this deal is Fig replicate the exploration success at Chilalo,
that will lead to a tangible value uplift in IMX,”
igence on the project and visited the site with Tree believe they can go straight into a feasi- Hoskins said.

Hoskins and IMX executive director of explo- bility study from the existing resources rather “We are focused on the rapid assessment
of Chilalo, drilling the Kishugu gold target and
than relying on more explora- continued regional exploration on our large
but underexplored land package.”
tion to find an economic pro-
– Michael Washbourne
ject.”

Fig Tree will manage the

new Ntaka Hill JV and will

have sole discretion for deter-

mining budgets and work pro-

grammes, although the com-

pany is still expected to draw

on IMX’s wealth of experience

and resources in Tanzania.

Hoskins said Fig Tree had

also drawn comparisons be-

tween Ntaka Hill and other

nickel sulphide deposits it had

pushed through to develop-

ment in other African jurisdic-

tions.

“We also wanted to find a

partner whose corporate ob-

jectives aligned with ours and,

in this instance, Fig Tree be-

ing able to push ahead with a

feasibility study and find the

quickest pathway to produc-

tion does align with what IMX

would like to see happen with

IMX has signed a JV with Fig Tree over two the asset,” Hoskins said.

central tenements at Nachingwea “I think this deal has put

PAGE 60 FEBRUARY 2015 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

8 October 2015
Pan Pacific Perth

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only nickel event

australiannickelconference.com

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REGIONAL ROUNDUP AFRICA

Walkabout on track in Botswana

Walkabout Resources Ltd further Allan Mulligan
confirmed the viability of its multi-
billion tonne Takatokwane coal project in Walkabout decided to
Botswana with positive results reported
from a technical scoping study. exercise the option to in-

The study was completed in January vest in Lindi late in 2014 af-
as part of an ongoing PFS at Takatok-
wane thermal coal project which is an- ter an expedition to site in-
gled towards two open cut strip mines
using drag line machinery, each mining dicated the potential for an
at a rate of 6 mtpa coal.
early start to production.
It is proposed some of this product
will be upgraded through a modular two- Reconnaissance map-
stage washing plant to produce three
products – international seaborne coal ping and sampling con-
calorific value (CV) grade of 5,500 Kcal/
kg, mid-range product of 4,800 Kcal/kg firmed a north-east,
and power station feed of 4,200 Kcal/kg.
south-west graphite strike
Walkabout has indicated its mid-range and
power station graded coal could be sold into of about 3km, which is
the southern African and international mar-
kets, which it hopes to service via the Trans- believed to be an exten-
Kalahari Rail project currently being planned.
sion of the Nachu project
“There is a bit of conjecture about when it
will be done but it looks like 2019/20 it should zones. Magnis Resources
be latent,” Walkabout managing director Allan
Mulligan told Paydirt. Ltd, owner of Nachu, re-

“The working atmosphere in Botswana, like cently signed an EPC and
a lot of other places around the world, is a little
bit subdued because of the restraint on capi- mining-related MoU with
tal. However, the Government is very progres-
sive and they are absolutely committed to the a Chinese group which A high-end scoping study at the Takatokwane coal project, Botswana,
Trans-Kalahari Railway line, which is a good could see it into production confirmed Walkabout had a robust development model in play
thing. We believe when you have a commit- this year.
ted government, and a good one as there is in
Botswana, things will happen.” “We can be guided by what they have done build a mine.”

Walkabout – poised to be a major player on and what they [Magnis] do. That will allow us Mulligan said the high quality and large
the Trans-Kalahari Railway line in which the
Coal Development Unit of Botswana is man- to fast-track exploration. Our tactic is to work flake size potential at Lindi meant an econom-
aging the feasibility study – knows its pro-
gress is being watched closely by bigger coal up a modest resource very quickly in one sea- ically viable deposit could initially be brought
entities in the region.
son and move into met test work which will to fruition from a small resource.
“With the study for the rail line progress-
ing, Takatokwane’s input and importance has help us prove up a resource,” Mulligan said. “We believe that too many graphite explor-
been acknowledged strategically to that line.
It is the only project that can transport coal in “We will then look for an off-take partner ers are too concerned with the geology and
both directions,” Mulligan said.
who we hope to entice into a JV with us and not the whole process. The whole process is
“With that all happening, we see that all the
big coal players will be starting to have a look. from discovery through to sales, which is why
That is something that the drilling is all about;
to improve the quality of the resource to be we think it is an essential element to get on
able to show that we can get an acceptable
product for power stations.” board with an end-user partner as soon as

