pd261-June18 mag-web

Colombia decides

The run-sheet of mining companies Buoyed by last year’s Alliance, with Colombia being
looking towards Colombia for the next
world class mining deposit is impressive. success of the country’s the only one out of the four Pa-

Big hitters such as Barrick Gold Corp, first new industrial mine for cific Alliance countries we don’t
Newmont Mining Corp, AngloGold
Ashanti Ltd, South32 Ltd and Fortescue 30 years and an improving already have an agreement
Metals Group Ltd are all active and de-
termined to help Colombia decide wheth- business climate, Gonzalez with,” Davies said.
er it is a mining country or not.
urged Australian companies Pacific Alliance members in-
A turning point for the country may
come when Continental Gold Ltd starts to capitalise on the opportu- clude Mexico, Chile, Colombia
gold production from Buritica in 2020,
with the mine set to be the first large- nities to invest in Colombia. and Peru, with Australia ratify-
scale operation in Colombia, where
overall gold production is expected to Currently, there are 56 ing a FTA with the latter in re-
increase by 44% in the next two years.
Australian companies – not Sophie Davies cent times.
The country’s gold endowment is well all mining-related – with a “I think it is the best moment
known, however, despite sharing a met-
allogenic belt as Panama, Peru, Ecuador presence in Colombia. for Colombia, as we negotiate
and Chile, copper exploration in Colom-
bia has been relatively dormant com- There appears no better time for an FTA’s with Australia, Singapore and New
pared to neighbours along the belt.
Australian company to entertain busi- Zealand under the Pacific Alliance, which
There is one copper mine currently be-
ing exploited in Colombia, but another ness prospects in Colombia, given the signifies the best moment in terms of re-
eight projects are subject to exploration
activities which could change the shape country is now represented by Ambas- lationships for Colombia,” Gonzalez said.
of the base metals landscape in the
country in the next decade. sador Sophie Davies at the newly minted As the country continues to forge

“We are just starting to learn about embassy in Bogota. ahead in tightening partnerships around
copper,” National Mining Agency of Co-
lombia promotion and development Davies, also ambassador to the par- the globe, the talk of the town is the im-
manager David Andres Gonzalez, told
delegates at Latin America Down Under. lous state of Venezuela, said she ex- minent presidential elections.

“We have high expectations as we pected conditions for doing business in Colombian President Juan Manuel
share the same copper belt as Panama,
Peru, Ecuador and Chile. We now know Colombia to continue to be attractive, Santos’ eight-year term comes to an
of the new discoveries and that there is
high potential for high-grade discoveries, despite the outcome of this year’s presi- end this year, with either leftist candidate
so I’d expect Colombia to start to emerge
as a significant player in this metal in the dential election. Gustavo Petro or right wing representa-
next 5-10 years.”
“Our relationship is good,” Davies said. tive Ivan Duque the likely replacements.

“The ease of doing business ranks Davies said the congressional elec-

about third in the [Latin American] re- tions produced a largely conservative

gion; it slipped recently, but the country leaning result and she expected the right

has quite a large population of 49 million wing to prevail when the second round of

people and 30% of the middle class ex- elections take place on June 17.

pected to grow.” “After which we expect the right wing

The corporate tax rate is legislated to candidate to win, largely because there

drop 33% from next year and other fac- is a feeling of antipathy due to what is

tors such as Colombia’s succession to happening right on Colombia’s doorstep

the OECD are expected to be driving in Venezuela. That is really concerning

forces behind the country’s investment for many Colombians,” Davies said.

attractiveness. Davies said the dire situation Ven-

“We should find out in the next month ezuela is faced with was salutary and

or so [if Colombia’s OECD status is rec- an important reminder to all of what can

ognised], while Australia is negotiating a happen under corrupt regimes.

Free Trade Agreement with the Pacific – Mark Andrews

Brand Australia

Australia’s Ambassador to Chile, Rob- ean companies wanting ed. They are looking at some of
ert Fergusson, said the strong brand
Australian companies have established partners. Our brand is very the things they have done over
in Latin America should be capitalised on
to help deal with issues in the region. strong in Latin America, the last 5-10 years that have

“As in Australia, we are seeing an in- there is big opportunity for not worked so well, particularly
crease in pressure in the mining sector
in terms of water, community expecta- METS and we are seeing a some of the partners they chose
tions and also in terms of environmental
and community consultation,” Fergusson lot of Australian business early on, that weren’t Australian.
said.
come to take that up.” They have made mistakes and
“These are things that other countries
face, these are opportunities for Austral- Fergusson said the situ- really set Ecuador back in terms
ian business and there are many Chil-
ation was similar for Aus- Robert Fergusson of community trust in respect
tralian companies in Ecua- to mining. Again, it is an op-

dor where a recalibration of portunity for responsible mining

the mining sector was taking place. companies from Australia to partner with

“The Government is taking stock of locals or to go into Ecuador, so I am very

how many concessions have been grant- positive with the trend.”

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JUNE 2018 PAGE 51

COPPER FOCUS

Red hot copper

Acopper spot price at near “Basically, from that it goes
five-year highs at the time of out to a period of public com-

print is reflective of the pressure mentary and our expectations

a 1.5% decline in world mine will be that we will be looking

production last year is putting on to receive their final completed

supply/demand dynamics. EIS by the end of CY2018. At the

Forecasts from the Internation- same time [we hope to receive]

al Copper Study Group reveal the issue of the record of deci-

production is set to bounce back sion [ROD] from the Department

and grow about 3% this year, be- of Environmental Quality of

fore remaining unchanged into Montana towards the end of this

2019, as supply disruptions in calendar year or very early the

jurisdictions like DRC, Zambia following calendar year. That will

Chile and Indonesia are worked enable us to commence devel-

through. opment and construction work

Additionally, a healthy copper and we are gearing ourselves

price will ensure new projects to be in that position at the be-

come on-stream and companies ginning of CY2019. At this stage

hit the trigger on project expan- everything is on track for that.”

sions to shore up supply in the In addition to a near-term

immediate term. producing asset, there is also

However, increased eco- upside exploration potential for

nomic activity and the advent Sandfire shareholders to be-

of new technologies are set to hold.

put a strain on supply of the red “Not only is it a 600,000t re-

metal, leading to companies in source, but we also control a

the space taking a proactive ap- significant area of that region

proach to nurturing future pro- and it is highly prospective for

duction. potential extensions to that re-

From an Australian perspec- source. We will ultimately look at

tive, Oz Minerals Ltd’s cash Karl Simich undertaking further work once

splurge on Latin American-fo- that permit comes to hand,”

cused producer Avanco Resources Ltd been estimated, with Sandfire chief ex- Simich said.

indicated how the mid-tier is viewing the ecutive Karl Simich not expecting any Simich is rightly excited by the oppor-

sector and the measures being taken to material change in that cost as develop- tunities in Montana but the company also

secure future production. ment discussions ramp up. has operational certainty at DeGrussa

Oz’s move into the Americas follows “Work is progressing on the EIS, as with mine life now clear to CY2022. The

the strategy unfurled in 2014 by fellow planned, and is currently sitting with the addition of the Monty orebody into mine

prominent copper producer Sandfire contractor for the regulator who is pre- planning gives the company 6.6mt @ 5%

Resources NL with a cornerstone invest- paring and expecting to release their copper and 1.7 g/t gold for 332,000t cop-

ment (78.1%) in North American outfit draft report by the middle of this year,” per and 354,000oz gold in reserves.

Tintina Resources (now Sandfire Re- Simich said in relation to Black Butte. Simich said the Sandfire operations

sources America Inc). team was working on

Sandfire’s investment 3.400 1 Year Copper Spot squeezing as many cop-
in Tintina was on the per tonnes as it could

back of a 2013 PEA on from DeGrussa/Monty,

the Black Butte copper 3.200 as the exploration crew

project in Montana, US. took to the field to ex-

The PEA indicated ploit some 6,276sq km

potential for an under- USD/lb3.000 of ground it has con-
ground operation to solidated in the Greater

produce in the order Doolgunna area.

of 30,000 tpa copper- 2.800 Within that pack-
age is the Morck’s Well
in-concentrate over

an initial 11 years at a ground, held under a

throughput of 11.8 mtpa 2.600 farm-in agreement with
and average head grade Auris Minerals Ltd.

of 3.1% copper. www.kitco.com Aligning with Sand-
A capex of about fire at Morck’s Well al-
2.400 lows Auris to focus on
$US220 million (includ- May17 Jun17 Jul17 Aug17 Sept17 Oct17 Nov17 Dec17 Jan18 Feb18 Apr18 the promising Forrest-
ing contingencies) has

PAGE 52 JUNE 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

World copper production is expected to increase by 3% this year

Wodger project and entertain other op- excess of 103,000m which is quite ex- Veovaca (4.4mt zinc-lead-silver re-
portunities. tensive work. From a BD [business de- source).
velopment] perspective the company is
“Interestingly, with the Auris farm-in actively looking at opportunities where A maiden resource estimate from
and JV agreement we can see that along we might see if they can add value to the Rupice – where drilling has returned 64m
strike of the Doolgunna project we have company.” @ 8.5% zinc, 5.1% lead, 374 g/t silver,
actually now got a singular nice tene- 2.3 g/t gold, 1% copper and 43% barite –
ment package which covers all of the Given the rush for lithium and cobalt, is targeted for early next year, around the
prospective sequence,” Shannan Bam- it is possible prospective copper projects time Sandfire will be potentially gearing
forth, Sandfire general manager of geol- have been overlooked and are ripe for up for construction of Black Butte.
ogy, said. the picking by the likes of Sandfire.
Simich said the company hadn’t been
“This is the first time we have actually “It probably, to some extent, takes the too concerned with how Black Butte
had one exploration management team heat out of the copper space in terms of would be funded given it had cash at
being able to come in and look at this competition for ground,” Minotaur Explo- bank plus a project grading 3.5% copper.
as one holistic package, so we are fairly ration Ltd managing director Andrew Wo-
buoyant about that as well.” skett told Paydirt. “I think between cash at bank, equity
markets and debt markets both in Aus-
With $188 million cash, Sandfire has “The ground is pretty tightly held any- tralia and the US all options are open to
the financial clout to express itself in way, it doesn’t move that much and stays us. We haven’t as a board, and as the
such a large holding and has planned in the one ownership regardless of what board of Sandfire America, concerned
a series of VTEM surveys as a means a company is doing. But, if the company ourselves too much at this stage at how
of a first-pass indicator of the geological has gone off into the cobalt realms then that might be funded,” Simich said.
structure at hand. they are possibly more amenable to hav-
ing a discussion about someone else “I think that all options are open to us
“We have consolidated in excess taking that project and I think it helps in in terms of what we may want to tap,
6,000sq km of ground in the Greater that respect.” whether it is a combination of using some
Doolgunna area and there are some very debt to leverage off the equity return, we
exciting exploration programmes [under- In the meantime, Sandfire has contin- might find ourselves in a position where
way] at the moment in what is a highly ued to look offshore and showed some we don’t need to [use debt]. We will just
prospective region capable of hosting adventure by subscribing as a corner- see what the circumstances are closer to
further VMS deposits in an area where stone investor in new float, Bosnia & the time, see what the numbers drop out
5-9% copper mineralisation has been Herzegovina-focused, Adriatic Resourc- as in terms of capex and timing of that
discovered,” Simich said. es Ltd. capex spend; then we will make a deci-
sion.”
“I think between the last quarter and Sandfire’s strategic $2 million invest-
this [March] quarter, taking into account ment is worth 7.65% of Adriatic, which is – Mark Andrews
all forms of drilling, we have drilled in planning 15,000m of drilling at Rupice,

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JUNE 2018 PAGE 53

COPPER FOCUS

Hillgrove begins search
for Kanman Three

Strong production from Kanmantoo is expected to see Hillgrove break the shackles of debt this year

Another fine quarterly performance completion of the Giant cut-back project “We have built a 1.3mt stockpile and
has edged Hillgrove Resources Ltd at Kanmantoo – a $70 million project will have 5mt by the time open pit mining
closer to the end-of-year debt-free goal it which took the company to the brink of fi- ceases in 3Q2019,” McClare said. “From
has set itself. nancial ruin last year following a rock slip there, we will be treating stockpiles
on the eastern pit wall. meaning we will be operating without the
South Australian-based Hillgrove pro- cost of mining.”
duced 5,122t copper concentrate from its The cut-back has not resulted in a ma-
Kanmantoo mine – just north of Adelaide terial change to head grades – 0.47% The material improvements brought
in the Adelaide Hills – in the March quar- copper in the March quarter compared about by the cut-back will come as a relief
ter, its best quarterly result since 2014, to 0.48% in the December quarter and to Hillgrove’s management team which
allowing the company to book $47.3 mil- 0.54% in the September period – but undertook a sizeable risk in funding the
lion of revenue. the reduction in stripping ratios led to project. Midway through 2016, that risk
1.64mt of ore being moved from the pit to was looking unmanageable but thanks to
With mining continuing to run ahead of the ROM pad in the quarter, up from just renegotiated terms with contractors and
processing – Kanmantoo boasted stock- 811,000t in the September period. active involvement from the SA Govern-
piles of 1.3mt at the end of March – Hill- ment – including a $4.5 million loan – the
grove managing director “The grade difference is company escaped the threat.
Steve McClare expects not massive but the strip
the remainder of 2018 to ratio has changed dra- “Our shareholders were always sup-
be one of strong perfor- matically,” McClare said. portive but Macquarie moved on us as
mance for the company. “Previously, the stripping the copper price went into a cyclical
ratio was 5.5:1, now we low,” McClare said. “All the stakeholders
“We intend to be debt- are mining more ore than pulled together to support us and we are
free by the end of 2018 waste.” now coming out of the other side of the
and we should start ac- cut-back.”
cumulating cash and a The increased ore pro-
lot of cash will be gener- duction rates mean Hill- With the cut-back now complete, Hill-
ated over the following grove can begin building grove can look to cash generation again
18 months,” McClare told stockpiles ahead of the and the quarterly results were greeted
Paydirt. scheduled closure of the warmly by the market with Hillgrove
Kanmantoo open pit to- shares rising 19% on March 31. McClare
The key to greater cash Steve McClare wards the end of 2019. said the clarity provided about Kanman-
production has been the

PAGE 54 JUNE 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

A deep drilling programme to test the down-dip extensions of the main Kavanagh orebody is planned to begin in the next few months

too’s future, as well as the recent perfor- Complicating matters is the pumped McClare admitted the $2 million explo-

mances, had given investors confidence hydro project which Hillgrove is consider- ration budget was modest but said Hill-

the company was tracking correctly. ing both in conjunction and independent grove had “grander plans”.

“The market has been looking for fur- of underground operations. “We will increase work on a regional

ther information for a while and the feed- “If the pumped hydro project is real we scale but there are still a few things we

back we received was that while we have have to ask how we work it with the un- have to put together before we can do

now clearly set out how we will finish the derground,” McClare said. “It will mean that,” he said. “The regional picture is

open pit people are looking at what we more capex to put into the underground very compelling and we want to be a ma-

do with the cash we are generating and project but most underground areas are jor player in this area and become an ex-

asking what is beyond the open pit,” he above the pumped hydro anyway. ploration company in our own right.”

said. “We are currently looking at whether Those plans will likely revolve around

Fortunately, the company has a few we have been doing the right work and in the opportunity to feed Kanmantoo’s 3.3

potential answers with an underground Q3 we expect to start drilling and some mtpa mill.

underground study work.” “We own a $200 million processing fa-
“resource target, regional exploration
cility which has good operational
prospects and the opportunity
to develop a post-mine pumped capacity,” McClare said. “We be-
hydro energy storage project at
Kanmantoo. We want to earn that right lieve we can do $1 worth of work
to grow the business. for 20c. So, our strategy is around
The company has a 5-10mt @ finding something within a truck-
1.7-2.2% copper and 0.4-1 g/t
gold exploration target at Kan- able range and that’s why we are

investing in this area; to feed the

mantoo underground with preliminary The regional exploration picture is also mill. We’ve had various offers but we are

design work already in progress with the opening up for Hillgrove with geophysical looking for something more than being a

Nugent prospect – below the mined out work (ground mag and now EM) identify- mill source for feed.”

Nugent open pit – the first of nine under- ing a number of targets on the Kanappa It is ambitious talk from a company that

ground targets to be tested. and Mt Rhine prospects. was struggling to survive 12 months ago

A deep drilling programme, designed “We are teaching ourselves a lot about but McClare believes the time is right to

to test the down-dip extensions of the the district and its potential,” McClare look to the future.

main Kavanagh orebody, is planned to said. “We will put some holes into Kanap- “We want to earn that right to grow the

begin in the next few months. pa in July-August. That would be as good business,” he said.

“The underground has the ability to a copper target as there is in Australia – Dominic Piper
generate more copper at similar opex,” and the Mt Rhine target would also be in

McClare said. the top 10.”

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JUNE 2018 PAGE 55

COPPER FOCUS

MMG calm on code concerns

MMG Ltd is not expect- to subsequent periods
ing its Kinsevere cop- was provided as the main

per mine in the DRC to be reason for Las Bambas’

impacted by the prolonged 87,056t of production dur-

dispute over the proposed ing the March quarter, a

changes to the country’s 22% decrease on the pre-

mining code. vious quarter.

DRC President Joseph “We also completed a

Kabila has signed off on major planned mainte-

a new mining code which nance shutdown at the be-

will increase royalties and ginning of April,” Jiao said.

taxes on the country’s “We are confident that

miners while also remov- these issues have been

ing a previous stability resolved and we expect to

clause for existing opera- produce 410,000-430,000t

tions which has some of copper at Las Bambas in

the world’s biggest min- 2018. C1 cost unit guid-

ers threatening legal ac- ance is $US1-1.10/lb for

tion against Kabila and his Output from Las Bambas was down 14% in the March quarter due to 2018 despite increasing
Government. a localised geotechnical issue input cost pressures.”

MMG has operated MMG reported its

Kinsevere, about 35km north of Lubum- the availability of grid supply. C1 unit cost strongest quarter at Sepon, Laos, in

bashi, since 2012 and the mine is track- guidance for Kinsevere is estimated at more than 12 months, with the 20,304t

ing to produce close to 80,000t copper $US1.57-1.67/lb for 2018. of copper produced over the first three

cathode for a fourth consecutive calen- Jiao was one of several prominent min- months of 2018 up 20% on the previous

dar year. ing executives to meet with Kabila at the corresponding period.

Speaking to investors, analysts and DRC presidential palace earlier this year It is a good result for MMG as the com-

media on a conference call to review the to express concerns over the proposed pany looks to complete a potential sale of

March quarter, outgoing MMG chief ex- changes to the mining code. the mine over the next few months.

ecutive Jerry Jiao did his best to allevi- Government officials have promised MMG’s total zinc output was up 146%

ate shareholder concerns regarding the the impacted mining companies – in- in the March quarter as it benefitted from

uncertain political situation in the DRC. cluding MMG, Randgold Resources Ltd, the first full quarter of production from

“MMG remains in active consulta- Glencore and Ivanhoe Mines Inc – a 90- the newly minted Dugald River mine in

tion with the DRC Government, industry day consultation period which was un- Central Queensland, with mill throughput

peers and civil society groups,” Jiao said. derstood to be about two-thirds complete rates running at 81% of nameplate ca-

“As an industry, we continue to pursue at the time of print. pacity and commercial production set to

recognition of the stability clause in order Reports suggest it could take up to a be achieved this quarter.

to address government concerns on con- year for any changes to be implemented. Commissioning and ramp-up ac-

tributions to our existing mining opera- “Because of the dispute between the tivities are continuing to ensure Dugald

tions. The industry has proposed a modi- Government and the mining communi- River stays on track to produce 120,000-

fied sliding-scale for royalty payments, ties, we decided to have the time to talk 140,000t of zinc concentrate in 2018.

providing the DRC Government with a about this stability clause,” Jiao said. “The asset is ahead of schedule and

guaranteed larger share of revenue at “What we are mentioning as the year will be delivered significantly under budg-

higher commodity prices. timeframe for the regulation is actually et with total development capital now

“If we compare with different countries, after this consultation [period]. It normal- expected to be around $US550 million,”

the royalty level in DRC is not that high ly takes that much time to finalise all the Jiao said.

compared with many others. As we have important details. “We are proud to have delivered a

said before, the DRC is an attractive re- “The discussion is ongoing. We are world top-10 zinc mine and MMG’s first

gion for potential future growth and we trying to engage some other diplomatic pure greenfields development. Zinc is

hope to see an outcome that will pre- resources like the ambassadors in Kin- a great example of the strength of our

serve the investment climate for the min- shasa, or different countries, to talk to model and the strategy which seems to

ing sector and offer sustainable benefits the President and to leverage further re- deliver values oriented around growth in

for all shareholders.” sources.” commodities with excellent fundamen-

Kinsevere produced 19,986t of copper MMG churned out 127,751t copper tals.”

cathode during the March quarter, down across its suite of global operations dur- Jiao is set to step down as MMG’s chief

slightly on the previous reporting period, ing the March quarter, down 14% on the executive in August and will be succeed-

but up 3% on output for the opening three previous corresponding period due to ed by China Minmetals Non-Ferrous

months of 2017. lower output from the Las Bambas mine Metals Co Ltd president Geoffrey Gao.

Energy costs at the mine were at re- in Peru. – Michael Washbourne
cord lows during the quarter due to pow- A localised geotechnical issue which

er supply initiatives which have improved forced higher grade ore to be deferred

PAGE 56 JUNE 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

Peel stays the base metals course

Peel has demonstrated a knack for successful exploration in the Cobar Basin

Strong base metals prices and an ac- of Wagga Tank – in the past seven years and last month entered Bosnia & Herze-
commodating Australian dollar pre- has earned the company great praise govina through a significant shareholding
sent an environment conducive to M&A and has led some big boys to peer over in newly listed Adriatic Resources Ltd.
activity in the mining space, the question the back fence to see what is unfolding in
is whether miners are brave enough to the Cobar Basin, New South Wales. “People in production have been mak-
pull the trigger. ing good coin and now a lot of them have
Upon the Mallee Bull polymetallic dis- built up war chests, no question about
With memories of the last resources covery, CBH Resources Inc subsidiary that, but when you look around Australia
bust still front of mind, many companies Toho Zinc was compelled enough to in- there aren’t many great investment or
and their shareholders are reluctant to vest $8.3 million to form a 50:50 JV in the M&A opportunities,” Tyson said.
act on potential deals, instead choosing project, which is now at pre-development
to reward patience and support by re- stage, while JOGMEC is farming into the “I think the environment is pretty good
turning capital to shareholders. Cobar Superbasin project (CSP), which really, you have all these guys that have
includes Wirlong. kind of got as much out of their own oper-
The downturn encouraged companies ations as they probably can and now for
to pay greater attention to productivity St Barbara Ltd has come to realise the growth they really need to look outside of
and efficiency and as commodity prices strides made by Peel during the down- their organic possibilities.
rebounded, the resultant wider cash mar- turn and has subscribed for 16.3% of the
gins have seen miners build significant company in recent times. “I think [Sandfire’s investment in Adri-
war chests to entertain more expansive atic] is an indication of the lack of op-
growth. “St Barbs obviously have a very strong portunities here, although $2 million is
position but I point to the fact that there is a small investment for them, it does get
However, cost-saving measures also plus-50% of Peel’s shares held by other their toes in the water,” he said.
resulted in exploration budgets being parties in the top 20 so if they were in-
slashed, leaving the base metals sector terested it is not definite and it doesn’t Despite the challenges of exploring in
largely devoid of development stories. preclude other parties from being inter- NSW, Peel doesn’t intend on making any
ested,” Tyson said. moves offshore and will stick to the knit-
Oz Minerals Ltd’s bold move for Bra- ting which has served it so well, even in
zilian-focused copper producer Avanco According to Tyson, there are few the toughest of markets.
Resources Ltd demonstrated the types standout assets in Australia’s base met-
of companies and assets now in-play als space compelling companies to act “The geology [Cobar] is fantastic and
M&A-wise. on, despite the encouraging backdrop for that is the No.1 attribute for us. We have
M&A. had three pretty good discoveries in
“In hindsight, a lot of people did see seven years. Base metals weren’t very
that coming but maybe didn’t act. I think The lack of exploration investment dur- popular for quite a long time with a lot of
in the next 12-18 months we will see an ing the downturn, and the increasing dif- companies switching to other things like
active period of M&A,” Peel Mining Ltd ficulty of making new discoveries, are un- battery minerals where they can raise
managing director Rob Tyson told Pay- doubtedly having an effect on the quality money. That is one other reason why
dirt. of deposits in the Australian base metals there is a lack of quality opportunities;
pipeline. people have not stuck to their guns or
“I don’t know whether that will include knitting and have moved around to wher-
us, but certainly when I look around Aus- However, simply pouring money into ever the money is,” Tyson said.
tralia I don’t see many people generally more exploration won’t necessarily re-
getting exploration success in the base sult in more Tier 1 discoveries in Aus- – Mark Andrews
metals market, so I think we are uniquely tralia and companies such as Sandfire
positioned in that sense.” Resources NL are developing overseas
ventures to satisfy their desire for new
Peel’s ability to pull off three decent projects. Sandfire is already developing
discoveries – Mallee Bull, Wirlong and the Black Butte project in Montana, US,
Southern Knights plus the re-discovery