Walkabout has focused its mine design you can,” he said.
around an area boasting a 2004 indicated re-
source of 748mt. “You will be getting a discounted revenue

Mulligan said the company would take the but you will have the security of sales that will
resource into the measured category during
the BFS which would further confirm capital wear out the ups and downs that will come
estimates (non-optimised $US767 million)
and operating and logistics costs ranging be- with the graphite market. The forecast short-
tween $US43-57/t FOB as per the 12 mtpa
Takatokwane scoping study. age of the product over the next years to

Meanwhile, the company intends to cast come we don’t see as changing, but we see
its resources net further afield in Africa this
year as it finalises its 70% interest in the Lindi a lot of material on the market which is not of
graphite project in south-east Tanzania.
optimum quality.”

– Mark Andrews

The quality of graphite at Lindi, Tanzania, sets the
project apart from others around the world

PAGE 62 FEBRUARY 2015 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

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REGIONAL ROUNDUP

Having failed to lure World Titanium shareholders, Base will look at other options to complement its flagship Kwale mineral sands mine

Base refuses to budge ered competitive in terms of scale, to some received a boost in January thanks to a string
on offer of the largest deposits being explored in other of impressive drilling results.
countries,” Park said. “We are poised to react
Base Resources Ltd appears set to walk to future demand increases and have the abil- Resolute took ownership of Bibiani in June
away from its proposed takeover of World ity to act quickly.” 2014 after previous owner Noble Minerals Re-
Titanium Resources Ltd after it refused to in- sources Ltd ran into financial trouble with the
crease its offer. Kibaran said the feasibility study, being underperforming mine.
conducted by GR Engineering Services, was
Base launched a 1-for-5 all-scrip bid for on time and budget. Resolute is reassessing the project by
World Titanium on December 23 but by Janu- undertaking a feasibility study on an under-
ary 13, it was admitting defeat after World Ti- Resolute’s Bibiani ground development.
tanium declared it had received undertakings rejuvenation
from more than 60% of its shareholders that As part of the feasibility work, the company
they would reject the proposal. Resolute Mining Ltd’s bid to turn around the is undertaking a 24,000m drilling programme.
fortunes of the Bibiani gold project in Ghana In January, Resolute announced hits of 30.9m
“We have concluded that the offer is now @ 13.32 g/t gold from 276, 40m @ 20.62 g/t
unlikely to succeed unless there is a signifi- from 431m, 22m @ 11.81 g/t from 109m and
cant change in circumstances,” the company 24m @ 6.52 g/t from 118m.
said in a statement to the market. “Base will
continue to explore and pursue alternative
growth options.”

World Titanium’s flagship asset is the Toli-
ara sands project on the island of Madagas-
car.

Kibaran expands Since taking control of Bibiani from Noble Minerals last year, Resolute has begun
Epanko scope turning around its fortunes

Kibaran Resources Ltd could build a project
capable of producing as much as 100,000 tpa
of graphite concentrate following changes to
its growth strategy for its Epanko project in
Tanzania.

Kibaran had been considering a 40,000 tpa
operation at Epanko and while that will remain
the start-up production rate, the ongoing fea-
sibility study will now consider staged increas-
es to 75,000 tpa (after two to four years) and
100,000 tpa (after four to five years).

Chairman John Park said the size of the
resource at Epanko – 22.7mt @ 9.8% TGC –
and the increasing demand for graphite glob-
ally meant the project could compete with the
very best emerging graphite projects in the
world.

“The Epanko project can now be consid-

PAGE 64 FEBRUARY 2015 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

AFRICA

The results – announced on January 14
– included hits of 97m @ 2.67 g/t gold from
surface (including 55m @ 3.28 g/t from 21m),
24m @ 1.99 g/t from surface, 15m @ 2.46 g/t
from 40m and 6m @ 22.68 g/t from 7m (in-
cluding 3m @ 44.2 g/t from 7m).

Burey said the drilling had confirmed that
mineralisation at Giro – on the prolific Kibali
belt in north-east DRC – remained open to
the north-west and south-east and at depth
and vindicated its decision to “invest in the
Giro gold project in very difficult market con-
ditions”.