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JUNE 2018 PAGE 57

COPPER FOCUS

Aeris gains solid footing

A recent EM survey has given Aeris impetus to further explore around its Tritton mine in NSW

Aeris Resources Ltd managing direc- still had a senior credit facility hanging Aeris’ major shareholder with a share-
tor Andre Labuschagne is projecting over it. If convertible notes were fully holding of 50% (issued ordinary equity).
an air of confidence which reflects the converted, Aeris’ 140 million shares on
company’s newfound prosperity. issue would’ve mushroomed to 934 mil- “We knew Standard Chartered wanted
lion. out but the agreement we have ended
Labuschagne has ensured Aeris has up with is better than we thought,” La-
kept a low profile during his five years in Aeris negotiated an exit for senior cred- buschagne said. “To get 460 million pref-
charge as the company attempted to rec- itor Standard Chartered which saw Spe- erence shares back and give 50% of the
tify operational issues at its Tritton cop- cial Portfolio Opportunity V Ltd (SPOV), company back to shareholders is a nice
per mine in New South Wales and solved a subsidiary of a fund managed by PAG, outcome and much cleaner than we ex-
a balance sheet conundrum which had buy the senior debt. pected.”
restricted growth opportunities.
SPOV agreed to reduce senior debt Some overhang remains through the
Now, with both issues seemingly from $US63.3 million to $US30 million additional 93 million convertible prefer-
overcome, Labuschagne is ready to lift with a two-year term at 12.5% interest. ence shares but Labuschagne is con-
awareness. Associated with the restructure is an fident the capital structure is now clear
agreement by Standard Chartered to enough to allow Aeris to move on its
“There are still legacy issues from cancel 467 million of its 560 million con- growth plans.
when the stock was at 70c/share [Aeris vertible redeemable preference shares,
was 15c/share at the time of print],” he reducing the number on issue to 93 mil- “We’ve always been looking for oppor-
said. “We are now launching a big drive lion. Following the cancellation of these tunities, we were just never able to close
to get the company back on the radar preference shares, the total number of deals because of our balance sheet,” he
from a marketing perspective now that shares on issue, on a fully diluted basis, said. “Previously, there was always a
we have finally cleaned up the capital reduces by 50% from 934 million to 467 challenge to have $63 million in service-
structure.” million shares. able debt and 75% of shares not trading.
But now, destiny is in our own hands and
The restructuring of its balance sheet SPOV has also agreed to convert its there is an opportunity to close on deals
is perhaps the most significant develop- existing holding of 140 million convertible which we have considered.”
ment at the company since its renaming preference shares to ordinary shares.
from Straits Resources to Aeris. Despite Upon conversion, SPOV will become Coupled with Tritton’s recent consist-
restructuring debt in 2015, the company ent performance – the mine produced

PAGE 58 JUNE 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

The Tritton mine produced 6,867t copper at AISC of $3.57/lb in the March quarter

6,867t copper at AISC of $3.57/lb in the buschagne will not be distracted from ready to start activity on its Torrens JV in
March quarter – Aeris has a more stable the company’s blossoming exploration South Australia.
footing to pursue both organic and inor- portfolio.
ganic growth. In the March quarter, Aeris and JV part-
A recent EM survey has given impetus ner Argonaut Resources NL received ap-
“Tritton has done quite well in the five to exploration at Tritton with the compa- proval from the SA Minister for Aboriginal
years we have managed it,” Labuschagne ny confident it can not only add reserve Affairs and Reconciliation for a 70-hole
said. “We kept things going through the extensions at Tritton Deeps and Avoca deep diamond drilling programme over
downturn and it now has a five-year mine Tank but also uncover the district’s next an area of 120sq km of the Torrens geo-
life and both continuity and depth at Trit- major orebody. physical anomalies.
ton and Murrawombie which is not yet in
reserves or resources. “This is a known copper region and we The decision paves the way to explora-
are confident we’ll find another deposit. tion after more than a decade of hiatus.
“It means we have a unique platform to The real opportunity is finding the next
relaunch and we are looking at another big orebody and we are spending money The project is on Lake Torrens, near
fairly good quarter for June so we can on that,” he said. the eastern margin of South Australia’s
close the financial year with decent mo- Gawler Craton, is within 50km Oz Miner-
mentum.” Away from NSW, the company is finally als Ltd’s Carrapateena deposit and 75km
of BHP Ltd’s Olympic Dam mine.
Labuschagne said Aeris’ commit-
ment to Tritton through the copper price The JV is chasing IOCG systems in the
downturn meant it was well-positioned style of its operating neighbours.
to quickly respond if bullish market fore-
casts for the red metal materialise. “There has been a lot of interest in the
project because it has a lot of targets and
“In the down cycle we kept spending it is a big anomaly, larger than the Olym-
capital because we didn’t want to be in pic Dam anomaly,” Labuschagne said.
a position of not being able to move to
fill the gap,” he said. “So, we spent some In late April, Argonaut raised $5.5 mil-
investment capital to ensure we could lion at 2c/share to fund its 30% share of
ramp up, including opening up Mur- the first diamond drilling campaign.
rawombie.
“We flew a new gravity survey in April
“It means we have an opportunity in to give us better quality data and we will
the Australian copper space. There are spend $15 million in the first round of
a few big guys out there but then it falls drilling over 18 months,” Labuschagne
away and we could potentially step into said. “That first programme will be 30-
that mid-tier space, add a few mines or 40 holes, going down 1,000-1,500m be-
consolidate things together. We have got cause of the cover. That sounds crazy
willing support from shareholders who deep but if you find something of a size
are in this stock for growth and are sup- between Olympic Dam and Carrapatee-
portive of the management strategy.” na, it becomes very interesting.”

While M&A may grab headlines, La- – Dominic Piper

Andre Labuschagne

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JUNE 2018 PAGE 59

COPPER FOCUS

Xanadu unlikely to be
alone forever

It is by design that Xanadu Xanadu is crunching the numbers internally on a starter project at Kharmagtai
Mines Ltd does not have
a major mining company the style of alteration we are seeing. The Stewart said.
on its register at the mo- hole isn’t into the guts of it yet and it is still The prevailing upward trend in cop-
ment. running economic grades, which is very
impressive, and like all good porphyries it per prices and a looming copper sup-
The copper explorer should have good 500-600m intercepts; ply shortage could be the backdrop for
has been toiling away in we are still drilling it at 1,200m. companies such as Xanadu to see some
Mongolia for some time value for projects like Kharmagtai.
and given the location of “We have already got some estab-
its flagship Kharmagtai lished resources and we’re blessed that Overcoming the perceived difficulties
project – 120km north of those resources are very shallow and of operating in Mongolia is something
Oyu Tolgoi – and the rate hence any opportunity to develop a low for investors to consider but also to be
of discovery success, strip ratio pit is very good so we are look- weighed up is the severe lack of emerg-
Xanadu is being closely ing at what a starter project looks like at ing projects to fulfil the growing demand
watched. the moment. But, also, these porphyry for copper, fuelled in particular by the
districts occur in clusters and a vast ma- electric vehicle market.
With a maiden resource jority of the whole district sits under sand
of 1,533 mlb copper and cover. We put out some very good bed- “If you look at the M&A space, it is
about 2 moz gold, Khar- rock drilling results about a year ago and alive and kicking but the equities are very
magtai is already consid- part of the drilling we are doing is just a slow,” Stewart said.
ered a world-class por- follow-up on that,” he said.
phyry project, and Xanadu “There’s not too many opportunities
continues to top it up with Xanadu is crunching the numbers in- out there and we all know copper in [de-
new discoveries. ternally on a starter project at Kharma- veloping jurisdictions] takes 10 years
gtai and with initial assumptions looking from exploration to development and that
“SolGold [plc] and New- good, Stewart said the aim was to put is a quick development. We are seeing
crest [Mining Ltd] and our- some “hard data on it” in the back half a lot of interest in the country from other
selves are probably the only ones drilling of 2018. majors and certainly copper is the No.1
world-class porphyries at the moment. commodity for mid-tiers and majors.
We are the only one which doesn’t have He said the company’s skill-set was in
a major on the register and that is not exploration, so finding a suitable partner “If you go back three years there was
through a lack of interest, it is through de- would be the desired outcome. a lot of M&A in the copper space and a
cision-making from us,” Xanadu manag- lot of those were priced at $US3.50-4/lb
ing director Andrew Stewart told Paydirt. “You have to do it [partner with some- copper.”
one] when you can obtain the value and
Zarra is the latest find, with the first drill with the drilling we are showing that there – Mark Andrews
hole into the porphyry body intersect- is a lot of value to add to that project,”
ing more than 800m of near continuous
copper-gold mineralisation; the longest
exploration drill hole intersect produced
by Xanadu since drilling started at Khar-
magtai in 2014.

At the time of print, drilling was under
way at Zarra, with results at hand from
KHDDH462: 606m @ 0.36% copper and
0.32 g/t gold (0.56% copper equivalent),
including 507m @ 0.39% and 0.36 g/t
(0.62% copper eq.) from 557m.

“We have had a very high strike rate
of hitting porphyries on these anomalies,
hence we have expressed the explora-
tion to test as many of those as possible
to make sure that we focus our next re-
source work on the best one. This one
looks pretty good – there are two others
to test – but will require two or three more
holes to understand a broader structure
and the grade,” Stewart said.

“It is looking pretty good; we like the
equal copper-to-gold ratio and we like

PAGE 60 JUNE 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

Minotaur and associates

The adage of being judged by the needs a different approach and a dif-
company one keeps isn’t being ap- ferent way of thinking about it,” he said.

plied to Minotaur Exploration Ltd. “These are the types of assets we

Managing director Andrew Woskett like where there is demonstrated miner-

has faced criticism for the company’s alisation to work with. Whether we were

fondness for partnering across a range to develop a resource base or mine is

of projects which investors ascribe lit- at the forefront of our ambitions. Alter-

tle value to. But on closer inspection, natively, if the projects appear to be a

Minotaur is in an enviable position for scale that really requires a large num-

a junior company, with copper heavies ber of dollars then we would be very

Oz Minerals Ltd and Sandfire Resourc- happy to put those opportunities in front

es NL on board at both project and eq- of the likes of Oz and others for funding

uity level. support.”

The latter holds 1% and is also in- Woskett is bullish on copper and oth-

volved in a JV with Minotaur, while er base metals and while keen to add to

fellow South Australia-based Oz is re- the company’s portfolio in these areas,

sponsible for much of the heavy lifting divesting and monetising non-core pro-

at the Eloise JV in Queensland’s Clon- jects is under way.

curry district. In similar vein to the Rover JV, terms

Under a $10 million farm-in agree- have been agreed for Andromeda to

ment, Oz can earn up to 70% of Eloise Andrew Woskett progress Minotaur’s kaolin-halloysite

where a 5,000m diamond drilling pro- deposits in SA. By funding $6 million

gramme was under way at the time of more intensely. They will always be will- over five years, Andromeda can earn

print. ing to look at any projects we put on the 75% of the kaolin-halloysite deposits

To the end of 2017, Oz had invested table because they respect our abilities.” covering three tenements.

$5 million in the tenements comprising Minotaur has persisted in Cloncurry “We don’t have the resources these

the Eloise JV and has since expressed for some time now and while a discovery things demand, the trick is trying to

its balance sheet capabilities by moving remains a way off, Woskett believes the match your ambitions with your abil-

to acquire Brazilian-focused copper pro- company’s long-term planning and posi- ity and your metal exploration with your

ducer Avanco Resources Ltd. tioning in the copper-rich district is start- cash balance,” Woskett said.

The $410 million offer by Oz to acquire ing to pay off. “A criticism of us has been having JVs,

“Avanco closed last month and while Minotaur will look to defy its knockers but when we said we were farming out

the takeover target’s our industrial miner-

shareholders need als project the other

no introduction to Oz, Their success is our success. If they day we lost value. [In-
they are probably less [Oz] are getting recognition in the vestors] don’t seem
familiar with the min- to understand that
er’s junior partners. market for being smart and doing these someone else is will-
However, Minotaur ing to pump $6 million

enjoys basking in the really groundbreaking deals – in contrast into the project and
reflected limelight. to just about all other majors which don’t Andromeda will set up
a management group
“Their success is our

success. If they [Oz] tend to do deals in the small company space to specifically make
are getting recognition – then that draws attention to them and this high purity alumi-
in the market for being na project work. We

smart and doing these ultimately draws attention to us. have always said this
really groundbreaking belongs in a separate

deals – in contrast to vehicle but it is hard to

just about all other ma- IPO an industrial min-

jors which don’t tend to do deals in the and continue pursuing JVs deemed wor- erals project. Andromeda understands

small company space – then that draws thy, an example being a binding heads- the market and chemistry to make this

attention to them and ultimately draws at- of-agreement with Andromeda Metals work, all these things that we are doing

tention to us,” Woskett told Paydirt. Ltd to reinvigorate exploration at the Rov- have taken a long time to come to fruition

“I am very happy with all of that. We er copper-gold in Tennant Creek, North- but they are starting to now.”

[juniors] are competing for money from ern Territory, where it can earn 75% by – Mark Andrews
the same resources and while we have spending $5 million over six years.

that [funding] from Oz, more importantly Woskett said Rover was the type of

we have built up a relationship with them. asset to which Minotaur could apply its

There is such a high level of trust and re- expertise to good effect.

spect going both ways, which creates op- “It is not greenfields, it is quite ad-

portunities in the future for us to engage vanced stage exploration but we think it

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JUNE 2018 PAGE 61

MINING SERVICES REVIEW

Mining starts sorting itself out

Ore sorting was once the domain of was “probably a bit early” in the technol- print achieved.”
diamond mines but the rate of pro- ogy adoption cycle for mining. OSA’s major breakthrough came when

gress in the area is leading miners to “We have had to educate the industry Western Areas Ltd committed to a large-

apply the technology to an array of com- on the technology and how it should be scale ore sorter project at its Forrestania

modities and project situations. applied, there is still a lack of understand- nickel operations in WA.

Recent years have seen a number of ing about it,” he said. “Some companies The ore sorter treated a previously

precious and base metals miners intro- like the idea but have little understanding written-off low-grade stockpile which had

duce the technology into their operations of how to apply ore sorting technology. accumulated over many years at the Fly-

as they strive to maintain margins amid If you don’t carry out the required test ing Fox mine.

falling head grades but Kalgoorlie-based work or give them the quality feed and Initiated in December 2016, the ore

Ore Sorting Australia Pty Ltd (OSA) man- have the right size fractions going into it, sorter provided a low-cost ore feed for

aging director Blake Stanley believes it you won’t get the results you want. OSA the mill and allowed Western Areas to

could have even wider application. offers the whole package around its ap- achieve its blended grade of 4-5% nick-

Stanley established OSA in 2015 and plication, providing savings on capex and el, in the process reducing unit costs with
“is now preparing to purchase the compa- de-risking projects.
a total of 170,000t of previously disre-

ny’s third ore sorter, a newly garded low-grade material sifted

released Gen 2 Tomra XRT If you don’t carry out the through the ore sorter.
1200 having witnessed in- The company’s success with

creased interest from a required test work or give Western Areas has meant more
number of miners. them the quality feed and have the companies are willing to con-
sider the virtues of ore sorting on
OSA grew out of Stan-

ley’s Crushing Service So- right size fractions going into it, you precious and base metals opera-
lutions (CSS) following the won’t get the results you want. OSA tions.
offers the whole package around its
application of ore sorting “There is a lot of interest start-
technology through a large- ing to come to use, from the gold
scale test project at Central industry in particular but even

Norseman gold mine. application, providing savings on from iron ore,” Stanley said. “We
“We were looking at how capex and de-risking projects. can offer the entire front-end so-
lution; it is beneficiation without
we could value-add in the

crushing and screening the wet plant.”

space and in working with Metals X Ltd is about to com-

Central Norseman Gold we started look- “OSA can offer the market a new alter- mission two Tomra ore sorters at its Re-

ing at ore sorting in earnest,” Stanley told native to the traditional processing plant nison tin mine in Tasmania and OSA has

Paydirt. “The project with Central Norse- consisting of a crushing plant that feeds also seen interest from industrial miner-

man showed the ore sorters had the po- into a mill. OSA can supply the complete als miners and tungsten companies.

tential to add value and we made the front end processing plant consisting Stanley said the quest for lower oper-

decision to purchase our first ore sorter of crushing screening and ore sorting ating costs was a prime driver of com-

without actually having a customer.” combined in the one fixed plant instal- panies’ interest in ore sorting technology.

Sorting technology is widely used in lation resulting in a lot smaller backend And, given its relationship with CSS,

the recycling and food industries – and processing plant to achieve the desired OSA could offer clients services which

increasingly in the diamond sector – but product yields, and a substantially lower incorporate a complete mine-crush-

Stanley admits that decision meant OSA costs and improved environmental foot- screen-sort package.

PAGE 62 JUNE 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

Ore Sorting Australia’s new Tomra ore sorter has enabled the company to offer a complete front end
processing plant consisting of crushing, screening and ore sorting within one fixed plant installation

“We are now preparing to purchase with legacy issues of dumps.” non-ferrous metals such as gold, nickel
our third machine and it is because of For now, OSA is working on projects and copper,” he said.
our ability to do it on a cost per tonne ba-
sis that we can get the price down,” he at existing and short-term projects such “If you are chasing high-grade nickel
said. “Introducing an ore sorter can lead as at Beta Hunt nickel mine but Stanley you are likely creating low-grade stock-
to reduced capex, reduced opex and re- envisions a future in which ore sorting piles as part of your mine design. Install-
duced haulage costs. There aren’t a lot could be implemented from the begin- ing an ore sorter in the flowsheet will al-
of new mills going in so if you can reduce ning of operations. low you to take away the ore from those
haulage volumes by 20-40% and get the stockpiles, increasing your mill through-
same amount of ounces you are increas- “As the OEM Tomra employs a variety put but also leaving you with a much
ing your margins.” of sensors, the sorters can be applied cleaner waste dump.”
to an array of minerals and rocks; from
The benefits expand beyond cost industrial minerals such as limestone, – Dominic Piper
structures with ore sorting able to reduce quartz, calcite and phosphates to slag,
the environmental challenges associated ferrous metals, coal, gemstones and
with the storage of low-grade stockpiles.
Blake Stanley and Michael Harrington of Ore Sorting Australia in Germany with
“The environmental benefits are mas- Anthony Sacca (centre) during the dry commissioning test run of OSA’s newest ore sorter
sive,” Stanley said. “It was an aspect that
wasn’t initially raised with Western Areas
but certainly came to light as the opera-
tion unfolded. Not only was that low-
grade stockpile uneconomic but it also
had an environmental cost attached to it.
There was nickel sulphides still in there
and there was also a lot of rubbish from
underground. We took all of that out, as
well as the nickel, and ended up with a
20-30mm clean product which could be
used for road base.”

Stanley is eager to pursue ore sorter
technology’s ability to solve environmen-
tal challenges, particularly in legacy is-
sue situations.

“If you have to rehabilitate a mine, you
can apply ore sorters to remove par-
ticularly hazardous material from waste
rock, leaving you with a clean product
you could perhaps even sell,” he said.
“We are already looking at one project
which has been highlighted by the WA
State Government, and dealing with a lot
of companies in the Northern Territory
and Queensland where they need help

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JUNE 2018 PAGE 63

MINING SERVICES REVIEW

No subs for metallurgists

Good metallurgy may not rescue a try is now building a wider innova-
poor project but bad metallurgy
can certainly kill a good one, so it is tion agenda and Connelly sees a
perhaps surprising that so few juniors
can count on processing experience continuing role for metallurgical
on their boards.
advances in the industry.
The vast majority of junior mining
company boards consist of geolo- “Increasingly, the industry is talk-
gists, engineers, lawyers and finance
professionals with mineral processing ing about ‘smart mining’ and it is
executives in the minority. METS En-
gineering managing director Damian happening in mineral processing
Connelly frequently witnesses the
lack of processing knowledge during through the whole industry. It can
interactions with boards and manage-
ment teams and believes the over- sometimes take 20 years to get ac-
sight continues to prove a problem for
companies developing projects. cepted practices but it is happen-

“It is one thing to find a deposit and ing.
another thing to mine it but to extract
maximum value from it, you need “And, it is also a process of con-
a specialist in mineral processing,”
Connelly, a 40-year veteran of the tinuous evolution. CIL now versus
industry, told Paydirt. “A metallurgist
can make the difference between a pro- 30 years ago is chalk and cheese
ject going nowhere and having legs.”
and gravity recovery techniques
The Australian mining industry is lit-
tered with examples of the drastic con- have also gone through large im-
sequences of failing to get the metallurgy
right and it is perhaps surprising that provements.
miners still display a naivety around the
importance of a sound processing strat- “It is the same with HPAL, things
egy for their projects.
have improved and when you look
Connelly believes companies’ view on
metallurgy has changed little over the at First Quantum [Minerals Ltd],
last three decades.
they got HPAL working at Raven-
“Companies are no more aware than
they were 30 years ago and a lot of cur- sthorpe before the nickel price
rent projects show that,” he said.
Damian Connelly killed the project.”
This can be a fatal mistake but one
which can be avoided if the correct plan- Ore sorting technology is anoth-
ning is in place, according to Connelly.
little understanding of the process and er area where developments continue to
“At the early stage it may cost thou-
sands of dollars to rectify problems,” he where they have gone wrong. reach market.
said. “Once in operation, you are looking
at hundreds of thousands. And, some- “In reality, there is no substitute for “Now we are getting better techniques
times it is just not possible to fix a prob-
lem when a project is up and running.” knowledge, experience and skill and for ore sorting and it has potential to ben-

The industry, however, continues to re- there are no shortcuts in metallurgy so eficiate low-grade material,” Connelly
peat mistakes, something which is driven
by the desire to achieve development you need an expert. You wouldn’t let a said before warning that caution would
goals, Connelly said.
plumber fix your car so why would you still be needed when applying innova-
“I think sometimes people’s egos get in
the way of sound project development so look to a mining engineer to fix your tions. “We had one client looking at it but
there is an attitude of ‘let’s build this pro-
ject’ without considering the metallurgy plant?” they decided to put it in after it was up
in depth,” he said. “Look at the make-up
of boards; it is very rare to have a met- Metallurgy may seem like alchemy to and running, which is perhaps a sensible
allurgist in there. We are often asked by
boards about certain projects but even the unexperienced but Connelly main- approach.”
when you explain it to them, they have
tains there is no magic, with expert Connelly sees innovation as impera-

knowledge and comprehensive test work tive to Australia’s future as a global lead-

being the key to ensuring an operation er in mining.

finds the best chemistry mix. “The industry needs technology and

“That’s why you always do test work innovation to retain the competitive cost

first,” he said. “Some companies spend advantages we have built in Australia,”

hundreds of millions without doing the he said.

pilot work first. You have to be careful. Whatever the innovations which come

We have done due diligence on projects to processing, it is likely METS will be

before where the feasibility study has at the vanguard as it has been for much

described the metallurgy as ‘simple’ but of the 30 years it has been in existence.

we have then found they are proposing While gold and base metals continue to

unproven techniques or the deposit has provide the base of the firm’s work, the

eight different types of ores.” on-trend minerals are also attracting at-

Connelly said this stemmed from pro- tention.

cessing, geology and mining depart- “Gold continues to be a big part of the

ments failing to communicate, leaving business but increasingly lithium and

gaps where there should be harmony. now cobalt is coming to our attention.