Kasbah has received environmental approval for its Achmmach tin project in Morocco Endeavour beats
guidance
Resolute chief executive Peter Sullivan was water management strategy accepted by the
impressed with the results. Sebou Basin Agency. Endeavour Mining Corporation’s growth
into a genuine mid-tier gold producer contin-
“We are extremely encouraged by these Managing director Wayne Bramwell said ued apace in 2014 with the company beating
new, high-grade diamond drill intercepts from the EISA approval was one of the most impor- guidance to deliver 466,000oz gold for the full
the Bibiani project,” Sullivan said. “These re- tant for the project’s development. year.
sults lend further support to the belief that a
mineable underground resource can be de- “This project milestone, in addition to the The company – which has four opera-
fined at Bibiani in the near term.” equally important establishment of communi- tions across West Africa – had forecast 400-
ty-based agreements for the project, further 440,000oz production for 2014.
Tanga collects more advances the Achmmach tin project to being
ground in Tanzania development ready,” Bramwell said. Chief executive Neil Woodyear said the
company was very pleased with the perfor-
Tanga Resources Ltd has acquired four Giro a welcome return mance and pointed to a reduction in all-in
new prospecting licences at the Gieta gold for Burey sustaining costs (AISC) as a further positive.
project, near the Bulyanhulu gold mine in Tan-
zania. Burey Gold Ltd shares rose nearly 60% in All-in costs for the December quarter were
January following the release of impressive expected to be in line with the $US991/oz
Geita comprises the Mabale Hills and Mim- results from drilling on the company’s Giro achieved in the September quarter. Wood-
bili tenements which cover a total area of gold project in DRC. year said both production increases cost and
97.5sq km. reductions would continue in 2015 with fore-
casts of 475-500,000oz and $US930-980/oz
Mimbili, 25km east of Acacia Mining Ltd’s respectively for this year.
(formerly African Barrick) Bulyanhulu mine,
has been the subject of rock chip sampling The completion of its major capital spend-
of historic artisanal workings stretching 800m ing programmes would also result in more free
along the northwest trending Mimbili fault. cash flow this year, according to Woodyear.

Grades of up to 11 g/t gold were contained “We anticipate using a portion of the avail-
in some rock chip samples, with the average able free cash flow forecast for 2015 to reduce
about 1.97 g/t. outstanding debt as we focus on strengthen-
ing our financial position,” Woodyear said.

Kasbah closes in on Endeavour Mining beat 2014 guidance from its West African operations, including Agbaou
development

Kasbah Resources Ltd’s development
plans for its Achmmach tin project took an-
other step forward last month after the project
received key approvals from the Moroccan
Government.

The project received final acceptance for
its EISA statement from the Moroccan Minis-
try of Environment in January and also com-
pleted a collective farmland rental agreement
with the Ministry of Interior. The company has
also signed in-principle community develop-
ment agreements with the communes of Ait
Ouikhalfen and Ras Jerri and has seen its

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 65

REGIONAL ROUNDUP

Red Mountain locks in funding

There were cheers all-round at Red Jon Dugdale
Mountain Mining Ltd over the festive
season as the company rebounded from that terminated rights issue,
an earlier financing setback to secure vital
funds for the development of the Batangas is we were able to raise some
gold project in the Philippines.
funds from our supporting
The Perth-based gold hopeful signed
a strategic financing partnership agree- groups like BBY Ltd and CPS
ment with Bluebird Merchant Ventures
Ltd in late December that will see the Capital,” Dugdale said.
London-backed, BVI-registered private
company pour $US5.5 million into the “We had progressed our
project in two stages.
discussions with the strategic
The first stage of the agreement in-
volves a $US1 million investment from financing partners to quite
Bluebird that will allow Red Mountain to com-
plete the DFS and final mine permitting for an advanced point so even
Batangas before the end of the second quar-
ter. though it was disappointing

In return, Bluebird will earn up to 15% eq- at the time, we are now in a
uity interest in the Philippines-based wholly
owned subsidiary of the ASX-listed junior. much more advanced posi-

Bluebird will then put $US4.5 million to- tion, so that if we want to raise
wards the initial development of Batangas to
earn an additional 35% equity, subject to a se- any more money into Red
ries of conditions precedent by both parties.
Mountain itself, it would be on
The funding boost came just two months
after a rights issue to raise $2 million was the back of securing that stra-
aborted suddenly and questions were asked
about whether the small company was capa- tegic partner, and at a good
ble of progressing the project further in this
economic climate. price too.”