“People working in technical towers There is still a fair bit of copper work for

are not on the same page,” he said. us and nickel is starting to pick up after

Mineral processing has witnessed per- being dead for a long time.”

haps the biggest advances within mining – Dominic Piper
over the last 30 years with the emer-

gence of processes such as carbon-in-

leach (CIL) and high pressure acid leach

(HPAL) technology. The rest of the indus-

PAGE 64 JUNE 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT



MINING SERVICES REVIEW

GReat time to serve

GR Engineering Services Ltd GR Engineering’s new head office in Perth. GR was founded in 2006 and has gone
(GRES) weathered one of the from strength-to-strength in the mining services sector
worst downturns experienced in the
mining sector better than most and and over the next five years we will re- cessing industry in Australia continues
now has a firm footing to deliver on main active in promoting and recruiting to blossom, with Capricorn Metals Ltd is-
its growth aspirations. key personnel.” suing a conditional letter of intent for the
award of a process design and construct
Expectations are for the company An even spread of experience across contract at the Karlawinda gold project to
to increase year-on-year revenue the key roles at GRES will hold the com- the company.
from $230-250 million up towards pany in good stead, as general sentiment
$350 million on a consistent basis. improves across the mining sector, in The contract will potentially be worth
Australia and abroad. $93.1 million and will entail process en-
The engineering, consultancy and gineering, design and construction of a
contracting company has banked on Such is GRES’s reputation in the sec- new 3 mtpa CIL processing plant and as-
projects concerning gold and base tor, the company has no less than 25-30 sociated infrastructure at Karlawinda.
metals, but as the mining market studies on the books (up from the 12-14
starts to change, GRES has adapt- averaged in 2015) at any given time in In addition to being the outfit of choice
ed accordingly. the current environment. in Australia, GRES has a strong focus
on growing its presence in the Americas
“To do more project work you Findlay said there was a noticeable while also maintaining a strong footing in
have to have a more extensive and change in junior companies being able to Africa.
diverse development pipeline. We access what they needed to get projects
have deliberately changed the skill moving and GRES continues to be a will- “Our focus in Africa hasn’t diminished,
and experience mix in our company ing provider of support and services to we currently have opportunities in Tan-
to be able to successfully deliver project owners. zania that are somewhat delayed by the
studies in commodities that we have change in mining law. We remain hopeful
not been traditionally known for,” “In Australia, lots of juniors have done that is going to resolve itself very soon,
GRES project development manag- really good work and have ready-to-go and create clarity and remove some of
er Stewart Findlay told Paydirt. projects for the near term, what they the sovereign risk it currently presents
need is the ability to raise equity and, if for companies with projects in Tanzania.
“Over the last couple of years need be, to secure debt funding under When that occurs we have two ready-to-
we have been successfully secur- reasonable terms. Those two factors go construction projects in that country,”
ing studies in uranium, high purity probably haven’t changed a great deal in Findlay said.
alumina (HPA), conducted more work in the last 18 months but I think the signs
mineral sands and in some of the tech- are there that it is getting a little easier on – Mark Andrews
nology metals. We are moving with the that front,” Findlay said.
market, as well as growing our pipeline
of core business with the aim of hope- GRES’ specialty in fixed-price engi-
fully achieving our first annual revenue neering design and construction ser-
growth target of $350 million sometime vices to the resources and mineral pro-
in the not too distant future.”

The fast changing nature of the mining
sector and the emergence of companies
scoping out battery minerals opportuni-
ties means GRES remains committed to
diversifying its skills base as required.

Founded in 2006, GRES has been
served by a loyal group of staff, many of
whom have racked up 10 years service
for the Perth-headquartered company.

Findlay said “retaining knowledge and
internal understanding of what makes
GRES tick” was one of the backbones of
its success.

“It is an important aspect of doing
EPC lump sum turnkey project work.
The company has staff at all levels of the
business that understand project cost-
ing, the importance of schedule and all
things necessary in bringing together a
turnkey project for our clients,” he said.

“We’re always in the market for talent.
The company is currently managed by a
group of very senior industry profession-
als. We have succession plans in place

PAGE 66 JUNE 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT



MINING SERVICES REVIEW

Making metallurgy count

One of Australia’s leading metallurgi-
cal consultancies has implored min-
ing companies not to neglect the impor-

tance of understanding the physical and

chemical behaviours of the minerals they

wish to process.

David Symons and Steve McGhee

have witnessed many highs and lows in

the past two decades since establishing

Independent Metallurgical Operations

Pty Ltd (IMO) as a boutique consultancy

and metallurgical laboratory in 1998.

If there is one thing that has emerged

above all else during those past 20 years

it is the strong emphasis that successful

operations have placed on understand-

ing the metallurgical characteristics of

an orebody. However, metallurgy often

lags behind resource definition and en-

gineering in the early stages of project

development, with budgets drawn up ac- IMO founding directors Steve McGhee and David Symons

cordingly.

Speaking to Paydirt during a tour of McGhee added: “You could spend tens Symons and McGhee met as budding

IMO’s metallurgical laboratory in Welsh- of millions of dollars to find a resource metallurgists at university in the early

pool, Symons said test work was an and drill it out, and you could spend tens 1980s before reuniting almost 20 years

investigative process and mining com- of millions of dollars, if not hundreds of later to establish IMO. Another 20 years

panies needed to be flexible with their millions of dollars, on a processing plant, on and the pair have cast their eye over

budgets in order to get the best econom- but people could quite often baulk at more than 500 different mineral deposits

ic result for the project in question. spending a few hundred thousand dol- across every continent.

“Testing is cheap and mine failure lars on metallurgical test work. Despite their vast experience, the in-

disastrous,” Symons said. “We educate “Sometimes the ore might be very kind dustry veterans admit they still learn

our clients in the process of letting them and be very straightforward and will re- something new about metallurgy as each

know that if we don’t test options, they quire minimal work – and we wouldn’t year passes. In recent times, the emer-

will never know what is optimum and suggest to anybody they would need to gence of battery minerals such as lithium

what is the most economic process. We do any more work if that’s the case – but and graphite – and their respective appli-

have seen companies both locally and quite often Mother Nature is not that kind cations in new world technologies – has

internationally not do enough test work, and orebodies are variable and do pre- presented such opportunities.

just refuse to do it, and end up in all sorts sent problems. “A lot of it is about applying old princi-

of trouble.” “If you don’t understand that before ples and recognised chemistry, but into

you build your pro- new commodities,” Symons said. “It’s

cessing plant, you been a challenge, but a pleasurable chal-

might be building the lenge for our technical teams to upskill

wrong processing and investigate. We’re very fortunate to

plant or you’re not have a team that relishes the challenge

going to get the re- of these opportunities.”

coveries or the con- More emphasis is also being placed on

centrate grades that the importance of metallurgical test work

you’re expecting.” at the very beginning of an orebody’s

development, some of which

is driven by JORC reporting

requirements.

IMO senior metallurgist Pe-

ter Adamini said savvy inves-

tors were also more aware of

how a lack of thorough metal-

lurgical testing can negatively

impact a future or existing

mining operation.

“Investors know it’s not just

A copper sample from MOD Resources Ltd’s T3 project in enough to see drill results, as

Botswana is run through the AGITAIR flotation machine they want to be able to see

PAGE 68 JUNE 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

IMO has maintained the same laboratory facility in Welshpool Senior metallurgist Peter Adamini and laboratory manager Harley
since its humble beginnings in 1998 Davies keep a close eye on all things taking place in the IMO lab

grades and recoveries as well,” Adamini as an area in desperate need of more can help make improvements. Test work
said. graduates. is usually the starting point for being able
to demonstrate where the potential for
“You’ll find a lot of investors on Hot- Independence Group NL managing improvement lies.”
Copper now and they’re all trying to edu- director Peter Bradford – also a metallur-
cate each other on the metallurgy and gist – is backing the push to attract more While IMO would be considered small
the type of numbers to expect. They’re youngsters to a profession currently av- in terms of overall staff numbers com-
looking at other comparative deposits eraging less than 10 new graduates an- pared to some other prolific metallurgical
and saying, ‘well, these guys got that, nually. laboratories around the world, the com-
this is what these guys are getting’. In- pany would almost certainly boast one of
vestors are definitely getting wiser as far McGhee said many mine sites were the highest ratios of metallurgists to vol-
as metallurgy goes, through collabora- crying out for qualified metallurgists to ume of work on its books.
tion on HotCopper and forums like that.” play key roles in improving operational
efficiencies on the back of a downturn Adamini, who has been with IMO for
IMO has proven to be a strong breed- which saw the market demand lower cost the past seven years, said the organisa-
ing ground for the next generation of met- bases. tion had an enviable reputation for being
allurgists and both Symons and McGhee able to find and develop the best metal-
are proud to have accepted many gradu- “The labs are generally a starting lurgical result for its clients.
ates through their facility over the past point for understanding metallurgy and
two decades. process options in the development “We’re there putting in the time to make
phase of a mining project and then going sure that we get the flowsheet developed
Having an organisation such as IMO through into operations, troubleshooting as best we can, making sure that we’re
speaking so passionately about up and and understanding how you can best op- putting all the options on the table, mak-
coming metallurgists is crucial for this timise a process once it is up and run- ing sure that when that company does
particular arm of the resources industry. ning,” McGhee said. present that data to the engineer, he or
Metallurgy was identified by WA School she is not going to come back and say,
of Mines director Sam Spearing last year “There are mine sites we still go to to- ‘well, you haven’t done this, you haven’t
day where this just doesn’t happen and done that,” Adamini said.

that presents an “Because of our experience with deal-
opportunity for us ing with the engineers, we know what
if we are actually data they need and we make sure we
called up to inves- recommend what work gets done so
tigate problems when they do go to the engineering com-
they might have. pany the data is there. It’s not efficient to
We relish the op- have the engineers sitting there scratch-
portunity to go to ing their heads for three months while
sites and see if we
they wait for more data to come in.”
Symons added: “We want to get it

right the first time around. We’re not
here doing the work for the sake of
doing work. That’s why we’re here,
growing and blossoming 20 years
later.”

– Michael Washbourne

Panning for gold from Thor Explorations Ltd’s
Segilola project in Nigeria

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JUNE 2018 PAGE 69

REGIONAL ROUNDUP AFRICA

Azumah strikes deeper blow

Early results from a new drill- in early May. Stone saw the
ing campaign at the Wa gold spike as proof that the Ibaera

project are already justifying deal brought the cash need-

Azumah Resources Ltd’s deci- ed to create some momen-

sion to bring in a partner for the tum.

project. “Investors didn’t under-

The company described the stand how the deal worked

first batch of results from a new and only saw that we were

drilling programme as a “game giving 47.5% of the project

changer” for Wa, with assay away,” he said.

results delivering intercepts of Wallbank and Ibaera chief

44m @ 5.37 g/t gold from 99m, financial officer Chris Alex-

27m @ 2.43 g/t from 137m and ander have witnessed such

9m @ 3.9 g/t from 144m. concerns from shareholders

Azumah managing direc- and companies before but

tor Stephen Stone said he had they don’t see Ibaera as a

been delighted by the results classic private equity fund.

as the company and JV part- “We are not that traditional

ner Ibaera Capital attempt to aggressive private equity

breathe new life into a project First results from a new programme of deeper drilling at the Wa fund which comes in late as a
which had stalled over the last project in Ghana have delivered Azumah encouraging results white knight and takes all the
five years. upside,” Alexander said. “We

“Azumah has spent $80-100 million dirt the ongoing drilling would determine look where we can provide effective help

and drilled around 500,000m of holes whether the 1 moz gold reserve mark is to a company to get it to the next level.

over the last 10 years but nothing has re- hit before the end of the year. “It’s a very collaborative relationship

ally moved in the last five years. We just “The programme is planned all the way with Azumah. There are not many com-

didn’t quite get to where we needed to through to March 2019 but we will have to panies in the market who are able to

be with the reserve, then the GFC hit,” stop for the wet in July/August,” Wallbank raise $17 million for exploration when

Stone said. said. “That’s when we will look at the re- their market cap is $20 million and they

“There was always a belief that given source and reserve numbers but we are get left in that limbo state between ad-

Azumah’s focus on shallow, open pitta- already very positive it will be up quite a vanced exploration and construction.”

ble mineralisation, we hadn’t tested the bit on the existing reserve.” Ibaera’s commitment to Wa will ensure

potential for a high-grade feeder zone at Stone admitted a 1 moz gold reserve the project is funded through to a deci-

depth. Ibaera reviewed all the data we was a minimum target. sion-to-mine, allowing Azumah the luxu-

had and rebuilt the geological model. “Everyone wants a 1 moz reserve, we ry of not having to worry about achieving

This programme has validated that new have 624,000oz already, which probably short-term market gains.

targeting model.” isn’t quite enough for a new project in “I think it was a big step for Azumah but

Ibaera entered the project in Septem- a remote part of West Africa,” he said. Stephen and the team are comfortable

ber last year, handing Azumah $17 mil- “But, we can see where a large part of with the fact that we are aligned,” Wall-

lion for a 47.5% share in Wa, northern the ounces will come from. The rest will bank said. “There is a perception that if

Ghana. Azumah shares actually fell on be generated via exploration success. you are a junior explorer you don’t sell

the news with investors concerned the It’s not in the bag yet but there is a clear the asset. Instead, you raise $1-2 million

company was giving up such a big por- pathway to get there.” money at a 20% discount – plus a 5%

tion of the project but Stone said the The current drilling is targeting down- broker fee – and hope the next drilling

early drilling results reinforced his feeling plunge extensions to the main Kunche programme offers enough to keep going

that Ibaera’s entry was necessary if Wa orebody and the JV believes further and start the process again. There per-

was to be developed. deep drilling will continue to open up un- haps is not enough appreciation for what

“We knew what needed to be done derground possibilities at Wa. a big chunk of cash can do for a project.”

and clearly it is a project where, if you “We know there is gold there and For Azumah, that “big chunk of cash” is

spend the money, you get the ounces,” Azumah looked at the underground but being deployed to good effect and if the

he said. “So, we needed something that didn’t have the drilling to take it further,” results continue to flow, it could finally

didn’t dilute our shareholders and bring- Stone said. “But, if you look at Chirano break through the barrier between explo-

ing Ibaera in at the project level does and other deposits in West Africa, just a ration and construction.

that. Azumah had gone off the radar and few deeper holes can transform the en- “Ibaera is spending up to $17 million

wasn’t delivering any results that could tire project. and that should be enough to get us to

put us back on the radar, the Ibaera fund- “Ibaera could see the geological op- a funding and development position,”

ing allows this.” portunity and that we had only ticked the Stone said. “There is a very well thought

Drilling at Wa is continuing with the JV surface of mineralisation given the his- out schedule and budget and we will get

partners intent on expanding the existing tory of this style of deposit in Ghana.” to where we want to be.”

624,000oz gold reserve. Ibaera manag- Azumah shares put on 56% on the – Dominic Piper
ing director James Wallbank told Pay- day the drilling results were announced

PAGE 70 JUNE 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT



REGIONAL ROUNDUP

Magnum reloads at Gravelotte

Magnum Mining & Exploration cost benefit analysis.”
Ltd is piecing back together Magnum has a handle on

the Gravelotte emerald project in how it would like to bring

South Africa’s Limpopo province. Gravelotte emeralds to market,

Mining started at the project but a greater challenge at this

in 1929 and reached a heyday point in time is selling the fin-

between the 1950s and 1970s ished product given the much

before emerald prices declined, publicised trouble fellow ASX

leaving Gravelotte untouched for gemstone player Mustang Re-

almost 40 years. sources Ltd has endured.

Despite a large number of Following a failed maiden

companies producing and trad- auction of rubies from the

ing emeralds, the market re- Montepuez project in Mozam-

mains opaque and difficult to bique, Mustang shed more

understand. than half its share price and

The base model for grad- has had to regroup to convince

ing emeralds is by size, colour, the market of the quality of its

translucency and the number Mining at the Gravelotte emerald project started way back in 1929 gemstones.

of bores or intrusions within the Mustang appears to have

rock. Finding a perfect emerald is rare, working out the size fraction and where recovered some credibility in the market

but not a deterrent for Magnum. the emerald values will be, we are able to and announced the maiden sale of rubies

“We have made a lot of progress in now design a plant to wash out probably from its new office in Thailand in April.

the last 12 months in understanding the up to a third of the smaller, finer material Since September, Mustang has gener-

geology and we are going to sample a that won’t have any economic value. So ated total sales of $1.23 million from the

number of areas through this trial min- far that is turning up 30-35% of what we sale of 100,184ct at $12.29/ct.

ing,” Magnum chief executive Grant But- have after it has been through the crush- Button said Mustang’s continued suc-

ton told Paydirt. er which helps for sorting purposes.” cess would help change perceptions

“We have processed 2,000t of dumps Testing and analysis of the washing about the gemstones industry for the

and we will do 8,000t of hard rock ma- plant and optical sorting processes were better.

terial and as we go we are finding more expected to be completed and the pre- “The Mustang situation just highlights

and more data and we may vary where ferred design chosen last month. how important it is to get the marketing

we take the tonnages from to test other Emerald sorting is traditionally done right and we are obviously talking to lots

potential areas.” by hand, making it labour intensive with of people about what to do, but until you

Phase one of the two-phase 10,000t associated security and quality control get a parcel and understand what the

trial mining and processing programme issues. Magnum has been using opti- parcel is it’s a different story,” he said.

started in the March quarter, with the cal sorters and has worked closely with “We would anticipate that our market is

emphasis on testing historical dumps to various groups to satisfy itself the hand India and we have been able to establish

gauge grade and recoveries. method is most applicable. some contacts there. We have been to

The company is targeting emeralds in “The work we have done to date is Bangkok and established relationships

the range of 250,000ct-plus with a view allowing us to finalise a proposed treat- with people there that can assist with

of putting them to market to determine ment route and then we will be able to sit the preparation of emeralds for the sales

the demand and pricing mechanisms to down and have a look at what the opti- process and also grading and parcel-

be worked with. mum way forward is,” Button said. ling. Moving into that marketing phase,

“Hopefully that is one of the precursors “We also have a lot of data on the con- we will be trying to learn the lessons of

for making a decision to move forward to tractors and sorters to do the work, so we other people who have either been doing

commercial operations,” Button said. can start to look at that again and look it successfully or unsuccessfully; there

A mining licence has been granted at potentially purchasing a crusher, trom- are lessons to be learned from all pro-

at Gravelotte where key infrastructure mel and even an optical sorter to do a cesses.”

items are also in place. Button said while proving the qual-

“We will also be finalising our pro- ity of emeralds was critical to Mag-

cessing route and we have already num’s success, demonstrating con-

taken material from four of the histori- tinuity of supply was also important.

cal dumps to really try to learn char- To this end, the company is en-

acteristics around what is the right couraged by results indicating the

crush size to optimise the recovery continuation of emerald mineralisa-

process. I think we have been able to tion beyond the existing pit boundary

do enough sampling now to get to a at Gravelotte.

decision that 20-25mm crush [size] is – Mark Andrews
probably better than 50mm,” Button

said.

“Through having enough data, Finding the perfect emerald is rare

PAGE 72 JUNE 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

AFRICA

Minbos makes rare move

Minbos Resources Ltd has swapped Minbos is acquiring the Ambato rare earths project in Madagascar
phosphate in Angola for rare earths
in Madagascar. ity to the one it had previously devoted can’t resolve it, there may not be value
so much time and effort into researching for shareholders. If we can resolve it,
Having made the painstaking decision and developing in Angola. there could be a lot. We’re still hopeful it
to abort a proposed merger with its JV could go either way.”
partner over the Cabinda phosphate pro- Minbos appeared set to finally join
ject, Minbos undertook a global search to forces with JV partner Petril Phosphates At the time of print, Minbos was en-
find a replacement asset before settling Ltd this time last year, consolidating the gaging with potential drilling contractors
on a rare earths opportunity on the other ownership and management of Cabinda about a maiden programme at Ambato.
side of the African continent. under the one operating entity for the first Drilling and other exploration work is like-
time. ly to be funded from a recent placement
Minbos has entered into an option and rights issue which collected almost
agreement with Tana Minerals Ltd to ac- However, project operator Petril’s un- $4 million from keen shareholders.
quire 90% of the shares in MRE Mining willingness to commit to the merger frus-
(Mauritius) Ltd, whose sole asset is the trated Minbos to the point where, for the Due diligence has already returned
Ambato project in central Madagascar. second time under Reed’s tenure, the some promising metallurgy results – in-
proposed union was terminated. cluding grades of up to 5.28% TREO in
Ambato is comprised of two explora- rock chip samples – with Reed also en-
tion permits covering 440sq km. Rock “We think the ownership has to be couraged by what he has seen with his
chip samples collected over a 2.4km resolved for the project to go forward own eyes.
strike have returned grades of up to because we’re not confident the JV will
40.8% TREO with a median grade of work very well,” Reed said. “It’s got the size potential, it’s got the
3.95%. grade potential and it’s got the benefi-
“That’s what the merger was an at- ciation potential – and that’s just what
Under the option agreement with Tana, tempt to do, but we couldn’t get that done is sticking out of the ground – so if all of
Minbos will initially fork out $10,000 for on the basis it wasn’t going to add any those things come in, this has got the po-
consideration of exclusivity over the value for Minbos shareholders. There tential to be a really, really good deposit,”
project, $250,000 on drilling costs and still needs to be a resolution on the own- Reed said.
$25,000 to extend the exclusivity post ership and management and we’ll now
drilling. try and work with the [mines] department “It’s predominantly bastnasite miner-
to see if we can come up with something alisation which means it usually comes
Should Minbos wish to proceed with to realise value for shareholders. with lower uranium and thorium than the
the acquisition, the company will issue monazite rare earths. Bastnasite and
250 million shares upon renewal of the “I think we’ve been fairly candid in our monazite both have similar contents of
permits and a further 250 million shares announcements, saying we may or may neodymium and praseodymium.
upon delineation of a resource of at least not be successful at doing that. If we
200,000t of contained TREO grading no “ANSTO have essentially said that of
less than 3%. Grades of up to 40.8% TREO have been the rare earth minerals, 90% of it is bast-
returned from rock chip samples nasite which is good because it means it
Interest in rare earths projects has probably is going to be the low radioac-
spiked in recent times due to permanent tivity rare earths. Bastnasite and mona-
magnet metals neodymium and pra- zite are both OK; what you don’t want
seodymium emerging as key requisites is a 50:50 [split] because that’s a bit of
in electric vehicle motors and wind tur- a complication for the people who treat
bines. However, Minbos managing di- them. It’s good to have a lot more of one
rector Lindsay Reed said his company’s than the other.”
search for a new flagship asset was not
about joining the technology revolution. – Michael Washbourne

“We looked at quite a range of com-
modities and this was the only rare earths
project we looked at,” Reed told Paydirt.

“We reviewed probably 20 different as-
sets and this one worked quite well for us
and the shape of the company that it was
in. The guys we’re bringing in have been
working very hard on it, but not really
getting anywhere for a long time. They
love the project, but were running out of
investor enthusiasm and things like that.
We’ve managed to keep their expertise
and their in-country contacts and they’ll
continue to be involved as we go along.”

Reed added his company’s long as-
sociation with Africa was one of the key
reasons for remaining on the continent,
albeit in an unrelated industrial commod-

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JUNE 2018 PAGE 73

REGIONAL ROUNDUP

Britain looks to ancient mines
for electric future

A revival of Britain’s historic metals mines could provide the country an entry point into the EV revolution

Britain is banking on a series of ancient try’s best shot at securing a piece of the The unlikely British mining revival is
mines on its southwestern tip to se- supply chain for car batteries as well as one example of how countries around
the world are scrambling to grab a piece
cure a slice of the global electric car revo- renewable energy grid connections, offi- of the EV action, an area dominated by

lution. “cials told Reuters. China, by far the biggest producer of
The English county of Cornwall We need to ensure battery metals.
the secure supply of
and the surrounding area boast the technology metals and Germany, for instance, is looking to
some of the world’s largest tin de- produce lithium at the Zinnwald pro-
posits yet their centuries-old mines critical minerals. ject in southern Saxony to help secure
have lain abandoned since the supplies for its car industry. In Finland,
1990s when a collapse in prices for a nickel mine in Sotkamo in the north
the metal made them unviable. aims to start producing material for
EVs by 2020, while battery-grade lithi-
However, a rise in demand for tin, um production is planned in Kaustinen,
to the west, in 2020.
along with other metals that can be Serbia, meanwhile, is looking to Rio
Tinto plc to develop a giant mine for ja-
used in electric vehicles, electronics darite, a newly discovered mineral that
contains both boron and lithium, in the
and renewable energy, has helped cre- “We need to ensure the secure sup- west of the country.
Governments, keen to develop future-
ate a global deficit and quadruple prices. ply of the technology metals and critical proof industrial strategies, are seeking to
establish their own sources of minerals
British officials are supporting reopening minerals,” government lawmaker Pauline needed for electrification and EVs to pro-
vide supply certainty, as well as revenue
of the mines and seeking investment, Latham, who heads a parliamentary min- and jobs.

leading to a mini-rush of mining compa- ing group, said.

nies into the area. “This is necessary with China owning

Adding to the potential, new research the majority of the market and the poten-

shows the extent to which mines also tial of a global trade war between China

contain deposits of lithium, the so-called and America.”

metal of the future. Even if explorers find success, Britain

The first industrial metals mining in is dwarfed by the likes of China, Chile and

Britain for decades represents the coun- Australia in terms of battery resources.

PAGE 74 JUNE 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

EUROPE

The British drive has become more

pressing, officials said, because of the

country’s upcoming exit from the Euro-

pean Union, the world’s biggest trading

bloc.

The charge into southwest England is

being led by smaller firms, mainly foreign

miners with a higher risk appetite.

About half a dozen companies are ex-

ploring in the area, with the biggest play-

ers being Canada’s Strongbow Explora-

tion Inc, Australia’s New Age Exploration

Ltd and Wolf Minerals Ltd, listed in Syd-

ney and London.

In the largest Cornish project planned

so far, Strongbow is seeking to extract tin

at the 4km-long South Crofty mines as

a result of the improved tin market eco-

nomics.