Red Mountain launched another rights is- Bluebird has completed
sue in late December to raise up to $1.15 mil-
lion after receiving firm commitments from technical due diligence on the
both professional and sophisticated investors.
project and an initial payment
Managing director Jon Dugdale told Pay-
dirt his company had been in discussions of $US200,000 funding was
with potential financing partners since com-
pleting a scoping study on Batangas in March received in January. The bal-
last year.
ance of the $US1 million first
“As you know with junior companies, share
prices are down and it’s tough to raise money stage of funding will be paid in
and not dilute shareholders hugely, so one of
the key things with strategic financing is we’re monthly instalments over six
able to bring in a partner at a much higher
valuation than is reflected in our share price,” months unless Bluebird lists Red Mountain has secured funds to start development of the
Dugdale said. on the AIM market before- Batangas gold project in the Philippines
hand.
“So our market capitalisation might be ‘X’,
but then we’d look to bring in the financing Red Mountain has wasted no time getting lot of mystery there.
partner at a multiple of that valuation which to work on the final stages of the DFS as well “We don’t expect any big surprises on the
better reflects the intrinsic value of the project as the remaining permitting requirements,
and by doing that, we’re not giving away as with the aim to have both completed and se- capital side once we’ve completed our fi-
much of the farm and we’re also demonstrat- cured before the end of FY2015. nal process engineering. It’s the processing
ing to investors that our project is worth a lot plant that’s the majority of the spend because
more than what they think it is worth.” Preliminary DFS results have proposed a we’ve got very good access and very good in-
robust, low-cost gold project at Batangas with frastructure already in terms of sealed roads
Red Mountain’s share price never lifted a $52 million operating cash flow over the ini- and we don’t have to build an accommodation
after peaking at a 12-month high of 3c/share tial 5.2 years of production for a $US1,250/oz block because we’ll put all our workers in the
last February and has been in a gradual de- gold price. nearby town of Lobo.”
cline since.
“Our upfront capital is quite low as well, Further exploration of the company’s tene-
The company’s cause was not helped when as we only have a $15 million install capital ments around Batangas, about 120km south
the previous rights issue was terminated by spend, or $18 million before we start generat- of Manila, is also on the cards for 2015 and
underwriter Patersons Securities Ltd, but ing cash flow, and the rate of return of 46% funds from the latest rights issue are expected
Dugdale was able to find a silver lining in the at roughly today’s gold price,” Dugdale said. to be directed towards a potential drilling pro-
untimely blow. gramme on six priority targets.
“In Aussie dollar terms, we basically pay
“One of the things that has given me a bit that back in two years on an equity basis so “It’s a tough environment, but we have man-
of comfort on the financing side, even during it’s an attractive little project and a very simple aged to keep our momentum going all the way
one as well. The high-grade orebody we’re through this period and hopefully soon we’ll
starting on – this south-west breccia which is reap the benefits,” Dugdale said.
the first two years of production by open pit
– the mining feed grade is better than 6.5 g/t – Michael Washbourne

and it sticks out of the ground so there’s not a

PAGE 66 FEBRUARY 2015 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

ASIA

Global Ferronickel plans
$US600 million IPO in

booming Philippines

Global Ferronickel Hold- over the past year as the
ings Inc, the Philip-
pines’ No. 3 nickel pro- Philippines emerged as the
ducer, is expected to raise
$US600 million in a Manila biggest ore supplier to Chi-
IPO in March, sources
said, taking advantage of na’s producers of nickel pig
higher prices and exports
triggered by a ban on ship- iron, used to make stain-
ments of ore from Indone-
sia. less steel, after Indonesia

One banking source fa- halted ore exports last
miliar with the matter said
pre-marketing for the is- January.
sue, aiming to raise as
much as 26.98 billion pe- Nickel Asia sold 14.26
sos in the first local com-
modity IPO since Coal Asia Holdings Inc in million wet metric tonnes
2012, would start early next month.
from January to September
The company is in talks to finalise corner-
stone investors to include some of its top 2014, up 38% from a year
customers such as trading companies and
end-users in China, the source said, asking before.
not to be identified as the discussions were
confidential. Overall, Philippine ex-

Global Ferronickel plans to sell 6.16 bil- ports of nickel ores and
lion common shares, with an over-allotment
option of up to 924.72 million shares at a Nickel was the best performing metal in 2014 concentrates to China in
maximum price of 4.38 pesos each, another
source said. January to November rose

“We’ll finalise these figures at the end of Investment Corp were among other banks in- 20% to 34mt, accounting for 75% of China’s
February,” the source said.
volved in the issue. total imports of the commodity for the period.
Global Ferronickel, which was formerly
called Southeast Asia Cement, a dormant The nickel price hasn’t been a one-way bet: There is one dark cloud on the horizon:
holding firm that was taken over by Platinum
Group Metals last year, could not be immedi- it soared to a two-year peak of $US21,625/t two bills that, as in Indonesia, would halt ore
ately reached for comment.
last May but had slipped to $US15,150 by the exports and require domestic ore processing
UBS is the international bookrunner and
lead manager of the IPO, while sources said end of 2014, although an annual gain of 9% are making their way through Manila’s parlia-
that Maybank, Religare and SB Capital and
still made it the best-performing metal last ment.

year. However, they could take two years to be-

Philippine Stock Exchange chief operating come law and may not be implemented for

officer, Roel Refran, expects fund-raising by five years after that.

nickel miners to be stepped up as they ex- And companies are confident they can

pand operations and take advantage of higher compete with any renewal of Indonesian ship-

prices. ments.

“We have the sense that private companies “We believe that, should Indonesia lift its

will get good valuations resulting from market export ban, we will be in a strong position to

prices of nickel,” Refran told Reuters. “This is compete against Indonesian nickel producers

not just a short-term but a multi-year oppor- due to our broad mix of nickel ore grades as

tunity.” well as our closer proximity to our customer

TVI Resource Development Phils. Inc, a base in China,” Global Ferronickel said in its

nickel miner partly owned by Canada’s TVI IPO prospectus.

Pacific Inc, has already said it plans to list this – Anshuman Daga and Neil Jerome
year. Morales, Reuters

Shares in Nickel Asia Corp have tripled

Rio Tinto cuts yellow cake deal in India

Rio Tinto Ltd expects to start exporting Aus- clear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Aus- tralia to sell India uranium, in a show of inter-
tralian uranium to India in the next two tralia has never before sold uranium to a non- national acceptance toward India’s nuclear
years, its chief executive said, as soon as signatory of the NPT. programme.
safeguards are in place to restrict its use to
power generation. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who India has nuclear energy agreements
took office in May, aims to raise the share of with 11 countries and imports uranium from
“Once all those steps are in place, clearly nuclear power in electricity generation from France, Russia and Kazakhstan.
there is an opportunity for us and Australia just 3%, as part of a strategy to curb chronic
here,” Sam Walsh said on the sidelines of an power shortages and cut reliance on oil im- Rio Tinto is one of the world’s top uranium
energy conference in January. ports. producers.

India has nuclear weapons and, like its Modi and his Australian counterpart Tony – Nidhi Verma, Tommy Wilkes, Reuters
neighbour Pakistan, has not signed the Nu- Abbott sealed a deal in September for Aus-

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 67

REGIONAL ROUNDUP

Potash West to grow in Germany

Potash West NL will look to expand
its footprint in Germany, accord-
ing to managing director Patrick Mc-

Manus.

“There are a number of opportuni-

ties [for us] by virtue of us having a

working presence in Germany. Ger-

many is historically a significant pot-

ash producer, it is still the fourth big-

gest potash producer in the world,”

McManus told Paydirt.
“There about six operating mines

there, certainly we will be looking at

other opportunities in that country in

potash and other fertilisers or indus-

trial minerals.

We believe Germany, like Austral-

ia, has some very strong advantages

for industrial minerals, it has got great

infrastructure, great power, a very

strong legal system and sovereign

risk is very low.”

Potash West’s foray into Germany

was confirmed last month when the

Thuringian Mining Authority granted

East Exploration GmbH exploration

licences in the South Harz region,

central Germany. South Harz is a known potash producing jurisdiction

Potash West is earning 55% of

East Exploration by funding applications and tion opportunities in Europe and they looked although certainly nothing has been settled

exploration on the Kuellstedt and Graefenton- at a range of minerals but specifically potash on – is that the next stage of exploration work

na licences which cover 450sq km. and zinc. Together with ERCOSPLAN they where we will spend some serious money will

“We expect that in the next six months we identified these areas as areas that have had be financed by way of an IPO,” McManus said.

will have our first geological appraisal of the extensive exploration done on them in the “Both of us will sell down our equity in the

Kuellstedt licence area [completed],” Mc- past and do have strong potential to host a new company by bringing in further investors.

Manus said. viable potash deposit,” McManus said. We are not sure whether it will be a primary

Over 30 holes have been drilled at Kuellst- “On the back of that advice our partners AIM or ASX listing and a secondary listing on

edt and surrounding areas which project con- came looking for someone with a bit more the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.”

sultants – ERCOSPLAN, a specialist potash public company expertise, so we are earning In the meantime, Potash West will continue

and mineral salt company headquartered in into that company now by financing applica- with feasibility work at its flagship Dandara-

Germany – was evaluating at the time of print. tions and the first stage of geological inves- gan Trough project in Western Australia.

Historical drilling information and other tigation.” A scoping study was completed on the Din-

data will be assessed on the licences, which By funding initial exploration work, Potash ner Hill phosphate project in January, with

are close to existing operations including a West has a clear path towards earning its stage one capital requirements estimated to

potash mine and a rock salt project. 55% interest in East Exploration however ad- be $136 million.

“This was a large scale potash producing vanced exploration works maybe carried out Further drilling will be conducted over the

area for many years, but was part of the old through a separate vehicle. whole mining area to increase the resource at

East Germany in the 1950s to 1990s and it “The most likely outcome at the moment – Dinner Hill which is currently 120mt @ 2.8%

suffered from under investment of phosphate, 3.1% potassium oxide

capital,” McManus said. and 8.2% calcium oxide.

“When Germany reunified that “In addition, we have a third

particular potash field cut back its project which appears to be get-

operations significantly, but there are ting some outside interest from

still two mines [a potash mine and investors. We have developed

rock salt operation] operating there technology to treat glauconite to

on potash seams. There was a lot of produce potash. The obvious use

drilling done from the 1960s to the is for it to be used on other glauco-

1980s as exploration for mine plan- nite deposits and also other simi-

ning.” lar minerals. We are getting some

The Kuellstedt and Graefentonna interest from some other parties

opportunities were identified as part with deposits around the world

of a Europe-wide search for brown- and we are currently investigating

fields potash projects which led Pot- ways to licence that technology to

ash West’s partners in East Explora- other parties for the benefit of our

tion into Germany. shareholders,” McManus said.

“They commissioned a geologist Sylvinite mineralisation from a mine near Potash West’s play in Germany – Mark Andrews
to have a look at brownfields explora-

PAGE 68 FEBRUARY 2015 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

EUROPE

Swedish innovation,
Australian capability

The two countries couldn’t be Swedish Ambassador to Australia, Pär Ahlberger, during the Innovative Mining – Safe, Smart &
much farther apart in terms of ge- Sustainable conference in Perth in November
ography and climate but in resources
circles there is an inherent under- “On the R&D side there were a number of large global footprint, new opportunities can
standing that Australia and Sweden professors at the event discussing the things arise.”
are very closely aligned. they are working on and the kind of funding
they can access, particularly from the Euro- Sweden’s exports are only one side of
While Swedish equipment and pean Union. We are looking for more involve- the relationship however. Recent years have
technology are as ubiquitous on ment with Australian academic institutions seen an increasing number of Australian
Australian mine sites as Ikea furni- and private companies for future R&D mining explorers head north of the Arctic Circle in
ture is in Australian homes, there is programmes on an international scale.” search of prospects and Lindholm said it was
a growing recognition in the Nordic a trend the Swedish Government was keen to
country that Australian explorers Major suppliers such as Atlas Copco and continue.
and miners have the ability to drive Sandvik have been operating in Australia for
a new wave of investment in the do- more than 50 years and are renowned for “Greater investment is a very high priority
mestic mining industry. their technological expertise. Lindholm said for the new government with Australia, Cana-
not all of these innovations were being driven da, Korea, China, the US and Singapore the
Business Sweden’s trade com- from Sweden. main destinations for promoting investment
missioner to Australia, Jonas Lind- opportunities.”
hold, told Paydirt his country was “I was interested to see at the conference
keen to pursue greater ties with Aus- how companies such as Atlas Copco and He said Australian explorers could bring
tralia, particularly in the resources Sandvik have moved more into R&D and how much to a local mining scene dominated by
sector. much of that work is done in Australia. It is not two major miners; state-owned LKAB and
all sent back to Sweden.” publicly-listed Boliden Mining.
“It is very much a two-way rela-
tionship,” Lindholm said. “We are While Sweden is home to major mining “It is extremely important that we have not
very similar in culture and how we equipment providers, Australia remains one only the money but the skills,” Lindholm said.
work and it has been proven that we of the world’s pre-eminent mining services “Australian companies are highly regarded in
work well together.” hubs and Lindholm believes this could pro- this area and we will be looking to promote the
vide opportunity for Swedish SMEs. country in the coming year.”
Business Sweden demonstrated
the strength of the relationship “The SME space is also one in which the – Dominic Piper
by hosting the Innovative Mining relationship with Australia can help. Reach-
– Safe, Smart & Sustainable con- ing the international market has been an area
ference in Perth in November last Swedish SMEs have traditionally struggled
year. More than 160 delegates par- with but by striking partnerships with Austral-
ticipated in the event which brought together ian mining services firms, which have such a
senior executives from both the Swedish and
Australian mining industries.

The likes of Atlas Copco, Sandvik, Volvo
and Scania were present at the forum.

Lindholm hailed the event a great success
and said the presentations and discussions
during the day highlighted the opportunity for
greater cooperation between the two indus-
tries.

“The challenges we face are similar; high
labour costs and shortages in certain skills
sets and we can certainly learn a lot from
each other,” he said.

Swedish companies have developed an
international reputation for innovation and
productivity improvements in the mining sec-
tor. And with Australia’s struggling resources
sector trying desperately to increase its own
productivity, Lindholm sees ample prospects
for collaboration.

“The high costs in Sweden – particularly la-
bour costs – have meant innovation has been
necessary for the survival of Swedish com-
panies. Reducing costs, reducing man hours;
that has been the driver for innovation and
Australia is now facing the same pressures.”

He said the conference had also highlight-
ed the potential for R&D to be a key area of
collaboration.

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 69

SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED

in England.
Following a tender process conducted by

The Energy Services Partnership Ltd, Dong
Energy has been awarded the contract to
supply grid power to the mine which is being
constructed at Wolf’s Hemerdon tungsten and
tin project.

Under the terms of the contract, Dong will
supply a projected 82 GWh to the operation
over three years. The forecast power prices
are in line with estimates contained in the
DFS.

Dong is 59% owned by the Danish Govern-
ment and its UK businesses include offshore
wind power, exploration and the production of
oil and gas.

Contractor provides
funding for Portia

Peak Resources has appointed two specialist consultants to complete environmental Havilah Resources NL’s wholly owned sub-
studies at the Ngualla rare earths project in Tanzania sidiary Benagerie Gold Pty Ltd has entered
into a mining and funding contract with Con-
Peak appointment for Decmil wins QCLNG solidated Mining & Civil Pty Ltd (CMC) for the
environmental duo contract extension Portia gold mine in South Australia.

Peak Resources Ltd has appointed two Decmil Group Ltd has been awarded an The Broken Hill-based contractor will be re-
specialist environmental consultants to com- extension to its QCLNG upstream project sponsible for funding and performing mining
plete the studies and reports required to wellsite installation services contract for QGC operations as well as delivery of the gold ore
support a mining licence application for the Pty Ltd. to the surface stockpile at its sole expense
Ngualla rare earths project in Tanzania. and risk, while Benagerie will oversee the pro-
The win, which is initially estimated to be cessing of that ore and produce gold ingots
The appointment of Align Environment & worth about $65 million, is an extension of the for delivery to a refiner.
Risk and Paulsam Geo-engineering Com- existing framework contract with QGC and
pany Ltd marks the start of the regulatory has been awarded to Decmil’s wholly owned Revenue, or physical gold, will be shared
permitting process for Ngualla and both com- subsidiary Eastcoast Development Engineer- 50:50 for all gravity recoverable gold mined
panies have operational centres in Tanzania. ing Pty Ltd. from Portia.

The Ngualla camp will be reopened to sup- Decmil will move the project into opera- CMC will provide a bank guarantee to
port the wet season environmental surveys tional phase, supporting QGC with wellhead Benagerie so it can lodge the $1.95 million
which are expected to be completed later construction, logistics, material management rehabilitation bond required by the Mines De-
this quarter. Those surveys support the en- and a range of construction services for 2015. partment as a condition of the mining approv-
vironmental and social impact assessment al. Benagerie will be responsible for access
required for the issue of an environmental Wolf finalises power payments to the landholder.
certificate, which is needed prior to the grant contract
of a mining licence. Both parties will be jointly responsible for
Specialty metals developer Wolf Minerals payment of a 1% revenue royalty to a previ-
Contract award for Ltd has finalised and awarded the power sup- ous corporate owner of the deposit as well as
Çöpler expansion ply contract for its Drakelands open pit mine the State Government royalty and gold refin-
ing costs.

CMC’s mining schedule proposes first gold
ore to be delivered to the processing plant by
July 2016.

Amec Foster Wheeler plc has been award- Wolf Minerals has awarded the power supply contract for its Drakelands open pit mine to Dong Energy
ed a contract by Anagold Madencilik to pro-
vide basic design verification services for the
expansion of the Çöpler gold mine in Turkey.

The contract includes the verification of the
basic design package performed by a third
party to enhance consistency and to assess
constructability and local factors for the ex-
pansion.

Amec Foster Wheeler will also concurrently
prepare a proposal for the engineering, pro-
curement and construction phase.

Work is scheduled for completion later this
quarter. The value of the contract has not
been disclosed.

Once completed, the Cöpler sulphide ex-
pansion project is expected to enable the fa-
cility to process 5,000 tpd of sulphide ore over
the planned 20-year mine life, in addition to
the existing heap leach processing of oxide
ore.

PAGE 70 FEBRUARY 2015 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

contracting group Edilmac Dei Fratelli Mac-

cabelli SRL.

The contract, which is subject to final docu-

mentation, encompasses rehabilitation of

1.4km of historical underground workings,

including 1.15km from the Forcella portal, to

provide access to the upper part of the de-

posit, as well as 710m of new decline devel-

opment to provide access for underground

diamond drilling of the unmined and renamed

Colonna Zorzone deposit, previously known

as Panel 7.

A 480m diamond drilling programme to vali-

date previous drilling results is also part of the

contract and is expected to be completed by

October.

Energia managing director Kim Robinson

said his company will soon award another

contract for the underground diamond drill-

Watpac will build a tailings storage facility at Nova for Sirius Resources ing of Colonna Zorzone, valued at about
€400,000.

Watpac wins big with controller has allowed the company to reduce MSA knuckles down at
Sirius at Nova its carbon footprint as well as particulate mat- Maibele
ter emissions.
Watpac Ltd has won a major works con-
The controllers also provide data analytic
tools which include engine loading time distri-

tract from nickel hopeful Sirius Resources Ltd butions, integrated GPS data and the capabil- JV partners BCL Ltd and Botswana Metals

to build a tailings storage facility at the Nova ity to evaluate other fuel saving initiatives. Ltd have selected leading African mineral ex-

project in Western Australia’s Fraser Range. ploration consultants MSA Group to prepare

Construction is expected to begin this Kerman strengthens both a resource calculation and a scoping
month and will include a fully-lined single study for the Maibele project.

above-ground impoundment with a surround- ties with Rio Tinto The JORC-compliant resource calculation
ing 800,000 cubic metre embankment. is expected to be completed this quarter and,

About 70 people are expected to be em- Kerman Contracting Pty Ltd has been pending those results, a scoping study is due

ployed under the five-month contract, but its awarded a $70 million contract at Rio Tinto to be commissioned before the end of March.

value was not disclosed by either party. Ltd’s Nammuldi below water table project in A 6,000m drilling programme at Maibele
The contract followed an announcement the Pilbara. was completed in late December and the re-

from Sirius in December that it had secured a The Perth-based contracting firm will over- source calculation was due to start once all
$440 million project finance facility to develop see the design, construction and commis- assays had been received.

the highly regarded and nickel-rich Nova de- sioning of non-process infrastructure facilities Korean trio band
posit. as well as an explosives compound at the
project.
It is also the second big contract win in

recent months for Watpac following a deal Construction works are due to start at the together at Tamboli
to perform drill, blast and mining services end of March.

at Hanking Gold Mining Pty Ltd’s Southern Kerman managing director Chris Kerman Western Mining Network Ltd has signed
Cross operations. said the contract built on the company’s re- a heads of agreement with a consortium of

cent successes at other Rio Tinto projects. three Korean companies to fast-track devel-

Technology boost for Edilmac called to do opment of the company’s Tamboli project in
Anglo American Energia’s Italian job Indonesia.

Anglo American plc and Blutip Power Tech- The consortium consists of Udin Engineer-
ing Company Ltd, E-Petro Chemical Compa-
ny Ltd and Nexinova Corporation Ltd.

nologies have executed a contract for the Energia Minerals Ltd has awarded a €2.88 Under the agreement, Udin will be re-

supply of the equipment provider’s advanced million underground access contract for the sponsible for the engineering, procurement

universal controller in haul trucks servicing Gorno zinc project to longstanding Italian and construction of a beneficiation plant and

the mining company’s coal operations E-Petro will ensure the output of the

in Australia. graphite carbon powder is suitable for

The agreement was executed after marketing by Nexinova to a host of steel

a series of notable fuel savings were industry customers throughout Asia.

achieved using the controller on Cat- The beneficiation plant will be located

erpillar 797, 793, 789 and 785 series adjacent to the proposed mine site and is

haul trucks at Anglo American’s Daw- expected to deliver a minimum of 1,000

son, Capcoal and Drayton mines during tpm of graphite carbon powder with con-

2014. sistent quality and particle size.

The Blutip controllers provide engine All parties have agreed to work to-

remapping which reduces fuel con- gether to negotiate, perform further due

sumption while maintaining the power diligence and finalise a definitive binding

output of the engine and other function- agreement before February 28.

ality of the original equipment provider’s Western Mining Network is in the

electronic control unit. process of defining a resource at Tam-

The improvement in Anglo Ameri- Italian contracting group Edilmac has won a €€2.88 million boli and has also applied a production
can’s fuel efficiency through use of the underground access contract at Energia’s Gorno zinc project licence.

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 71