“The timing is better because global

capital markets have a much more re-

ceptive attitude towards mining projects,” Australia’s New Age Exploration is one of a handful of companies present in the

Strongbow chief exectuive Richard Wil- resurgent mining hub of England’s southwest

liams said. “This gives us a good chance

of delivering on South Crofty.” (SAC), told Reuters at a conference in The SAC findings are currently being

The company needs to raise project March at Cornwall’s Camborne School used by a British company called

financing of about $110 million. To that of Mines. Cornish Lithium, which will begin

end, it plans to seek a secondary listing The Government provided $1.2 million drilling at South Crofty next year.

in London this year. It aims to start pro- towards the research, which will It has an agreement with Strongbow

duction in 2021, but first must pump out be available to all explorers. that allows it to explore using Strong-

water that has accumulated over dec- bow’s mineral rights, with Strongbow

ades of dereliction. getting royalties from any lithium extract-

New Age Exploration and its JV part- ed.

ner Strategic Minerals Inc said in March In 1998, when South Crofty was the

they had found tin, tungsten and cop- last of hundreds of Cornish tin mines to

per – all useful for EVs – near Plymouth. shut after four centuries of operation,

They have invested about $2.65 million global tin demand was around 200,000

in the project, which is at an earlier stage tpa and the tin price was languishing at

than South Crofty, and are looking to around $US5,000/t.

raise financing. Now demand has risen to around

Just over the English border in Devon, 350,000 tpa, buoyed by demand for elec-

Wolf has begun operating a mine for tronics, where it is used as a replacement

tungsten and tin. for toxic lead in solder. Tin can also be

One advantage that Britain has, in used in lithium-ion batteries, which could

terms of tin mining and investment, is have a major impact on a market already

that it is a stable location compared in deficit. Tin prices have climbed above

with big-producing nations such as $US20,000/t.

Democratic Republic of Congo and Lithium prices, meanwhile, rose by a

Myanmar. quarter last year. Spot prices are currently

A British government-funded research between $US22,000/t and $US24,000/t,

team led by Cristian Rossi analysed sat- according to industry sources.

ellite data to find changes in vegetation In Britain, officials say the country is

and temperature that indicate there are well placed to capitalise on the anticipat-

some lithium reserves alongside the tin ed boom in demand for EVs in coming

deposits in the area. years.

The study marked the first time satel- “It’s as if we’ve fallen on our

lite technology has been used to locate feet,” Darryn Quayle, a min-

lithium – a valuable technique in Corn- ing specialist at government

wall, which is covered in vegetation in Department for International

contrast to South American prospects in DEVON Trade, said. “What we have in
exposed deserts. our own backyard is quite re-

“The percentages are small, but markable.”

that does not mean it’s not relevant,” CORNWALL – Barbara Lewis, Reuters
Rossi, principal earth observations

scientist of not-for-profit research

group the Satellite Applications Catapult

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JUNE 2018 PAGE 75

SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED www.nucleussc.co.za

Neometals feeds M+W
key study contract

German-based engineering firm M+W
Group has won the contract to complete
the FEED study for Neometals Ltd’s
Kalgoorlie lithium hydroxide project.

Recent vendor testing by Veolia Wa-
ter Technologies produced a 99.99%
lithium hydroxide monohydrate suitable
for use in lithium-ion batteries, validating
the proposed production process for the
FEED study.

M+W are scheduled to deliver the
study report by the end of 2018.

The overall project feasibility study will
integrate the results of the FEED study
ahead of an investment decision by Neo-
metals in Q1 2019.

Ausdrill has staked a majority interest in seismic exploration company HiSeis Emeco finds its niche
with Matilda
Ausdrill seizes chance Resources Ltd, Independence Group
to swap interests NL, Evolution Mining Ltd and AngloGold Emeco Group has moved to acquire
Ashanti Ltd. niche equipment rental business Matilda
Ausdrill Ltd has offloaded its Diamond Equipment Holdings Pty Ltd for an enter-
Communications Pty Ltd business while “The disposal of Diamond and the in- prise value of $80 million.
taking out a majority interest in seismic vestment in HiSeis are immaterial to the
exploration specialists HiSeis Pty Ltd. group, but aligned with Ausdrill’s strategy The acquisition implies a 3.3 multi-
to focus on its core markets,” the com- ple of Matilda’s operating annualised
Private group Powerlines Plus Pty Ltd pany said. EBITDA for the March quarter, taking
has assumed control of Diamond after a into account pre-adjustments for surplus
19-year association with Ausdrill. PYBAR digs deep for working capital and other customary pur-
Mount Isa Mines chase price assumptions.
Diamond will continue operating from
its Welshpool base and all current em- Specialist underground mining con- Matilda specialises in individual rent-
ployees will be retained as part of the tractor PYBAR Mining Services has als of high-demand, low-hour, late model
transaction. been awarded a two-year contract at mining ancillary equipment.
Mount Isa Mines Ltd’s Black Rock Cave
HiSeis was established in 2009 to project in Queensland. The acquisition will be funded by a fully
commercialise the work of Curtin Univer- underwritten $90 million pro-rata accel-
sity-based professors Anton Kepic and PYBAR will complete underground erated non-renounceable entitlement of-
Milovan Urosevic, with seismic tools and decline and level development including fer to Emeco shareholders and investors.
techniques commonly used in oil and gas primary development, drive stripping and
exploration transferred across to miner- shotcreting for the Black Rock Cave pro- “Matilda Equipment provides Emeco
als exploration. ject. with a niche equipment rental business,
allowing it to provide customers an addi-
Curtin will retain a minority position in The company will employ 43 person- tional service offering,” Emeco managing
HiSeis and continue to provide research nel on site at peak production. Personnel director Ian Testrow said.
support to the company. and fleet mobilised to site last month.
“Combining Emeco and Matilda Equip-
HiSeis clients include Northern Star ment also provides Matilda Equipment

Nucleus Mining Logistics

Providing turn-key logistics and supply chain solutions into Africa

PAGE 76 JUNE 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

www.nucleussc.co.za

with a disposal channel as its equipment carried out remains subject to Ferrum CIL process plant and associated infra-
reaches the end of its first component life, Crescent receiving approval to raise up structure at Karlawinda.
while giving Emeco an additional chan- to £1 million.
nel for refreshing and sustaining our fleet The decision to appoint GR Engineer-
of ancillary equipment. There is a strong Early bird gets the ing as preferred contractor followed an
strategic rationale for combining and cre- worm at Rio Tinto invitation to tender process which began
ating value for the two businesses.” last August. GR Engineering and one
Rio Tinto Ltd has awarded an ECI con- other party were then invited to prepare
Pacific Energy acquires tract to NRW Holdings Ltd for the provi- several trade-off studies and provide
Contract Power sion of project development services. pricing on feasibility study scope modi-
fications and expansion items defined by
Pacific Energy Ltd has completed its NRW will provide services and support Capricorn.
acquisition of Contract Power Group. through early contractor engagement
and assist with providing construction Scope modifications included the in-
The acquisition provides Pacific En- expertise. stallation of a combined SAG-ball grind-
ergy with EPC capabilities, including a ing circuit, installation of a larger carbon
contract with Mineral Resources Ltd to The scope of the works to be per- elution circuit, an optimised gravity cir-
construct a 52MW gas-fired power sta- formed is not definitive and will be per- cuit, bore field power distribution, raw
tion at the Wodgina lithium project in the formed under a schedule of rates ar- water transfer tank and tailings dam de-
Pilbara. rangement, as required. cant pumps.

Commissioning and handover at Wod- Capricorn prefers GR Following the tender evaluation pro-
gina is expected in December. for Karlawinda cess, GR Engineering provided Cap-
ricorn with a lump sum turnkey price of
Pacific Energy acquired Contract Pow- GR Engineering Services Ltd has $93.1 million to design and construct the
er on a debt-free/working capital neutral been issued with a conditional letter of process plant and other supporting plant
basis. The $85 million cash component intent for the award of a process design infrastructure, thereby fixing the majority
was funded from a new $140 million debt and construct contract at Capricorn Met- of the initial construction and develop-
facility provided by ANZ and NAB. als Ltd’s Karlawinda gold project in the ment costs.
Pilbara.
In order to fulfil general working capital Capricorn flagged a capex of $120.8
requirements, Pacific Energy raised $21 Valued at $93.1 million, the contract million to develop Karlawinda in a feasi-
million via a renounceable rights issue. encompasses process engineering, de- bility study released last October.
sign and construction of a new 3 mtpa
Ferrum senses discovery Subject to finalisation of project financ-
chance at Toral ing, initial site work and construction will
begin in the September quarter.
Ferrum Crescent Ltd has joined forces
with Mining Sense Consulting to under- GR Engineering is set to be awarded a process design and construct contract
take a series of exploration activities at for Capricorn Metals Ltd’s Karlawinda gold project
the Toral lead-zinc-silver project in Spain.

Preliminary work to be carried out in-
cludes preparation of drilling sites, a
desktop study on local area and indus-
trial operations and establishing param-
eters and scheduling for a PEA on Toral.

The Mining Sense team, headed by
technical director Jesus Montero, will be
embedded within the operations team at
Toral.

Payment for the scope of work to be

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 JUNE 2018 PAGE 77

DRREIGLLIOBINTSAL ROUNDUP

Adrian Griffin’s Lithium Australia has delivered the goods during the first drilling Saracen continues
programme undertaken at the Sadisdorf JV in Germany in 30 years growth trajectory

Lithium breakthrough cobalt; 8m @ 0.18% cobalt within 18m Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd has
after 30 years @ 0.9% nickel, 0.1% cobalt; 4m @ 0.12% demonstrated the growth potential at
cobalt and 5m @ 1% nickel, 0.05% cobalt Carosue Dam and Thunderbox with suc-
Lithium Australia NL has struck sig- within 21m @ 0.7% nickel, 0.07% cobalt. cessful extensional drilling programmes.
nificant intercepts of lithium and tin in the
first diamond drill hole at the Sadisdorf Collerina reported that mineralisation At Karari, thick high-grade extension-
JV, Germany. occurred in thick zones of laterite from al drill results about 60m below the ore
or near surface, with numerous holes reserve included 19.1m @ 6.2 g/t gold,
The three-hole diamond drilling pro- ending in mineralisation, while all areas 12.3m @ 8.9 g/t, 10.5m @ 6.2 g/t, 8.9m
gramme is the first drilling at Sadisdorf tested remain open in multiple directions. @ 6.1 g/t, 8.5m @ 5.7g/t and 4.3m @
in nearly 30 years. Intercepts included 10.1 g/t. A new northern drill drive at
32.19m of continuous lithium mineralisa- Karari will target extensions up to about
tion at 0.52% lithium, while tin minerali- 900m below surface, with a southern drill
sation of 11.65m @ 0.35% was reported. drive to be available later this quarter.

Thick high-grade drill results outside
the ore reserve at Whirling Dervish in-
cluded 6.1m @ 34.3 g/t gold, 32.3m @
3 g/t, 29m @ 3.2 g/t, 19.1m @ 3.7 g/t.
Surface RC drilling under way at the Ca-
rosue Dam has been poorly explored,
especially at depth, according to the
company.

Meanwhile, at Thunderbox D Zone
(within about 500m of the mill), drill re-
sults included 27m @ 5.9 g/t gold, 38m
@ 3.6 g/t, and 11m @ 4.7 g/t (amena-
ble to open pit mining, within 100m of

Collerina sets the trend Saracen has demonstrated growth potential through the drill bit at Carosue Dam

Scout aircore drilling along the Colleri-
na Trend, Central New South Wales, has
confirmed the presence of significant co-
balt and nickel mineralisation within thick
laterite zones, Collerina Cobalt Ltd has
reported.

Peak grades from initial 4m compos-
ite samples were 0.2% cobalt and 1.2%
nickel, respectively. Some of the sig-
nificant intercepts include 12m @ 0.12%
cobalt within 21m @ 0.6% nickel, 0.1%

PAGE 78 JUNE 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

surface). At Otto Bore (9km north Significant veining at Kabotshome has encouraged Vector to extend all current and
of Thunderbox mill), drill results in- planned drill holes by a further 50m to test a new zone of mineralisation
cluded 20m @ 8.5 g/t gold, 17m @
9.6 g/t, 13m @ 9.0 g/t, 13m @ 6.6 and 5m @ 2.08 g/t included. Greenpower’s on in
g/t and 7m @ 12.1 g/t (within 100m Guyana
of surface). Vector over half way
Despite rainy conditions in Guyana,
Manono resource in Diamond drilling at the Maniema gold drilling continues smoothly for Green-
the making project, DRC, reached halfway last power Energy Ltd and JV partner Guy-
month, with Vector Resources Ltd report- ana Strategic Minerals (GMS) at the Tu-
Excitement continues to build for ing broad zones of quartz veining and resi lithium prospect within the Morabisi
AVZ Minerals Ltd ahead of an initial sulphide mineralisation. tenement area.
resource estimate from the Manono
lithium project, DRC. The confirmation of a second wider Hole TD 003 was drilled to a depth of
and deeper zone with significant veining 142.5m, with stringers ranging in thick-
The company has been plough- at the Kabotshome prospect has encour- ness up to 1m. Between 61.7m and
ing ahead with a 20,000m drilling aged Vector to extend all current and 87.7m (down-hole) a 26m wide massive
programme and expects to release planned drill holes by a further 50m to pegmatite showing varying amounts of
a resource at the end of the June test the new zone of mineralisation. silification was intersected. Cutting of the
quarter. core had started and drilling of TD 004
Initial core samples from the 4,000m under way at the time of print.
In the meantime, latest results programme were expected at the time
include 295.03m @ 1.75% lithium of print, with results from previous cam-
oxide and 856 ppm tin from 62m paigns including 20.25m @ 2.5 g/t gold
down-hole, 283.06m @ 1.59% and from 319m, including 8m @ 4.03 g/t and
807 ppm from 63.1m, including 21.7m @ 3.58 g/t from 354m, including
13.1m @ 1.11% and 496 ppm from 5.7m @ 8.74 g/t.
313.88m, and 59.01m, 289.58m @
1.63% and 845 ppm tin from 83.3m
and 276.72m @ 1.61% and 947 ppm
from 54.0m down-hole.

AVZ said the assay results were in-
line with visual estimates of spodumene
abundance reported previously.

MacPherson’s Crown
Jewel

MacPhersons Resources Ltd has
struck further success at the Boorara
gold project, near Kalgoorlie.

A RC hit of 30m @ 1.75 g/t gold, includ-
ing 6m @ 4.37 g/t was intersected 100m
from the trial pit at Crown Jewel, which
abuts the Southern Stockwork deposit
and within the 507,000oz resource.

The result stems from the first 12 RC
holes for 1,464m completed, with other
hits of 9m @ 1.31 g/t gold, 6m @ 2.72 g/t

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT JUNE 2018 PAGE 79

COMINGS AND GOINGS

Cohiba Minerals Ltd has director of operations for James Clare as a non-execu- rous Metals Co Ltd and has
appointed Bob Beeson Fortescue Metals Group Ltd tive director and mining engi- been a director of MMG since
to fill the vacancy left by out- and Barrick Australia Pacific neer Eduardo Valenzuela as April 2011.
going non-executive director Pty Ltd. He is currently a non- study manager.
David Herszberg. Beeson is executive director of Pilbara Pablo Altimiras has re-
the former managing director Minerals Ltd. Diane Garrett, William My- signed as non-executive
of Aura Energy Ltd and Drake ckatyn and Jose P. Le- director of Kore Potash plc.
Resources Ltd. Corey Nolan has tendered viste Jr have stepped down Altimiras, who stepped down
his resignation as chief from the board of Oceana- for personal reasons, was the
Richard Taylor has been executive of Sayona Mining Gold Corp after deciding not board nominee for Kore’s ma-
appointed chief executive Ltd. He will continue in the to seek re-election at the jor shareholder SQM. At the
of Terramin Australia Ltd. Tay- role until completion of the company’s AGM this month. time of print, SQM was yet to
lor was most recently manag- DFS on the company’s Auth- Ian Reid has been nominated announce a replacement.
ing director of PanAust Ltd’s ier lithium project in Canada. to fill one of the three vacan-
Asia business subsidiary Phu Dan O’Neill will remain Sayo- cies. Neville Bassett has been
Bia Mining Ltd. na’s managing director. appointed chairman of
Andrew Munckton has Auris Minerals Ltd following
Dr Fengming Liu Ian Gregory has resigned stepped down as man- a board spill which saw Bron-
as company secretary and aging director of Syndicated wyn Barnes, Susan Vearn-
Talga Resources Ltd has alternate director to Justin Metals Ltd to take on the chief combe and Robert Martin re-
added respected battery Richard at Alara Resources executive role at gold devel- moved as directors.
scientist Dr Fengming Liu to Ltd. Fortuna Advisory Group’s oper Kin Mining NL. Munck-
the company’s growing bat- Stephen Gethin and Dinesh ton, a geologist with more Tom Revy
tery technologies division Aggarwal have assumed the than 30 years of experience,
within its UK product devel- company secretary/alternate has been replaced at Syndi- Tom Revy has retired as
opment team. Cambridge- director and chief financial of- cated by long-serving director director of Empire Re-
based Dr Liu will be respon- ficer roles respectively. David Morgan. Trevor Dixon, sources NL due to increasing
sible for developing graphene who served as acting manag- commitments in his role as
for silicon and other new Lloyd Jones has resigned ing director of Kin following managing director of Black-
generation lithium-ion battery as a director of NTM Gold the resignation of Don Harper Earth Minerals NL. Revy sat
anodes under the Talga-led Ltd after seven years with in February, will continue in a on the Empire board for eight
“Safevolt” programme. the company, initially as its senior executive and board years. Perth-based solicitor
managing director prior to role focused on tenement Lee Christensen has been
Crater Gold Ltd chief fi- the merger with Redcliffe Re- management and business announced as his replace-
nancial officer Matthew sources in 2016. development. ment.
O’Kane has replaced Adam
Blumenthal as a non-execu- Simon Lawson has suc- Summit Resources Ltd has Victory Mines Ltd has ap-
tive director at Pursuit Miner- ceeded Joe Treacy as appointed Andrea Betti pointed Mathew Perrot
als Ltd. managing director of Marindi as joint company secretary as a non-executive director.
Metals Ltd. Lawson was pre- alongside Ranko Matic. Perrot is a registered prac-
London-based Hugo Schu- viously geology manager and tising geologist who was as-
mann has been appointed principal geologist for North- Gil Clausen has replaced sociated with the discoveries
an executive director of Apol- ern Star Resources Ltd and Jim O’Rourke as presi- of the Majestic and Imperial
lo Minerals Ltd. Schumann more recently chief geolo- dent and chief executive of gold deposits for Silver Lake
was previously chief commer- gist/exploration manager at Copper Mountain Mining Resources Ltd.
cial officer at Berkeley Ener- Billabong Gold. Treacy, who Corp, which recently acquired
gia Ltd where he oversaw the founded Marindi five years Queensland copper hope- Klaus Eckhof has stepped
$US120 million financing of ago, is retiring from full-time ful Altona Mining. Clausen down as chairman of Ar-
the Salamanca uranium mine work. was recently chief executive gent Minerals Ltd but will re-
in Spain. of Brio Gold and oversaw its main with the company in the
Simon Lawson acquisition by Leagold Mining new role of technical advisor,
Panoramic Resources Ltd Corp. O’Rourke will remain acquisitions. Corporate law-
has added Nick Cernotta SolGold plc has appointed a non-executive director of yer Peter Wall has been ap-
to its board. A mining engi- Canadian-based corpo- Copper Mountain. pointed chairman.
neer, Cernotta was previously rate and securities lawyer
Geoffrey Gao will succeed
Jerry Jiao as chief exec-
utive of MMG Ltd on August
1. Jiao, who will continue as
a non-executive director, has
advised of his intention to re-
turn to Beijing and assume
a senior executive position
with China Minmetals Corp.
Gao is the current president
of China Minmetals Non-Fer-

PAGE 80 JUNE 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT



LEFTFIELD

Fortescue’s triple treat

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd Cloudbreak to mark the oc-
marked celebrations for its casion, Fortescue founder

15th anniversary and a decade and chairman Andrew For-

of iron ore exports, including de- rest paid tribute to the hard

livery of the company’s one bil- work and determination of

lionth tonne, with a special mile- the “Fortescue family”, in-

stone grant round for community cluding suppliers, custom-

organisations in the Pilbara. ers, pastoralists, Native Title

In recognition of the local partners and local communi-

groups which have been a part ties, since the company’s in-

of Fortescue’s journey, grants of ception in 2003.

up to $10,000 have been offered “From the first discovery

to eligible community projects Visiting delegations from Latin America joined Fortescue chief hole drilled at Cloudbreak
within the council boundaries of operating officer Greg Lilleyman on a special tour of the to now sustaining consist-
the Town of Port Hedland, City company’s Solomon operations in the Pilbara last month ent production at 170 mtpa,
of Karratha and Shires of Ash- Fortescue is truly an Austral-

burton and East Pilbara. “We are proud of our contribution to ian success story,” he said.

Fortescue chief executive Elizabeth the strength of the State and to Aus- “Ten years ago, I said Australia now

Gaines said the company’s in-depth con- tralia’s national economy and the role we had a new flagship company and today

nection with local communities across are playing in driving real economic and Fortescue continues to proudly wave that

the Pilbara reflected the strong sense of generational change in rural and remote flag.”

family which is at the core of the iron ore communities.” A week of celebrations for Fortescue

miner’s values and culture. On May 15, Fortescue celebrated 10 was capped with visiting delegations

“From the outset, it was Fortescue’s vi- years since the first 180,000t of iron ore from Latin America joining chief operat-

sion to ensure the communities in which from its Cloudbreak mine was shipped ing officer Greg Lilleyman on a site visit

we operate benefit from our growth and from Port Hedland. to the company’s Solomon operations in

development,” she said. Speaking at a celebration event at the Pilbara.

INDEX

Adriatic 53, 57 Dark Horse 4, 33, 42 Lonmin 8 Sandfire 52-53, 57, 61
Aeris 58-59 Dempsey 4, 37, 43 Saracen 78-79
Agrium Doray MacPhersons 79 Sayona 80
Alara 9 Drake 16 Magnum 72 Sheffield 19-22
Alcoa 80 80 Mandalay 49 Sibanye 8
Altura 39 Marindi 80 Silver Lake 80
Andromeda Empire 80 Metals X 62 Sipa 5
Anglo American 7 Equus 49 Minbos 73 SolGold
AngloGold 61 Eramet 19 Mineral Deposits 19 South32 33, 36, 60, 80
Apollo Minerals 36, 48 Evolution 9, 24, 76 Mineral Resources 7, 77 SQM 38, 51
Argent 51, 76 Minotaur 53, 61 St Barbara 80
Argonaut 80 Ferrum Crescent 77 MMG 9, 50, 56, 80 Strategic Minerals 57
Argosy 80 MOD 68 Stratex 75
Arrow 59 First Quantum 33, 42, 44, 64 Mount Isa Mines 76 Strike 28
Aura 37 Mustang 72 Strongbow 45-46
Auris 12 FMC 37 Summit 75
Avanco 80 Syndicated 80
AVZ 52-53, 80 Fortescue 4, 9, 31, 36, 38, 80
Azumah 48, 52, 57, 61
Azure 79 45, 51, 80
70
4, 29, 33, 49 Galaxy 37, 38 Neometals 76 Talga 80
Glencore 56 New Age 75 Tana 73
GMS 79 Newcrest 4, 9, 36, 60 Tawana 7, 45
Golden Harp Newmont 51 Teck 49
Greenpower 27, 28 Northern Star 24, 76, 80 Terramin 80
79 Novo 12 Thor Explorations 69
NTM 80 Tianqi 38
Barrick 36, 51, 80 Troy 50
Tungsten Mining 10
Base 19 Hancock Prospecting 4, 36
Hillgrove 54-55
Beadell 27, 28, 48 Hot Chili 33, 36

Berkeley Energia 80 OceanaGold 80

BHP 9, 36, 45, 50, 59 Orinoco 48

BlackEarth 80 Iluka 22 Orion 6
Independence 6, 69, 76
Bluebird 12-13, 24 Ivanhoe Oz 4, 48, 52, 57, 59, 61
56
Vale 48
Capricorn 66, 77 Pacton Gold 12 Vector 79
PanAust 80 Victory 80
Carawine 22 Jupiter 9, 24 Panoramic 80 Vital 10
Petril 73
Cardinal 25 Pilbara 7, 80
Peel 57
CBH Resources 57 Kairos 12 PotashCorp
Kin 80 Pursuit 9
Cohiba 80 Kingsgate 13 80 West African 24, 25
Kirkland Lake 24 Western Areas 62-63
Collerina Cobalt 78 Kore 80 Westgold
Westminster 16
Continental Gold 51 Wolf 42
75
Copper Mountain 80

Cornish Lithium 75

Crater Gold 80 Latin Resources 4, 31, 33, 42, 43 Randgold 56

Crusader 4, 28, 29, 33, 48 Leagold 80 Rio Tinto 5, 9, 21, 39, 45, 75, 77 Xanadu 60

Lithium Australia 78 Roy Hill 45

PAGE 82 JUNE 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT



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PAGE 84 JUNE 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT