MINING WELCOME 欢迎采矿 - The ASIA Miner
MINING WELCOME 欢迎采矿 - The ASIA Miner
MINING WELCOME 欢迎采矿 - The ASIA Miner
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January/February 2012 | Volume 9 | Issue 1 | Industry Technical Information | 矿 业 技 术 信 息<br />
<strong>MINING</strong> <strong>WELCOME</strong><br />
Focus on Papua New Guinea • Chinese Investment Abroad • Education in Mining<br />
欢 迎 采 矿<br />
聚 焦 巴 布 亚 新 几 内 亚 • 中 国 海 外 投 资 • 矿 业 教 育
FEATURES<br />
Chinese Investment Abroad Chinese companies are increasingly investing in overseas projects in order<br />
to secure the resources needed to sustain the country’s growth. This special feature looks at a number of<br />
resource projects that are benefiting from this investment. ....................................................................53<br />
Education in Mining Education in the mining sector has been under-estimated, under-valued and underfunded<br />
for too long but it is one of the keys to the industry’s future success .........................................62<br />
LEADING DEVELOPMENTS<br />
Asian Intelligence <strong>The</strong> supply of power, increased paved road capacity and sourcing more reliable water<br />
have been named by the Government of Mongolia as the most pressing issues to be solved in ongoing development<br />
of the South Gobi region....................................................................................................... 4<br />
Exploration Results of reconnaissance work by Kentor Gold over the Bashkol exploration licence area in<br />
the Kyrgyz Republic have exceeded expectations ................................................................................72<br />
AROUND THE REGION<br />
PNG Goldminex has started a drilling program at its Liamu porphyry project .........................................14<br />
PNG Gold Anomaly has received a maiden resource estimate for its Nevera prospect...........................22<br />
Australia First ore has been processed at Hillgrove Resources’ Kanmantoo Copper Project. ...............23<br />
Mongolia Erdene Resource Development is drilling at the Altan Nar gold project ..................................31<br />
China Production at Eldorado Gold’s Eastern Dragon project has been delayed.......................................36<br />
Indonesia Full production has started at Archipelago Resources’ Toka Tindung gold mine ...................40<br />
Thailand Coal importer and distributor Energy Earth acquires Indonesian coal mine.............................43<br />
Philippines Mining Group is acquiring 80% of the Comval project from Cadan Resources ...................44<br />
Central Asia Chaarat Gold Holdings is on track to begin production at the Tulkubash deposit ............46<br />
India Astra <strong>Miner</strong>als has secured an iron ore trading licence for areas in Orissa state ...........................48<br />
Malaysia Mission NewEnergy will build a waste material processing in East Malaysia .............................50<br />
Vietnam Chinese steel mills are showing strong interest in New Zealand’s iron sands .................................64<br />
Indonesia Olympus Pacific’s Phuoc Son mill is operating at its current daily design capacity.......................51<br />
Woodlark Island residents welcome mining to the<br />
island as Kula Gold moves through the pre-development<br />
stages of a new gold mine primarily<br />
based on historic workings. <strong>The</strong> company is<br />
working closely with locals in its mining and environmental<br />
studies. Mining has been carried out<br />
on the island on a number of occasions since gold<br />
was first discovered in 1895 but Kula Gold is well<br />
advanced along the path to introduce modern<br />
mining methods to this island … to the benefit<br />
of all residents. Photo courtesy Kula Gold.<br />
DEPARTMENTS<br />
Advertisers’ Index ........................................71<br />
Calendar of Events ....................................52<br />
From the Editor ............................................2<br />
Product News ............................................68<br />
Subscription Form ......................................71<br />
Supplier News ............................................64<br />
Nautilus increases resources ................................8 Oyu Tolgoi 70% complete ....................................30 Funds boost for Rocklea ......................................54<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 1
From <strong>The</strong> Editor<br />
Precious metals the only store of wealth<br />
SOCIETY needs to realize that the world’s financial problems cannot be<br />
solved by governments printing more paper money and creating more<br />
debt, as has been the case since the link between gold and money was<br />
removed 40 years ago. Gold is the purest form of currency, followed by increasingly<br />
attractive silver, and the gold standard must to be reintroduced.<br />
This was a common theme at the inaugural Gold Symposium in Sydney<br />
during November and remains in the spotlight with the world’s debt crisis<br />
showing no sign of easing as we move into another year. Respected Sydney<br />
gold chartist Alf Field told Symposium delegates that it is more than 40<br />
By John Miller /Editor<br />
years since President Nixon removed the last link between currencies and<br />
gold which launched the era of floating ‘I owe you nothing’ currencies. Money is what any government<br />
deems it to be, generally something it can create in unlimited quantities. This system, along<br />
with the fractional reserve banking system has brought an era of ever increasing debt and credit.<br />
“After August 1971 the US Dollar became the world’s de facto reserve currency, which endowed<br />
the US with the advantage of being able to run current account deficits, buying goods<br />
and services from the rest of the world and paying for them with newly created US Dollars. Nations<br />
in surplus have built up large holdings of US Dollars that they are getting very nervous<br />
about while there is wide recognition that the reserve status of the US Dollar cannot continue.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> distortions that have grown since 1971 have reached proportions that demand change.<br />
<strong>The</strong> problem is that the current generation does not understand that the root cause of the global<br />
financial crisis is unsound money, which can be created at will by governments, combined with<br />
a banking system that has enabled the creation of an unsuitable level of debt.”<br />
Alf Field said, “<strong>The</strong> slate needs to be wiped clean and a new sound monetary system introduced.<br />
This will require elimination of all debt, deficits, unfunded social entitlements, the US Dollar<br />
as reserve currency, and the big one, the $600 trillion of derivatives. To eliminate these<br />
problems by default and deflation will cause a banking collapse and untold economic pain.<br />
“While politicians continue to have the ability to create new money at will, they will do so in<br />
order to prevent a meltdown on their watch. <strong>The</strong> new international monetary system is likely to<br />
involve precious metals. It will have to be money that people trust and that governments cannot<br />
create at will. It is likely that gold will again be the unit of measurement or standard of value<br />
against which the performance of other assets will be judged.<br />
Sprott Asset Management chairman and CEO Eric Sprott told delegates that global financial<br />
markets face meltdown from debt with banks levered at 20:1 and European banks at 30:1.<br />
“With governments buying out troubled banks, the risk is being transferred to the public sector<br />
which is likely to solve it by printing more money and creating more debt.<br />
“Gold production has remained flat for 10 years while demand is increasing rapidly, particularly<br />
in China and other Asian nations. Silver supply is also not keeping up with strong demand<br />
for its use as a precious metal as well as demand for industrial uses.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>re is no doubting gold’s strength as a store of value and it has plenty of upside. Silver is<br />
under-rated and possibly has more potential for increased returns, despite its volatility. <strong>The</strong> supply<br />
ratio of silver to gold is 16:1 but the price ratio is 50:1. If the price ratio was to change to 16:1,<br />
silver prices would be about $100 an ounce.<br />
“Most gold produced throughout history is still around because it has always been a store of<br />
wealth while silver’s strong industrial use and lesser value means most of the silver produced is<br />
not around anymore. This means strong ongoing demand for silver and supply that cannot keep<br />
pace, therefore just like gold, prices must increase.<br />
“Despite the positive outlook for gold as an increasingly valuable store of wealth and the potential<br />
for under-valued gold stocks, gold still only represents 1.5% of all assets.” Eric Sprott<br />
says the market has determined that gold is the ultimate currency and will continue to rise in<br />
value against paper currency while it looks increasingly likely that silver will march towards the<br />
16:1 price ratio, and possibly up to 10:1.<br />
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ISSN: 1832-7966<br />
2 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Asian Intelligence<br />
Australia can reclaim technology mantle<br />
AUSTRALIA’S resources sector has taken its<br />
eye off the ball in developing world-leading<br />
mining, energy and exploration technology,<br />
according to one of the sector’s most prominent<br />
female identities, and it is due mainly to<br />
the speed and intensity in which the industry<br />
has grown over the past five years.<br />
However, an opportunity exists over the next<br />
30 years for the sector to reclaim that mantle<br />
and ‘do things better than anywhere else in the<br />
world’. <strong>The</strong> comments were made by respected<br />
industry stalwart Dr Erica Smyth in delivering the<br />
37th annual Essington Lewis Memorial Lecture,<br />
one of the most prestigious lectures on the<br />
South Australian resources industry calendar.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>re is an opportunity for us to do our<br />
business better than anywhere else in the<br />
world, and in doing so, create a long-lasting<br />
legacy of a skills and knowledge node for the<br />
resources sector,” she said. “We need to harness<br />
the research, new business investment,<br />
technology innovation, local training and skills<br />
development that are now going on in a piecemeal<br />
way. This approach will need to be<br />
via government, universities and resource industry<br />
collaborations and partnerships.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> industry has grown at such a rapid rate<br />
over the past 5 years no-one has actually had<br />
the time to sit down and look at the things we<br />
have done well, and the things we haven’t<br />
done so well. As we venture into this next period<br />
of growth, we need to be very careful that<br />
we leverage off the things we already do well<br />
and to make time to address our weaknesses.<br />
“Now, although we are not well known for<br />
our inventions, we are seen as innovators in<br />
applying that technology. Yes we have to import<br />
the electronics associated with the completion<br />
of production wells on the sea floor so<br />
that production could be safely controlled,<br />
but the way we apply that technology is first<br />
class. <strong>The</strong> oil and gas industry is indeed an<br />
international one where specialty components<br />
come in from all over the world – and<br />
then local Australian innovators make them<br />
work in our conditions. But we seem to have<br />
taken our eye off the ball as we rush to meet<br />
the needs of the rest of the world. I am particularly<br />
concerned that we do not seem to<br />
have a vision other than to ‘dig it up and ship<br />
it out’. We seem to have left the grassroots,<br />
expensive and often unsuccessful, research<br />
to others and rely on our ability to innovate in<br />
its application.”<br />
Power, water and roads vital for South Gobi<br />
THE supply of power, increased paved road<br />
capacity and sourcing more reliable water<br />
have been named by the Government of Mongolia<br />
as the most pressing issues to be solved<br />
in ongoing development of the South Gobi region.<br />
A cabinet meeting issued a resolution regarding<br />
these issues as well as planning for<br />
settlements and border crossings.<br />
Within the framework of this resolution,<br />
which primarily concerns development of the<br />
Oyu Tolgoi (OT) and Tavan Tolgoi (TT) mines,<br />
the following measures are to be taken:<br />
• Supply power consumption for current<br />
and future productive development<br />
• Increase capacity of paved road by making<br />
it a four-lane road<br />
• Increase water source required for development<br />
of mining and infrastructure<br />
• Approval of master plans for soums/villages;<br />
of border crossing points Gashuun<br />
Sukhait/Gantsimadao and Shivee Khuren/Ceke;<br />
and soum centres Khanbogd<br />
(OT), Tsogttsetsii (TT) and Gurvantes/Nariin<br />
Sukhait.<br />
With power the Erdenes TT (ETT) company<br />
has been assigned to undertake a feasibility<br />
Mongolian Mining Corporation’s recently completed paved road to the Gashuun Sukhait border crossing is an example<br />
of the infrastructure needed in the South Gobi region.<br />
study for a power plant to be constructed<br />
based on TT and with a build-operate-transfer<br />
(BOT) condition to the state. <strong>The</strong> OT company<br />
has been assigned responsibility to<br />
build a power plant to supply production’s<br />
consumption with a condition not to impact<br />
the budget cost, a BOT condition to the state<br />
and a condition for the plant to use TT coal.<br />
With roads the capacity of the 245km paved<br />
road from TT to the Gashuun Sukhait border<br />
crossing is to be increased. ETT has been assigned<br />
responsibility to increase the width from<br />
two lanes to four, to secure funding source for<br />
the new lanes on a BOT basis and have other<br />
investors participate in the construction. <strong>The</strong><br />
government also wants roads from South Gobi<br />
to the Khangi Mandal and Zamyn Uud border<br />
crossings to be researched.<br />
<strong>The</strong> government says significant water resources<br />
are required for the development of<br />
mining and infrastructure. <strong>The</strong> sector’s minister,<br />
related agencies and provincial governors<br />
have been assigned the task to make<br />
detailed hydrogeological exploration at areas<br />
with underground accumulation at TT and in<br />
the Sainshand vicinity.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y are also to start a study for the possibility<br />
of making flow adjustments to the Orkhon<br />
and Selenge rivers, and establishing a<br />
reservoir with a view to start construction in<br />
2013. ETT is also to use water from the underground<br />
deposit at Balgas Ulaan lake.<br />
4 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Asian Intelligence<br />
Exploration budgets surge to all-time high<br />
THE top challenge during 2011 among senior<br />
mining executives is optimizing production effectiveness,<br />
pushing the previous year’s primary<br />
concern – ensuring workplace safety –<br />
into second position, according to the Mincom<br />
Mining Executive Insights: 2011 survey.<br />
<strong>The</strong> study surveyed high-level executives at<br />
256 mining companies in North America,<br />
Latin America and the Asia Pacific region to<br />
investigate their most pressing concerns, and<br />
where they see opportunities for growth.<br />
When asked to rank their top challenges by<br />
level of urgency, respondents replied: Optimizing/maximizing<br />
production effectiveness<br />
(73%); ensuring workforce safety (53%); recruiting<br />
and retaining a skilled workforce<br />
(47%); managing capital projects (33%); ensuring<br />
different departments work together<br />
(33%); and ensuring equipment operates reliably<br />
and predictably (32%).<br />
Mincom’s executive vice president and<br />
chief strategy officer Jennifer Tejada says,<br />
“Overall, the attitude of the respondents is<br />
positive, with 69% expressing optimism<br />
about their general business outlook.<br />
Not surprisingly, given the growing global<br />
demand for mining products and high commodity<br />
prices, maximizing production is by far<br />
the number-one priority for global mining executives.<br />
We see this trend among many of<br />
Mincom’s mining customers as they work to<br />
achieve productivity improvements, reduce<br />
the impact of production bottlenecks, and<br />
improve integration of processes across the<br />
THE estimated total 2011 budget for nonferrous<br />
metals exploration surged to an all-time<br />
record of $18.2 billion, according to Metals<br />
Economics Group’s (MEG) 22nd edition of<br />
Corporate Exploration Strategies (CES). Despite<br />
increased volatility recently, metals prices,<br />
the primary driver of exploration<br />
spending, remained relatively strong in 2011,<br />
giving confidence to the industry and, as a result,<br />
exploration budgets increased by $6.1<br />
billion, up 50% from 2010. Nonferrous exploration<br />
refers to expenditures related to precious<br />
and base metals, diamonds, uranium<br />
and some industrial minerals but it specifically<br />
excludes iron ore, aluminium, coal, and oil<br />
and gas. Including estimates for the budgets<br />
MEG could not obtain, the 2011 worldwide<br />
exploration budget totals $18.2 billion.<br />
<strong>The</strong> CES study states that most countries<br />
experienced increased exploration investment<br />
in 2011, and explorers demonstrated a<br />
higher tolerance for risk despite additional<br />
concerns and uncertainty about security, policy,<br />
and tenure in many countries. Of the 120<br />
countries for which MEG documented exploration<br />
spending by the industry, those commonly<br />
perceived to be high risk accounted for<br />
23% of the 2011 aggregate exploration total,<br />
up from less than 16% in 2010. <strong>The</strong> study<br />
says that the potential reward often increases<br />
the industry’s appetite for risk during periods<br />
of increased exploration spending, but exploration<br />
in high-risk countries, particularly earlystage<br />
work, is usually the first to be cut when<br />
risk levels or uncertainty increases.<br />
It says the proportion of overall exploration<br />
spending dedicated to early-stage and generative<br />
work has been fairly stable over the past<br />
three years, however, at just a third of overall<br />
allocations it is historically low. <strong>The</strong> decline in<br />
grassroots’ share of spending over the past<br />
decade correlates with the upward trend in<br />
late-stage and mine site budgets, as companies<br />
spent more on late-stage projects to move<br />
them towards production or to make them attractive<br />
for acquisition, and on mine site work<br />
as a less expensive and less risky means of replacing<br />
and adding reserves. However, the<br />
number of large-scale assets advancing to development<br />
has not risen proportionately with<br />
this increased focus on late-stage projects,<br />
contributing to constraints on meaningful production<br />
increases for most metals.<br />
<strong>The</strong> MEG indexed metals price represents a blend of the relative changes in a basket of metals prices weighted by<br />
the percentage of exploration expenditures dedicated to each metal by the industry as reported in MEG’s CES studies.<br />
Relative prices for 2011 are based on the average through September.<br />
Optimizing production effectiveness is top challenge<br />
mining value chain.”<br />
When asked to rank their top three obstacles<br />
to achieving organic growth, respondents<br />
identified the following: Complying with<br />
government regulations (40%); delays in getting<br />
new mines operational (32%); difficulty in<br />
standardizing business processes (22%); inability<br />
to move quickly enough to exploit commodity<br />
prices (21%); and inability to meet<br />
planned production goals (21%).<br />
“Mining companies face additional regulatory<br />
scrutiny as they look to develop new<br />
sites and increase production at existing<br />
ones, leading respondents to once again<br />
identify regulatory compliance as their primary<br />
obstacle to organic growth,” says Jennifer<br />
Tejada.<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 5
Copper<br />
6 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Papau New Guinea<br />
Nautilus increases seafloor resources<br />
A SUCCESSFUL exploration drilling campaign at Nautilus <strong>Miner</strong>als’ tenements<br />
in the Bismarck Sea of Papua New Guinea has enabled the company<br />
to increase the resource estimate at its Solwara 1 project, and to<br />
declare a maiden inferred resource at the nearby Solwara 12 deposit. Total<br />
indicated resources have increased by 18% to 1.03 million tonnes and<br />
total inferred resources have risen 36% to 1.8 million tonnes.<br />
At Solwara 1 contained copper in indicated resource has increased 25%<br />
to about 74,000 tonnes and contained copper in inferred resource has<br />
increased 28% to about 125,000 tonnes. Contained gold in indicated resource<br />
has increased 23% to about 166,000 ounces and inferred gold<br />
resource has increased 5% to about 317,000 ounces.<br />
A maiden inferred resource has been declared at Solwara 12, 25km to<br />
the northwest of Solwara 1, of 230,000 tonnes, grading 7.3% copper and<br />
3.6 grams/tonne gold.<br />
<strong>The</strong> increases in contained metal within the resource are a result of additional<br />
tonnes and importantly, higher grades, due to successful resource<br />
drilling which identified further high grade ore zones. <strong>The</strong> increase in tonnes<br />
was also partly due to a reduction in the cut-off grade from 4% copper,<br />
used in the prior 2008 resource statement, to a copper equivalent<br />
cut-off grade of 2.6% in the 2011 resource, following refinements in the<br />
project design.<br />
Nautilus <strong>Miner</strong>als’ president and CEO Steve Rogers says the notable<br />
increase in the resource base demonstrates the success of the exploration<br />
campaign, extending the life of the Solwara 1 Project and delivering an<br />
improved knowledge of the Bismarck Sea geology. “Importantly, the declaration<br />
of a maiden resource at Solwara 12 begins the process of building<br />
a pipeline of projects for Nautilus in the region, and confirms the<br />
prospectivity of the Bismarck Sea, where we have identified another 16<br />
prospects for further evaluation.<br />
“Nautilus will attempt to build on this base in the coming year, through<br />
on-going exploration activities in PNG and elsewhere in the western Pacific.<br />
Nautilus will be undertaking important work including the use of multibeam<br />
sonar and seismic exploration tools in the Bismarck Sea over the<br />
coming months to assist in identifying targets for drilling, scheduled to be<br />
conducted in the second half of next year.”<br />
Nautilus continues to make steady progress in the development of the<br />
pioneering seafloor copper/gold project and remains on track to begin<br />
production in the final quarter of 2013. <strong>The</strong> company successfully raised<br />
Can$98.1 million in a capital raising with funds to be used for the construction<br />
of a seafloor resource production system, which initially will be<br />
deployed at Solwara 1. As a result of the successful financing, the Board<br />
of Nautilus formally sanctioned the Solwara 1 project.<br />
Drilling of Nautilus <strong>Miner</strong>als’ seafloor prospects is carried out from exploration ships.<br />
Partners extend Frieda River feasibility study<br />
Drilling on Highlands Pacific’s Star Mountains project near Ok Tedi.<br />
HIGHLANDS Pacific and Xstrata Copper have agreed to extend the<br />
completion of the Frieda River Copper-Gold Project’s feasibility study<br />
by 11 months in order to evaluate new power supply options. Xstrata<br />
Copper was due to deliver the study by January 23 to maintain their<br />
81.82% interest but as a result of potential power options becoming<br />
available late in the study timeframe, both parties have agreed to extend<br />
the delivery date to December 21, 2012.<br />
As part of the extension, Highlands will be carried through from January<br />
23 to lodgement of the special mining lease application with<br />
Highlands’ share of expenditure repaid when the project is in production.<br />
Xstrata will be taken to have earned a 72% interest in the project<br />
on January 23, with the remaining 9.82% contingent on completion<br />
of the feasibility study. At the end of the study and subject to the joint<br />
venture partners agreeing, the project could proceed to the lodgement<br />
of a special mining lease and environmental impact statement.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Frieda copper-gold project is one of the Asia Pacific’s largest undeveloped<br />
copper/gold resources. It is 175km northwest of the giant<br />
Porgera gold mine and 75km north‐east of the Ok Tedi mine. <strong>The</strong><br />
pre‐feasibility study released in November 2010 indicated annual<br />
throughput of 60 million tonnes for the first eight years for 246,000 tonnes<br />
of copper and 379,000 ounces of gold each year. <strong>The</strong> multi decade<br />
life mine will have an average annual throughput of 50 million tonnes.<br />
Highlands Pacific’s managing director John Gooding says, “<strong>The</strong>re<br />
are some exciting energy projects happening in PNG at present, either<br />
in development or near-development, and Highlands and Xstrata<br />
Copper believe these must be more rigorously considered to optimize<br />
the development of this resource.”<br />
Adjacent to the main Horse-Ivaal-Trukai ore body, which is the focus<br />
of the study, the high-grade copper Nena deposit also provides further<br />
options for the project. At present Nena is outside the JV with<br />
Xstrata Copper, however Xstrata can bring it into the JV by exercising<br />
an option and paying Highlands US$10.8 million by January 23, 2012.<br />
8 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Papau New Guinea<br />
10 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Papau New Guinea<br />
Yandera DFS progressing to plan<br />
Samples from the Yandera project are gathered and sorted.<br />
THE definitive feasibility study (DFS) being prepared<br />
for Marengo Mining’s Yandera Copper-<br />
Molybdenum-Gold Project is progressing<br />
generally to plan and should be completed in<br />
mid-2012. <strong>The</strong> company says the revised DFS<br />
management structure is working effectively.<br />
A key component of the DFS is the process<br />
plant design work which will be prepared<br />
by Marengo’s strategic partners, China<br />
Nonferrous Metal Industry’s Foreign Engineering<br />
and Construction Co (NFC) and<br />
Arccon, their Australian engineering partner.<br />
This work will be undertaken at one of<br />
NFC’s design institutes in China, which employ<br />
2500 engineers who are focused on<br />
the many offshore engineering and construction<br />
projects being undertaken by NFC<br />
at any one time. Arccon will provide supporting<br />
engineering services to NFC.<br />
NFC has confirmed their commitment to a<br />
fixed-price engineering procurement construction<br />
(EPC) contract and will develop their<br />
proposal in 2012 with support from Arccon.<br />
Under this arrangement, Marengo will appoint<br />
NFC as the principal contractor under<br />
a turnkey, lump sum contract and also enter<br />
into a formal financing agreement under<br />
which NFC will facilitate financing for the Yandera<br />
project, for at least 70% of the project<br />
development costs, through its nominated<br />
Chinese financial institution.<br />
<strong>The</strong> DFS is also addressing two basic tailings<br />
management options – deep sea tailings<br />
placement (DSTP) and land-based<br />
tailings storage facility (TSF). In these options<br />
the tailings are delivered as fine slurry<br />
to either a deep offshore canyon or an engineered,<br />
purpose-built onshore storage facility.<br />
<strong>The</strong> mining, crushing and grinding<br />
facilities are the same for both options and<br />
would be located at the mine site. <strong>The</strong> con-<br />
<strong>Miner</strong>alized samples from Marengo’s Yandera project.<br />
centrator is the same for both options but<br />
would be in a different location for each.<br />
A preferred DSTP site has been identified<br />
and three possible locations have been identified<br />
for a land-based TSF. Further work is in<br />
progress top select a preferred TSF location.<br />
Newmont meets Morobe JV earn-in requirement<br />
NEWMONT Mining’s wholly-owned subsidiary<br />
NVL PNG has met the phase II earn-in<br />
requirement of US$9 million in the Morobe<br />
Joint Venture with Triple Plate Junction.<br />
Newmont now owns a 70% interest in the<br />
joint venture having invested a total of US$15<br />
million over the last three years, and three<br />
years ahead of expectations.<br />
<strong>The</strong> joint venture ground borders tenements<br />
held by Newcrest-Harmony which contain the<br />
world-class Wafi-Golpu porphyry discovery,<br />
with a mineral resource of 27 million ounces of<br />
gold and 9 million tonnes copper as at June<br />
2011, and the Hidden Valley producing gold<br />
mine with a resource of 5.8 million ounces of<br />
gold. Over the last three years Newmont has<br />
conducted extensive regional and prospect<br />
level exploration within the joint venture tenements<br />
that cover about 3700sqkm of the Morobe<br />
mineralized district within the highly<br />
ranked Papuan Continental Arc.<br />
<strong>The</strong> results identified at least four significant<br />
porphyry targets at which Newmont has<br />
planned further exploration during the next six<br />
months. This includes continuing diamond<br />
drilling at the Hides Creek prospect, commencing<br />
drilling at the Gumots prospect, and<br />
more detailed target definition at the Sier<br />
Creek and Skarn Creek prospects. <strong>The</strong> budget<br />
for this initial six month period is $5 million<br />
with further investment expected.<br />
<strong>The</strong> very highly rated Gumots prospect is<br />
12km south of the Wafi-Golpu discovery, and<br />
Skarn Creek is 17km south of the Hidden Valley<br />
mine. Triple Plate will be undertaking full<br />
evaluation of the Newmont work completed<br />
to date, including the drilling at the Hides<br />
Creek prospect when the results become<br />
available, and the work program planned for<br />
the next six months.<br />
Under the Joint Venture Agreement, the<br />
company has 60 days from November 3, 2011<br />
in which to elect to either contribute to further<br />
exploration and development by funding its<br />
30% interest in the joint venture or have<br />
Newmont solely fund all expenditure until commencement<br />
of commercial production in the<br />
tenements by transferring to Newmont an additional<br />
5% interest in the joint venture, leaving<br />
Triple Plate with an undilutable 25% interest<br />
through to mine production across the entire<br />
Morobe Joint Venture. If the company elects to<br />
maintain its percentage then it is anticipated<br />
that significant funds will need to be found.<br />
Triple Plate’s director of exploration Bill Howell<br />
says, “We are very impressed with the high<br />
level of effective exploration expenditure and<br />
technical expertise that Newmont has contributed<br />
to this joint venture project. Triple Plate<br />
feels vindicated that the large ground holding<br />
that the company acquired some years ago is<br />
now regarded as part of a highly ranked continental<br />
arc setting with numerous structures<br />
known as cross-arc transfer corridors which<br />
are proving to host world-class copper-gold<br />
ore bodies such as Wafi-Golpu.”<br />
12 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Papau New Guinea<br />
Goldminex begins drilling at Liamu<br />
GOLDMINEX has started a 4000 metre diamond<br />
drilling program at its flagship Liamu<br />
Porphyry Copper-Gold Project to test highly<br />
encouraging surface sampling results. <strong>The</strong><br />
drilling will continue into the first quarter of<br />
2012 and is targeting four key prospects of<br />
the 10 identified within Liama to date - Movei,<br />
Nesei, Iyiowai and Unebu.<br />
Liamu is a large porphyry copper-gold system<br />
120km east of Port Moresby in the Owen<br />
Stanley region of PNG. <strong>The</strong> project is a partially<br />
covered, structurally controlled, intermediate<br />
intrusive complex about 35sqkm in area.<br />
Liamu straddles the Owen Stanley Fault<br />
Zone which is a northwest trending crustalscale<br />
plate suture and is within an area of<br />
complex faulting known as the Awala Flexure<br />
Zone. <strong>The</strong> exploration licence is one of the<br />
prospects covered by the Goldminex-Vale SA<br />
Farm-in Agreement.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 4000 metre diamond drilling program<br />
consists of six deep diamond drill holes focused<br />
on geochemical, geological and geophysical<br />
targets in the Movei, Nesei, Iyiowai, and<br />
Unebu prospect areas. <strong>The</strong> holes will provide<br />
an initial indication of the potential of these<br />
prospects to host economic-grade gold-rich<br />
porphyry style copper mineralization. <strong>The</strong><br />
data from these holes will also provide useful<br />
information to vector in on mineralized centres<br />
within this very large project area and will<br />
form the basis of further drilling.<br />
<strong>The</strong> drill program follows substantial geological<br />
and geochemical exploration activities at<br />
Liamu which has to date outlined a 15sqkm<br />
area shedding anomalous gold and copper in<br />
drainage samples. In addition, extensive ridge<br />
and spur soil sampling revealed about 11sqkm<br />
of the project area exhibiting copper and gold<br />
anomalous geochemistry. Goldminex has to<br />
date identified t10 prospects at Liamu - Nesei,<br />
Movei, Tikay, Dada, Unebu and Berefana within<br />
the 5.5km x 1.5km Berefana Region, and<br />
Imorobi, Biafa, Bubuafu and Iyiowai to the<br />
north and east of the Berefana Region.<br />
Goldminex’s CEO Sandy Moyle says, “We<br />
are excited to enter this phase of drilling which<br />
we hope will add a third dimension to the very<br />
encouraging surface exploration results already<br />
returned from Liamu. Although this drilling will<br />
only test a small portion of the targets, it will enhance<br />
our understanding of this large mineralized<br />
system which has the potential to host a<br />
significant porphyry copper-gold deposit.”<br />
Strong copper values in Waria River samples<br />
SAMPLING carried out by Papuan Precious<br />
Metals (PPM) on the Waria River prospect<br />
has returned up to 10.49% copper. <strong>The</strong> company<br />
has received geochemical results from<br />
101 rock samples collected from Kode, Nosoboro<br />
and Jasawa Creek during follow-up<br />
prospecting of airborne geophysical anomalies<br />
on the exploration licence.<br />
<strong>The</strong> best sample was collected from float<br />
and assayed 10.49% copper, 0.33 grams/<br />
tonne gold and 10.0 grams/tonne silver. <strong>The</strong>re<br />
were 20% of samples that contained anomalous<br />
copper values greater than 0.1% copper.<br />
PPM has a farm-in agreement with Petromin<br />
Papuan Precious Metals’ Waria River property is in PNG’s Central New Guinea Range.<br />
(PNG) Holdings whereby PPM can earn a 50%<br />
interest in the Waria River property by spending<br />
Can$1.2 million by July 2012. PPM has advised<br />
Petromin that it has met its expenditure requirements<br />
as of September 28, 2011.<br />
Results from Nosoboro samples include<br />
0.8 grams/tonne gold, 5.36% copper and<br />
6.7 grams/tonne silver; 0.09 grams/tonne<br />
gold, 0.05% copper and 6.4 grams/tonne<br />
silver; 6.21% copper and 23.4 grams/tonne<br />
silver; 0.60 grams/tonne gold, 5.89% copper<br />
and 7.6 grams/tonne silver; and 0.33<br />
grams/tonne gold, 10.49% copper and 10<br />
grams/tonne silver.<br />
Best Kode results are 0.67 grams/tonne<br />
gold, 2.13% copper and 33.9 grams/tonne<br />
silver; 0.13 grams/tonne gold and 0.13%<br />
copper; and 0.3% copper. Best Jasawa<br />
Creek results are 0.46% copper and 3.2<br />
grams/tonne silver; 0.18 grams/tonne gold,<br />
2.11% copper and 5.6 grams/tonne silver;<br />
and 0.33% copper.<br />
To date, copper/gold/silver vein mineralization<br />
has been found as outcrop and float<br />
boulders from a 400sqkm area of Waria and<br />
Eia River catchments centred on Tubi village.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Waria River project is in the Central New<br />
Guinea Range, one of the world’s premier<br />
porphyry copper belts, and in management’s<br />
opinion presents an outstanding opportunity<br />
to locate gold/copper porphyry-style mineralization<br />
similar to that of the nearby Hidden Valley<br />
mine and the giant Wafi-Golpu deposit.<br />
Located along what was one of the main<br />
overland routes to the early 20th Century gold<br />
rushes at Wau, Edie Creek and Bulolo, the<br />
presence of abundant alluvial gold in many of<br />
the Waria River tributaries has long been<br />
known. However, the area has remained relatively<br />
untouched by modern exploration.<br />
PPM has also recently received the final<br />
report from its commissioned Commonwealth<br />
Scientific and Industrial Research<br />
Organization (CSIRO) study of the Doriri<br />
Creek nickel-palladium-platinum prospect<br />
at its Mt Suckling project.<br />
14 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Papau New Guinea<br />
High-grade gold assays from Imwauna<br />
HIGH-GRADE gold assay results have been<br />
returned from 31 recently completed diamond<br />
drill holes at PNG Gold Corporation’s<br />
Imwauna project on Normanby Island. <strong>The</strong><br />
holes tested a 600 metre strike length of the<br />
deposit and a vertical range of 50 metres to<br />
150 metres below surface.<br />
<strong>The</strong> drilling was designed to provide additional<br />
information in the northern and central<br />
part of the deposit at shallow depths where<br />
there were gaps in the historic drilling and at<br />
depth, between 100 metres and 150 metres<br />
below surface, to verify the continuation of<br />
the mineralized vein system.<br />
<strong>The</strong> results re-affirm the high grade nature of<br />
the deposit. <strong>The</strong> mineralized zone graded 3.0<br />
grams/tonne or more in 65% of the holes while<br />
11 holes, or 35%, intersected zones assaying<br />
greater than 10.0 grams/tonne. <strong>The</strong>re is no<br />
strong correlation observed between grade<br />
and thickness, although the thickest zones all<br />
grade between 5 and 15 grams/tonne.<br />
Highlights are: 7.4 metres @ 13.11<br />
grams/tonne gold and 14.42 grams/tonne silver,<br />
including 3.1 metres @ 24.6 grams/tonne<br />
gold and 24.93 grams/tonne silver; 6.3 metres<br />
@ 8.16 grams/tonne gold and 32.93 grams/<br />
tonne silver; 4.3 metres @ 6.67 grams/tonne<br />
gold and 11.11 grams/tonne silver; 5.1 metres<br />
@ 5.38 grams/tonne gold and 9.17 grams/<br />
tonne silver; 1.4 metres @ 15.6 grams/tonne<br />
gold and 10.6 grams/tonne silver; and 1.1 metres<br />
@ 16.66 grams/tonne gold and 23.85<br />
grams/tonne silver, including 0.4 metres @ 42.5<br />
grams/tonne gold and 43 grams/tonne silver.<br />
PNG Gold’s president and CEO Dick Whittington<br />
says, “<strong>The</strong>se results significantly enlarge<br />
our knowledge of the Imwauna vein<br />
system both in terms of grade and geological<br />
interpretation. We continue to be excited<br />
about the property and are looking forward<br />
to the results of our ongoing drilling with great<br />
interest as we look to put out an NI 43-101<br />
resource in the second quarter of 2012.”<br />
Two drills are working on the Imwauna project<br />
and were expected to drill test the promising<br />
Kela’s vein system late in 2011 or early in<br />
2012, while a third rig has been deployed to<br />
the Sehulea property, 10km to the northeast of<br />
Imwauna. A minimum of four holes totalling<br />
1000 metres are planned to evaluate a very<br />
strong, 1.2km-long, chargeability anomaly outlined<br />
by a 3D IP survey completed last August<br />
During the fourth quarter of 2011 PNG Gold<br />
met the exploration expenditure requirements<br />
under its option agreement with New Guinea<br />
Drilling success at Kavursuki zone<br />
Gold and notified that company of its desire<br />
to exercise its option to acquire the remaining<br />
interest it does not already own in the Imwauna<br />
and Sehulea properties. Since then<br />
New Guinea Gold and PNG Gold Corporation<br />
have entered into a letter of intent with<br />
respect to a potential acquisition of the former<br />
by PNG Gold.<br />
Drilling at PNG Gold’s Imwauna project on Normanby Island.<br />
DIAMOND drilling at New Guinea Gold’s Sinivit<br />
project has demonstrated a continuous<br />
zone of more than 200 metres strike length<br />
of potentially economic gold mineralization in<br />
the southern section of Kavursuki vein system.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company has completed two<br />
more diamond holes in the Kavursuki zone,<br />
which is on strike with the Sinivit Mine and<br />
1.5km to 2km to the north.<br />
Best results from one hole are: 1.8 metres<br />
from 11.9 metres @ 11.35 grams/tonne gold;<br />
4.5 metres from 21.8 metres @ 1.96 grams/<br />
tonne, including 1.2 metres from 22.9 metres<br />
@ 3.51 grams/tonne; and 2.7 metres from<br />
27.3 metres @ 2.16 grams/tonne, including 1.6<br />
metres from 28.4 metres @ 2.93 grams/tonne.<br />
Best results from the other hole are: 1.1<br />
metres from 32.7 metres @ 1.48<br />
grams/tonne; 1.1 metres from 34.8 metres<br />
@ 2.67 grams/tonne; 12.4 metres from 37<br />
metres @ 2.87 grams/tonne, including 1.0<br />
metre from 38 metres @ 12.05<br />
grams/tonne; and 1.0 metre from 50.15<br />
metres @ 4.62 grams/tonne.<br />
Drill core is logged and split, all by saw, on<br />
site with crushed half core being dispatched<br />
to, and assayed by accredited laboratory<br />
ALS-Chemex in Townsville, Australia.<br />
Thirty duplicate samples re-split from remaining<br />
crushed samples from a selection of Kavursuki<br />
diamond drill holes from the last 12<br />
months have been sent for gold assay at ALS<br />
Townsville. In addition, pulps from this duplicate<br />
assaying were sent to Genalysis Townsville<br />
to further check gold assay.<br />
New Guinea Gold is a Toronto Venture Exchange-listed<br />
junior explorer and miner in<br />
Papua New Guinea, with direct and indirect interests<br />
in eight gold and two porphyry coppergold-molybdenum<br />
properties. With 90,000-<br />
plus metres of drilling completed, extensive<br />
gold or copper-gold-molybdenum mineralization<br />
has been discovered at all the properties.<br />
New Guinea Gold and PNG Gold Corporation<br />
have entered into a letter of intent with<br />
respect to a potential acquisition of New Guinea<br />
Gold by PNG Gold. Management believes<br />
the transaction, if consummated, will<br />
provide a platform for growth for shareholders<br />
of each company.<br />
In a joint statement the companies said the<br />
transaction will provide New Guinea Gold<br />
shareholders an immediate premium to New<br />
Guinea Gold’s recent stock price, and afford<br />
a secure and expedient development path for<br />
New Guinea Gold’s production and exploration<br />
licences on New Britain Island in PNG.<br />
PNG Gold’s shareholders will benefit by the<br />
acquisition and recapitalization of the Sinivit<br />
Mine. Recapitalization will enable the mine to<br />
significantly improve operational performance<br />
while PNG Gold’s management also intends to<br />
implement an expanded exploration program.<br />
16 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Company Profile<br />
GOLDEN FUTURE FOR KULA GOLD’S WOODLARK ISLAND<br />
ONGOING drilling has confirmed further high grade gold<br />
mineralization immediately east of the 685,000 ounce<br />
Kulumadau resource at Kula Gold’s Woodlark Island Gold<br />
Project in Papua New Guinea. <strong>The</strong> company plans to<br />
continue its exploration program to establish a resource<br />
at Kulumadau East, thereby adding to the existing overall<br />
Woodlark Island resource of 1.84 million ounces.<br />
Step-out drilling between the Kulumadau resource<br />
and the new Kulumadau East discovery has confirmed<br />
two new zones of significance. <strong>The</strong> latest mineralization<br />
is reasonably shallow and may result in all of the Kulumadau<br />
zones being included in a single pit, enhancing<br />
project economics. Significant new assay results<br />
include 9 metres from 134 metres @ 40 grams/tonne<br />
gold, including 1 metre @ 284 grams/tonne; 10 metres<br />
from 85 metres @ 3 grams/tonne; 16 metres from 28<br />
metres @ 2.6 grams/tonne; and 10 metres from 139<br />
metres @ 3 grams/tonne.<br />
Kula Gold’s managing director Lee Spencer says,<br />
“While continuing to add additional resources, the company<br />
is focused on delivering a feasibility study and advancing<br />
the project into the permitting stage in 2012.”<br />
Engineering studies are continuing with the definitive feasibility<br />
study due to be completed at the end of quarter 1.<br />
Woodlark Island is in the Trobriand Island Group in<br />
the Solomon Sea, Milne Bay Province, 550km northeast<br />
of Port Moresby. <strong>The</strong> island is reasonably large, about<br />
1750sqkm, but remote and relatively isolated.<br />
Kula Gold’s flagship project is Woodlark Island in the Solomon Sea, 550km northeast of Port Moresby.<br />
Drilling at the Busai deposit of Kula Gold’s Woodlark Island project.<br />
However, this was not always the case. In the late 19th<br />
Century alluvial gold was discovered resulting in a gold<br />
rush and declaration of the Murua Goldfield on November<br />
6, 1895. <strong>The</strong> gold rush included more than 500 miners<br />
and 2000 labourers from Cooktown and the nearby first<br />
proclaimed Louisiade Goldfield Islands of Sudest and Misima.<br />
Unlike most other goldfields of this era in PNG, gold<br />
production was sustained over a number of years by the<br />
accidental discovery of gold-bearing veins and lodes exposed<br />
by sluicing off a young sedimentary sequence<br />
which covers the bulk of the island.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Kulumadau Gold Mining Company operated continuously<br />
until it shut down in May 1918 with production<br />
of about 75,000 ounces for a recovered grade of 17<br />
grams/tonne gold. <strong>The</strong> mine operated on seven levels<br />
from two shafts and although still in ore at depth, increasing<br />
costs with the onset of World War I sealed its fate.<br />
Including gold produced from alluvials documented<br />
in Government sources, a total of 231,000 ounces<br />
were produced from Woodlark until 1963. Some<br />
216,000 ounces were produced prior to 1926, which<br />
represents 37% of all gold produced from the colonial<br />
period of Papua up until this period. In addition, the Kulumadau<br />
mine produced on average 16% of gross export<br />
earnings from Papua from 1902 to 1918.<br />
Modern gold exploration was initiated on Woodlark<br />
Island in 1962 with the Bureau of <strong>Miner</strong>al Resources<br />
undertaking surface geochemistry, limited geophysics<br />
and diamond drilling in 1962 and 1963 at Kulumadau.<br />
Since 1970 Woodlark Island has been subject to 40<br />
years of mostly continuous modern exploration without<br />
sufficient resources being established to warrant investment<br />
in a mining operation until recently. Exploration<br />
in the past has been concentrated around the<br />
old historical mining centres of Kulumadau, Busai and<br />
Boniavat, with the early exploration strategy being<br />
heavily dependent upon surface geochemistry, geophysics<br />
and geological mapping.<br />
<strong>The</strong> large amount of young sedimentary cover overlying<br />
prospective Miocene volcanic terrain has severely<br />
restricted the use of traditional exploration methods to<br />
the extent that until 1997, global resources at Woodlark<br />
Island were 6.7 million tonnes @ 1.73 grams/tonne<br />
gold for 378,500 ounces estimated at the two historical<br />
centres of Kulumadau and Busai.<br />
Recognizing that the key to exploration success was<br />
low-cost RC drilling on coincident structural dilation<br />
centres and aeromagnetic lows through the overlying<br />
young cover, Woodlark Mining, the 100%-owned subsidiary<br />
of ASX-listed Kula Gold, embarked on an ambitious<br />
drilling program resulting in more than 200,000<br />
metres of RC and 20,000 metres of diamond drilling<br />
over a six year period. Drilling to date has targeted mineralization<br />
at the historical mining centres of Kulumadau,<br />
Busai and Boniavat although new zones have<br />
18 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Company Profile<br />
An aerial view of the exploration camp established by Kula’s subsidiary Woodlark Mining.<br />
been discovered at Munasi and Kulumadau East with<br />
several regional targets remaining untested. Global<br />
JORC resources now stand at 37.3 million tonnes @<br />
1.5 grams/tonne gold containing 1.84 million ounces.<br />
In addition to ongoing exploration, Woodlark Mining also<br />
completed a scoping study in 2009 and pre-feasibility<br />
study (PFS) in May 2010. <strong>The</strong> latter demonstrated that<br />
there is sufficient ore present at Busai and Kulumadau to<br />
justify a plant annually processing 1.5 million tonnes with<br />
a mine life of about six to seven years producing in the<br />
order of 100,000 ounces each year.<br />
Woodlark Mining is completing a feasibility study on<br />
the project which will provide the development blueprint<br />
and foundation for financing and permitting. Ore processing<br />
is anticipated to commence at the amount suggested<br />
in the PFS with an initial mine life of at least six<br />
years. Provision for ramp-up to 2.65 million tonnes on<br />
the back of conversion of existing inferred resources to<br />
reserves, incorporation of Kulumadau East mineralization<br />
into the resource base and future exploration success<br />
on the eight other epithermal targets on the island<br />
will be included in the feasibility study.<br />
<strong>The</strong> various components of the feasibility study including<br />
geotechnical studies, hydrological, metallurgical<br />
and process design work (undertaken by GR Engineering)<br />
are all progressing. Metallurgical test work to date<br />
indicates that the processing plant will achieve overall<br />
recoveries of up to 92% utilizing a gravity circuit following<br />
by CIL following a moderate grind.<br />
Concurrently with the feasibility study, the company<br />
has significantly progressed all elements of an Environmental<br />
Impact Study required by the PNG Government<br />
as part of the permitting process.<br />
In addition, the company is continuing to provide regular<br />
project update briefings to the PNG Government, Provincial<br />
Government and Woodlark Islanders to progress the<br />
permitting process which is the main critical path item in<br />
the overall project development schedule.<br />
Kula Gold is confident that the feasibility study will<br />
lead to a resumption of mining operations on Woodlark<br />
Island more than 100 years after the Kulumadau Mine<br />
was first listed on the Sydney Stock Exchange.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Woodlark Island project includes the historical mining centres of Kulumadau, Busai and Boniavat.<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 19
COMPANY PROFILE<br />
COPPERMOLY FOCUSED ON COPPER IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA<br />
COPPERMOLY is a copper -focused explorer<br />
with two advanced copper-gold-molybdenumzinc<br />
properties on New Britain Island in P apua<br />
New Guinea. Both properties currently have large<br />
exploration and drilling pr ograms under wa y<br />
under the management of the mining major Barrick<br />
Gold, as part of an exploration agreement<br />
signed back in 2009.<br />
Coppermoly Director and Company Secretary<br />
Maurice Gannon said “In 2009 we signed an exploration<br />
agreement with Bar rick Gold, one of the<br />
world’s largest mining companies, whereby they are<br />
spending $20 million on our two New Britain Island<br />
projects, Nakru and Simuku. Barrick has set up a<br />
large exploration base in Kimbe where Coppermoly<br />
also maintains its exploration base.”<br />
Both projects are strategically positioned in the<br />
highly prospective Kulu Awit copper-gold belt.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company also has a lar ge prospective area<br />
covered by two well advanced exploration licence<br />
applications on New Britain Island.<br />
Within four years since listing on the ASX Cop -<br />
permoly has already delineated a 200 million tonne<br />
inferred resource at 0.47 per cent copper equivalent<br />
at its Simuku Project, with Barrick continuing to<br />
push ahead with extension drilling at 1000m depth<br />
below the inferred resource. “<strong>The</strong> inferred resource<br />
spans a 1km la teral extent and w e have further<br />
drilling to the south, so there is potential to expand<br />
the inferred resource,” Mr Gannon said.<br />
At the neighbouring Mt Nakru Project, a drillhole<br />
intersection at Nakru-1 – just one of a number<br />
of target areas – has brought the JV partners<br />
an outstanding result of 213.75m grading 0.92<br />
per cent copper and 0.33 grams per tonne gold.<br />
“Nakru-1 is just one of a number of highlight<br />
PO Box 6965, GCMC Bundall, Queensland, 9726 Australia<br />
areas at Mt Nakru but to date, it is the one tha t<br />
has had the most exploration attention. Coppermoly<br />
zeroed in on this ar ea and we conducted a<br />
3D IP geophysical survey and came up with significant<br />
targets, so the first thing Barrick did was<br />
drill straight into the middle of the Nakru1 geophysical<br />
anomaly where that great intersection<br />
was obtained.” Mr Gannon said.<br />
Nakru-1 is currently described as an exploration<br />
target of 50 to 60 million tonnes at 0.7 – 0.9 per<br />
cent copper however the geology indicates this<br />
might only be the beginning. “Of course, any further<br />
exploration is about incr easing grade and<br />
tonnage which is what we are all about, but it’s<br />
looking good already,” Mr Gannon said.<br />
Not only ar e Coppermoly’s tenements w ell<br />
placed in terms of mineral prospectivity but they<br />
also have a direct link to existing local infrastructure;<br />
with road access to both the Kimbe dee p<br />
water port and the nearby Hoskins Airport.<br />
Coppermoly also signed an ag reement with ActivEX<br />
Limited in late October 2011, to far m-in to<br />
the Esk Trough Project in south-east Queensland –<br />
the copper explorer’s first Australian-based venture.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company intends to push ahead as quickly as<br />
possible with an exploration program including targeted<br />
drilling during the next 12 months.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> Esk Trough Project has advanced exploration<br />
prospects which can be immediately drill<br />
tested. We believe that there is great potential to<br />
quickly add value with a targeted drilling program<br />
in 2012,” said Peter Swiridiuk, the Managing Director<br />
of Coppermoly.<br />
Coppermoly can elect to sole-fund $3 millionworth<br />
of exploration over three years to earn a 51<br />
per cent interest with a further option to e xtend<br />
its interest to a cumulative 70 per cent, in return<br />
for further $3 million of exploration funding. ActivEX<br />
has an option to cla w-back to 40% b y<br />
matching the $6 million spend.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are quite a number of prospects within the<br />
project area. <strong>The</strong> Kakapo prospect is currently the<br />
stand-out. “At the Kakapo prospect an intersection<br />
of 88m g rading 0.47 per cent copper and 0.49<br />
grams per tonne gold was obtained at 38m depth –<br />
which is very encouraging,” said Mr Swiriduik.<br />
“With two advanced projects and a number of<br />
new projects in the pipeline in PNG as well as our<br />
recent farm-in agreement with ActivEX in<br />
Queensland, we are an exploration company with<br />
great prospects in great locations with great partnerships,”<br />
said Mr Gannon.
Papau New Guinea<br />
Maiden gold resource for Nevera prospect<br />
A MAIDEN resource estimate has been completed<br />
in accordance with JORC guidelines<br />
for Gold Anomaly’s Nevera prospect, which<br />
is part of the Crater Mountain Gold Project.<br />
<strong>The</strong> initial inferred resource comprises 24 million<br />
tonnes @ 1.0 grams/tonne gold for<br />
790,000 contained ounces.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Crater Mountain project is in the Papua New Guinea<br />
Highlands and is about 50km southwest of Goroka.<br />
<strong>The</strong> maiden estimate only considers drilling<br />
in about 60% of the Main Zone identified to<br />
date, and does not include the artisanal zone.<br />
Further step out drilling success is likely to increase<br />
the resource significantly. Given that<br />
this zone is still partly open along strike, there<br />
is significant upside to increase the resource<br />
with more drilling in coming months.<br />
<strong>The</strong> upside potential to upgrade and increase<br />
the resource is also considered substantial<br />
given that drilling to date has been confined to<br />
the Nevera prospect. Gold Anomaly plans to<br />
extend exploration activities to adjacent prospects<br />
Masi Creek and Nimi in 2012, which<br />
have similar surface geology, mineralization and<br />
alteration to that seen at Nevera.<br />
Gold Anomaly’s executive chairman Greg<br />
Starr says, “This maiden resource marks a<br />
major milestone for the company, confirming<br />
the potential for Crater Mountain to ultimately<br />
become PNG’s next major gold discovery.<br />
“This is truly an exceptional result given that<br />
we only launched our maiden drilling program<br />
some 12 months ago. We are excited that<br />
several of our drill holes have encountered<br />
extensive gold mineralization mirroring that of<br />
previous exploration at Nevera, and supporting<br />
exploration director Peter Macnab’s mineralization<br />
model.”<br />
Now that the company has an initial resource<br />
for Nevera, preliminary metallurgical<br />
test work is planned on core from the mixing<br />
zone early in the new year.<br />
Creating access to a section of the Crater Mountain project.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company has received positive results<br />
from initial petrological studies completed on<br />
a sample of core from its first 1000 metreplus<br />
hole targeting a possible feeder system<br />
at depth at Nevera. <strong>The</strong> studies indicate that<br />
the intrusive intersected by the hole is a porphyry<br />
and bears all the hallmarks of a typical<br />
porphyry system, some of which are responsible<br />
for some of the largest copper gold deposits<br />
in PNG and the world.<br />
22 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
FIRST ore has been processed at Hillgrove<br />
Resources’ flagship Kanmantoo Copper Project<br />
in South Australia, bringing the mine into<br />
production for the first time in 35 years. Construction<br />
was essentially completed in the<br />
first week of November and the company is<br />
now producing its first concentrates.<br />
<strong>The</strong> first throughput has been from stockpiled,<br />
crushed, low-grade ore to test the plant<br />
and optimize performance. <strong>The</strong> facility is now<br />
working on 300,000 tonnes of higher grade<br />
ore of between 0.7-0.9% copper. <strong>The</strong> first<br />
shipment of concentrate is expected to leave<br />
Port Adelaide in early 2012.<br />
<strong>The</strong> $135-million open-cut project includes<br />
a crushing facility, tailings storage dam and<br />
ball mill. Hillgrove has also manufactured 450<br />
haulage and storage containers for the shipping<br />
of concentrate from Port Adelaide.<br />
Hillgrove’s managing director Drew Simonsen<br />
says, “<strong>The</strong> achievement of this milestone<br />
changes the company from ‘developer’ to<br />
‘producer’ status. <strong>The</strong> combination of a producing<br />
mine at Kanmantoo, continuing exploration<br />
successes in the immediate vicinity of the<br />
pit suggesting a Life-of-Mine extension is very<br />
probable, and our portfolio of highly prospective<br />
Indonesian exploration properties sets the<br />
company up for a strong growth trajectory.”<br />
Kanmantoo is about 55km from Adelaide,<br />
in the Adelaide Hills. Its initial annual throughput<br />
will be 2.4 million tonnes, producing<br />
80,000 tonnes of concentrate, 20,000 tonnes<br />
GEOLOGICAL dating of selected samples<br />
from Tasman Resources’ Vulcan iron oxide<br />
copper gold uranium (IOCGU) project has estimated<br />
the average age of mineralization at<br />
1590 million years. This is essentially the<br />
same geological age as other significant<br />
nearby IOCGU deposits, including Olympic<br />
Dam, Prominent Hill and Carapateena.<br />
Tasman’s executive chairman Greg Solomon<br />
says the dating confirms Vulcan is part of a significant<br />
family of ore deposits and with further<br />
investigation could prove to be a major deposit<br />
itself. <strong>The</strong> dating program is being funded and<br />
technically coordinated by the South Australian<br />
Government through its PACE 2020 initiative,<br />
which is the government’s plan for accelerated<br />
exploration of potential mineral deposits and the<br />
Vulcan in significant family of ore deposits<br />
of copper metal and 10,000 ounces of gold<br />
per year, over a 6 year mine life. Hillgrove will<br />
ramp up production through to June 2012.<br />
Kanmantoo’s general manager Cam Schubert<br />
says the mine is almost at full staff capacity<br />
with 75 employees on site. “<strong>The</strong>se are<br />
certainly exciting times for the Kanmantoo<br />
copper mine. One of the most pleasing aspects<br />
of the project to date has been the opportunity<br />
to grow our workforce as we head<br />
towards sustainable operations.”<br />
Kanmantoo has been intermittently mined<br />
since the 1840s and has recorded production<br />
of 39,000 tonnes of copper metal. Hillgrove<br />
acquired the old copper mine pit in 2004 and<br />
says it remains one of the most under-explored<br />
and prospective metal provinces in<br />
<strong>The</strong> processing facilities at Hillgrove Resources’ Kanmantoo project in South Australia.<br />
development of mining operations. <strong>The</strong> $30.9<br />
million, seven-year funding program is under<br />
the direction of the Primary Industries and Resources<br />
Department and includes support for<br />
drilling programs and new geological surveys.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Vulcan project secured PACE funding<br />
in May 2011 to assist Tasman in understanding<br />
the local geology as well as helping to<br />
guide further drill programs and exploration<br />
for high grade mineralization within the deposit<br />
area. Greg Solomon says the funding<br />
will help place Vulcan and its host rocks in a<br />
regional geological framework.<br />
Initial results at Vulcan confirm measurement<br />
of rhenium and osmium isotopes in molybdenite<br />
which occurs as part of the IOCGU mineralization<br />
in most drill holes to date.<br />
Australia<br />
Australia, showing great potential for coppergold<br />
and silver-lead-zinc mineralization.<br />
Since then the company has worked to<br />
confirm a resource estimate, complete a feasibility<br />
study and rehabilitation plan as well as<br />
the design and construction of the new mine<br />
and nearby roads. <strong>The</strong> tailings storage facility<br />
has been constructed using best practice environmental<br />
guidelines with a clay liner,<br />
drainage networks and decant pipeline with<br />
a HDPE lining on top.<br />
<strong>The</strong> mine’s proximity to a capital city has<br />
helped to keep construction on schedule. It<br />
has access to low cost grid power, treated<br />
waste water from the nearby town of Mount<br />
Barker and is 3km from the highway that links<br />
the area with export facilities at Port Adelaide.<br />
Kanmantoo transforms Hillgrove into a producer<br />
Tasman is also about to start drilling at its<br />
highly prospective Lucas Hill IOCGU target in<br />
South Australia, about 150km south of Vulcan.<br />
<strong>The</strong> basement-sourced gravity anomaly<br />
appears to be larger in area and of comparable<br />
strength to the Carapateena deposit,<br />
which is about 50km northeast.<br />
Greg Solomon says geophysical modeling<br />
indicates that the source of gravity and magnetic<br />
anomalies at Lucas Hill is likely to be a<br />
significant body of quite dense material. “<strong>The</strong><br />
body becomes more magnetic at depth.<br />
Drilling will consist of an initial two drill holes<br />
and further drilling will depend upon results.<br />
Aboriginal heritage clearance has been obtained<br />
for these initial drill holes and drilling<br />
will begin in mid-January.”<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 23
Australia<br />
High grade copper results from Sandy Creek<br />
ASSAY results from a reverse circulation drill program<br />
at Breakaway Resources’ Sandy Creek<br />
Copper-Gold Project in northwest Queensland<br />
reveal high grade copper mineralization over<br />
600 metres strike length. Results from 12 of 16<br />
holes confirm the internal continuity of the shearhosted<br />
mineralization and indicate potential for<br />
extensions along strike and down-dip.<br />
Highlights from the drill holes include 1 metre<br />
from 65 metres @ 6.23% copper, 0.52<br />
grams/tonne gold and 23 grams/tonne silver,<br />
and 2 metres from 37 metres @ 2.08% copper,<br />
5.23 grams/tonne gold and 8.3 grams/tonne<br />
silver. <strong>The</strong> company says these high grade results<br />
were supported by broader intersections<br />
including 45 metres from 36 metres @ 0.66%<br />
copper, 0.14 grams/tonne gold and 2.7<br />
grams/tonne silver.<br />
<strong>The</strong> project is in the world-class Cloncurry<br />
mineral district within the Eloise exploration<br />
area, and is about 20km west of FMR Investments’<br />
Eloise copper mine and about 100km<br />
south of Xstrata’s Ernest Henry copper mine.<br />
Breakaway Resources’ managing director<br />
David Hutton says the proximity to these projects<br />
is positive for Sandy Creek, with potential<br />
to make use of the existing infrastructure.<br />
“We’re right up hard against existing infrastructure,<br />
so obviously it works in our favour<br />
regarding the potential economics of anything<br />
we might find. Like any mine site, Eloise has<br />
mining and milling infrastructure, it has accommodation,<br />
it has power, and so potentially<br />
we could transport the ore to that mine,<br />
that milling facility.”<br />
David Hutton has not ruled out joining<br />
forces with Breakaway’s second largest investor<br />
FMR Investments to continue exploration<br />
and development of Sandy Creek.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>re are no immediate plans to enter into a<br />
partnership, I think FMR is certainly aware of<br />
what we’re doing, I think we’re very much on<br />
their radar, they’re watching what’s going on<br />
and I think they’re seeking to strengthen that<br />
relationship because it will just give people<br />
options down the track.”<br />
Surface mapping and rock chip sampling<br />
have identified semi-continuous sub-crops of<br />
secondary copper mineralization to the north<br />
of Sandy Creek. <strong>The</strong> company says surface<br />
mineralization that stretches for more than<br />
125km strike length is yet to be drill tested.<br />
A share placement was recently completed<br />
to raise $1.1 million and increase the company’s<br />
cash reserves to $3.3 million which will<br />
go into exploration at Sandy Creek.<br />
David Hutton says the proceeds will reinforce<br />
Breakaway’s focus on exploration of<br />
Eloise, including follow up reverse circulation<br />
diamond drilling and developing the priority<br />
drill targets for 2012. “Previously we had focused<br />
a little on the exploration perhaps, but<br />
also heavily on a suite of nickel assets in<br />
Western Australia, so we made a strategic<br />
decision in the first half of 2011 to change the<br />
focus of the company.<br />
Osborne production to begin in March<br />
PRODUCTION at Ivanhoe Australia’s Osborne<br />
Copper-Gold Project in the Cloncurry<br />
tenement in northwest Queensland is expected<br />
to begin in March 2012. A preliminary<br />
economic assessment confirms that Ivanhoe<br />
is on track to mark a major milestone in its<br />
evolution from explorer to producer.<br />
Ivanhoe Australia’s Osborne Copper-Gold Project in<br />
northwest Queensland.<br />
“A great deal has been accomplished since<br />
we purchased Osborne from Barrick Australia<br />
one year ago. A principal focus for Ivanhoe<br />
now is to achieve producer status through<br />
the re-launch of Osborne,” says the company’s<br />
managing director Peter Reeve.<br />
Osborne is about 50km from Mount Dore<br />
and includes mining and processing facilities<br />
from a recently operating copper and gold<br />
mine. It is currently under care and maintenance.<br />
During 2011 Ivanhoe implemented a<br />
$30 million capital development program for<br />
the Osborne and Kulthor underground resources.<br />
<strong>The</strong> measured and indicated mineral<br />
resources total 13.1 million tonnes @ 1.4%<br />
copper and 0.9 grams/tonne gold while inferred<br />
mineral resources total 7.9 million tonnes<br />
@ 1.3% copper and 1.0 grams/tonne gold.<br />
Ivanhoe is targeting a mine life of up to 20<br />
years, with a number of prospects identified as<br />
potential ore sources across the company’s<br />
tenements. Ore supply for the initial four year<br />
mine plan is to be sourced from the Osborne,<br />
Starra 276 and Kulthor underground mines.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company also plans to start processing<br />
molybdenum/rhenium ore from its Merlin deposit<br />
at the Osborne processing facility.<br />
Ore will be treated at the existing processing<br />
facility with annually capacity of 2 million tonne.<br />
Ivanhoe expects to annually produce 21,000<br />
tonnes of copper and 34,000 ounces of gold.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company has also started an underground<br />
drilling program in a bid to extend the Osborne<br />
and Kulthor resources. Drill holes will test for<br />
significant extensions of the Osborne Deeps<br />
mineralization immediately north of the planned<br />
mining area and existing decline, where recent<br />
interpretations allow for a steep body of mineralization<br />
to exist and where no previous<br />
drilling has been undertaken.<br />
At Kulthor, the underground drilling program<br />
will define stoping blocks within the known resource.<br />
A surface drilling program to test the<br />
southwest strike and down-plunge extension<br />
of the Kulthor mineralization at depth and outside<br />
the known resource began in late 2011.<br />
Exploration is focused on a number of<br />
highly prospective target areas, with the goal<br />
of extending the mine plan of the Osborne<br />
project beyond the initial four years detailed<br />
in the copper-gold study. <strong>The</strong> initial target is<br />
to identify additional ore sources around the<br />
existing complex.<br />
<strong>The</strong> concentrator at the mill of Ivanhoe Australia’s Osborne<br />
project.<br />
24 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
SANDFIRE Resources has reached a milestone<br />
in development of the DeGrussa Copper-Gold<br />
Project in Western Australia,<br />
completing the first drawdown of cash from<br />
the $390 million project fund. <strong>The</strong> company<br />
has drawn $190 million with the majority to<br />
be spent on project development and construction<br />
costs in the first quarter of 2012.<br />
Sandfire’s managing director Karl Simich<br />
says he’s excited by the milestone: “<strong>The</strong> De-<br />
Grussa site is a hive of activity, with more than<br />
475 people on site and the overall project<br />
now more than 40% complete. <strong>The</strong> satisfaction<br />
of conditions precedent for the main project<br />
financing facility enables us to repay the<br />
initial mine development facility and ensures<br />
that funding is in place for the balance of the<br />
construction phase.”<br />
Sandfire is undertaking concurrent development<br />
of an open pit and a longer term underground<br />
mine at DeGrussa. <strong>The</strong> stage 1<br />
open pit is on schedule, with more than 3.5<br />
million bank cubic metres of material mined,<br />
while the Evans Decline has progressed beyond<br />
700 metres from the portal.<br />
Construction of the 1.5 million tonne De-<br />
Grussa Concentrator began towards the end<br />
of the September quarter, marking the beginning<br />
of the most significant construction<br />
phase for the project.<br />
Sandfire remains on target to achieve its<br />
MINOTAUR Exploration has been granted<br />
$62,500 by the South Australian Government<br />
to undertake a three dimensional magnetotelluric<br />
(MT) survey at its Aphrodite iron oxide<br />
and copper-gold (IOCG) target within the<br />
state’s Gawler Craton. <strong>The</strong> use of 3D MT is<br />
not yet routinely applied to exploring these<br />
types of targets but Minotaur is hopeful the<br />
new geophysical technology will help confirm<br />
positive results.<br />
Aphrodite is about 30km southeast of<br />
Olympic Dam. <strong>The</strong> region is known for its iron<br />
oxide and copper gold mineralization with<br />
significant prospects nearby at Acropolis,<br />
Wirrda Well and Emmie Bluff. Despite this,<br />
the discovery rate for IOCG deposits is low<br />
because of very thick sedimentary cover.<br />
Minotaur’s last drill hole at the site in 2010<br />
did not resolve the target which was identified<br />
DeGrussa development is well on track<br />
Australia<br />
key project milestones of first direct shipping<br />
ore (DSO) from the open pit in quarter 1 of<br />
2012, first underground ore on the ROM<br />
stockpile in the first half of 2012 and first ore<br />
in the SAG mill in quarter 3 of 2012.<br />
<strong>The</strong> DeGrussa project is 900km north of<br />
Perth and it is within the Doolgunna tenement<br />
package, which includes six exploration licences<br />
and covers 400sqkm within an<br />
emerging copper-gold mineralized belt. <strong>The</strong><br />
project area lies close to a number of existing<br />
and historic gold mines and infrastructure.<br />
In April 2009, Sandfire discovered the highgrade<br />
DeGrussa VMS (volcanogenic massive<br />
sulphide) copper-gold deposit in the northeastern<br />
part of the Doolgunna tenements.<br />
Since then, the company has completed<br />
more than 100,000 metres of diamond<br />
drilling resulting in the discovery and delineation<br />
of the DeGrussa deposit.<br />
<strong>The</strong> JORC-compliant estimate includes an<br />
indicated and inferred resource of 10.67 million<br />
tonnes @ 5.6% copper, 1.9 grams/<br />
tonne gold and 15 grams/tonne silver containing<br />
600,000 tonnes of copper, 660,000<br />
ounces of gold and 5.1 million ounces of silver.<br />
Preliminary open pit optimizations and<br />
design have resulted in identification of a<br />
component of direct shipping material as<br />
part of the mineral resource.<br />
Development of the stage 1 open pit at Sandfire Resources’ DeGrussa Copper-Gold Project in Western Australia.<br />
Government funds for Aphrodite 3D MT survey<br />
in 2008 after hematite-chalcopyrite and calcite-dolomite-bornite<br />
veins were intersected.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company says the $167,000 3D MT survey<br />
around previous drill holes will map the<br />
deep bedrock conductance and test how effective<br />
this method is for exploration of concealed<br />
IOCG-style mineralization.<br />
Magnetotelluric surveys use a passive surface<br />
geophysical technique which determines<br />
electrical conductance of the sub-surface to<br />
great depth. An initial MT survey line across<br />
the Aphrodite target has indicated good<br />
bedrock response and resolution.<br />
Minotaur has also announced its maiden<br />
JORC inferred resource at its Muster Dam<br />
magnetite deposit in South Australia. Independent<br />
consultants for the project have estimated<br />
it contains 1.5 billion tonnes at a<br />
Davis Tube Recovery (DTR) rate of 15.2%<br />
magnetite. <strong>The</strong> joint venture is about 100km<br />
southwest of Broken Hill near the South Australia<br />
and New South Wales border<br />
Minotaur’s exploration director Tony Belperio<br />
says the issue of a JORC resource is a<br />
major milestone for the project. “It confirms<br />
the Muster Dam deposit has the scale and<br />
grade to produce the required throughput of<br />
a high quality magnetite concentrate. In particular,<br />
the extremely low level of deleterious<br />
elements measured in the concentrate suggests<br />
that the product will be attractive to<br />
blast furnace consumers.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> resource estimate is based on results<br />
3000 DTR analyses from 59 diamond core<br />
and reverse circulation drill holes. Metallurgical<br />
test work on diamond drill samples continues<br />
for a project scoping study, with<br />
completion due in the first quarter of 2012.<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 25
Australia<br />
KBL updates <strong>Miner</strong>al Hill resource estimate<br />
KBL, formerly Kimberley Metals, has updated<br />
its resource estimate at the Southern Ore<br />
Zone of the <strong>Miner</strong>al Hill Gold-Copper Project<br />
to a JORC-compliant 5.2 million tonnes containing<br />
222,000 ounces of gold, 61,000<br />
tonnes of copper and 6 million ounces of silver.<br />
This represents a 38% increase in contained<br />
copper, 77% increase in estimated contained<br />
gold and 12% increase in contained silver from<br />
the September 2011 estimate.<br />
KBL’s executive chairman Jim Wall says,<br />
“<strong>The</strong> Southern Ore Zone resource adds significant<br />
upside to the <strong>Miner</strong>al Hill mining operations<br />
and importantly supports both an<br />
<strong>The</strong> refurbished processing facilities at KBL’s <strong>Miner</strong>al Hill project in New South Wales.<br />
extension to the mine life and the ability to increase<br />
gold production.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> company was also expected to complete<br />
its fourth shipment of copper concentrate<br />
from <strong>Miner</strong>al Hill to Chinese company Yunnan<br />
Copper by the end of December. <strong>The</strong> 1000<br />
tonne shipments are packed in containers at<br />
Dubbo and railed to Port Botany for dispatch.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Miner</strong>al Hill mine is about 65km north of<br />
the town of Condobolin in central western New<br />
South Wales and has annual processing capacity<br />
of 250,000 tonnes. It was mothballed in<br />
2005 by Triako when copper and gold prices<br />
plummeted. Substantial resources were left<br />
undeveloped and the discovery of the nearby<br />
high-grade gold-silver Pearse project has allowed<br />
KBL to step in and cost-effectively refurbish<br />
and upgrade the operation.<br />
Additional production of gold and silver<br />
dore, or unrefined bullion, from Pearse will<br />
raise annual production to 5000 tonnes of<br />
copper, 21,350 ounces of gold and 255,000<br />
ounces of silver from mid-2012.<br />
Commissioning of the processing plant was<br />
completed in the fourth quarter of 2011 and<br />
as the quality of development ore has improved,<br />
so has plant performance. Copper<br />
recoveries are now in the range of 85-90%<br />
and concentrate grades between 22-24%<br />
copper. <strong>The</strong> plant has also increased its daily<br />
concentrate production to 50 tonnes.<br />
Kimberley has started dewatering the decline<br />
to access the SOZ drive. A new production<br />
bore is being commissioned to increase<br />
pumping rates by 150%, allowing the SOZ<br />
and ESOZ deposits to be reached by late<br />
2012. Mining operations are expected to<br />
commence during early 2013 following rehabilitation<br />
of the access.<br />
Jim Wall says, “Achievement of milestone<br />
shipments of concentrate marks the beginning<br />
of steady-state production, at the<br />
planned rate of 4500–5000 tonnes/annum of<br />
copper concentrate.”<br />
Study boosts estimated value of Hawsons<br />
THE estimated net present value (NPV) of<br />
Carpentaria Exploration’s Hawsons Iron Project<br />
in the far west of New South Wales has<br />
risen to Aus$3.2 billion after a recent mining<br />
option study. Lower projected operating<br />
costs based on modelling of in-pit crushing<br />
and conveying compared to conventional<br />
truck haulage prompted the 14% increase in<br />
NPV from the pre-feasibility study (PFS).<br />
<strong>The</strong> recent study has put mining cost estimates<br />
at Aus$15.04 per tonne of concentrate,<br />
a reduction of 23% over the PFS,<br />
contributing to a 5% fall in operating costs to<br />
Aus$33.97 per tonne of concentrate.<br />
Carpentaria’s executive chairman Nick<br />
Sheard says the study’s results are very pleasing<br />
and boost the prospects of a new mine<br />
being established at what’s regarded as eastern<br />
Australia's biggest new magnetite discovery.<br />
“This builds on an already robust financial<br />
model and development concept and shows<br />
the benefits of a very large and simple deposit.<br />
In-pit crushing and conveying is an established<br />
mining method and well suited to<br />
the Hawsons deposit, importantly it has not<br />
yet been optimized and further cost reductions<br />
are possible,” he says.<br />
Carpentaria is also working to make cost<br />
savings on processing to maximize the benefits<br />
of the very soft ore and excellent magnetite<br />
liberation. <strong>The</strong> joint venture with Bonython<br />
Metals Group is 60km southwest of Broken<br />
Hill, near the border of South Australia, and includes<br />
an inferred magnetite resource of 1.4<br />
billion tonnes at a Davis Tube Recovery (DTR)<br />
rate of 15.5% (12% cut off) and an exploration<br />
target of 6-11 billion tonnes at 14-17% DTR.<br />
This includes up to 1.9 billion tonnes of highgrade<br />
magnetite concentrate.<br />
<strong>The</strong> May 2011 PFS stated that Hawsons<br />
could annually generate 20 million tonnes of<br />
concentrate production after an initial annual<br />
5 million tonne, 3-year start-up period. Carpentaria<br />
says by using conservative engineering<br />
and financial assumptions, the project<br />
could be very profitable during a long mine<br />
life of between 24 and 50 years.<br />
<strong>The</strong> improvement in the financial modelling<br />
as a result of lower operating costs can<br />
mainly be attributed to the in-pit crushing and<br />
conveying option which drastically reduces<br />
road haulage and energy consumption.<br />
Nick Sheard says, “<strong>The</strong>se ongoing improved<br />
project results show the potential of Hawsons<br />
to become a company-making project for Carpentaria<br />
and an ongoing source of wealth for<br />
shareholders. Carpentaria will continue to work<br />
to reduce costs and strive to produce magnetite<br />
at a comparable cost to West Australian<br />
hematite producers.”<br />
26 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Australia<br />
First Punt Hill hole intersects copper<br />
ASSAY results from the first drill hole at<br />
Monax Mining’s Punt Hill Copper-Gold Project<br />
have confirmed mineralization is shallower<br />
than previously thought. Best results from the<br />
diamond drill hole are 9 metres from 4356<br />
metres @ 0.12% copper.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Punt Hill iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG)<br />
project is about 130km north of Port Augusta<br />
in South Australia. It’s on the eastern margin of<br />
the Gawler Craton within the Olympic IOCG<br />
province which hosts the Olympic Dam, Prominent<br />
Hill and Carrapateena deposits.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Punt Hill tenement contains numerous<br />
coincident/semi-coincident gravity and magnetic<br />
anomalies, which appear to be structurally<br />
controlled along a regional north-west<br />
fault. A geochronology study conducted as<br />
part of the South Australian government’s<br />
PACE program confirmed that the alteration<br />
and mineralization at Punt Hill is part of the<br />
same IOCG event on the Gawler Craton that<br />
is responsible for the world-class Olympic<br />
Dam deposit.<br />
<strong>The</strong> initial hole was completed at 639.5 metres<br />
within Donington Suite granite, with the<br />
zone below the upper hematitic breccia comprised<br />
of a series of sediments with two narrow<br />
zones of intense silica alteration. Assay<br />
results from these zones are expected soon.<br />
Monax managing director Gary Ferris says,<br />
“<strong>The</strong> 9 metre zone of elevated copper is<br />
within a broader zone of 26.9 metres @ 756<br />
ppm copper and provides encouragement<br />
for further drill testing.” <strong>The</strong> six hole program<br />
was given approval by the Kokatha<br />
Uwankara claimants in August 2011 along<br />
with a native title mining agreement.<br />
Punt Hill is a joint venture with Chileanbased<br />
copper miner Antofagasta, one of the<br />
world’s top 10 copper producers. It’s Antofagasta’s<br />
first Australian investment and it can<br />
earn a 51% interest by committing US$4 million<br />
over four years. Once Antofagasta has<br />
obtained 51%, Monax has the ability to remain<br />
at 49% by co-funding exploration or development<br />
costs, or can elect to have its<br />
interest diluted.<br />
Antofagasta can earn a further 19% by expending<br />
a further US$5 million in exploration<br />
and development of the project tenements. If<br />
a development decision is made, Antofagasta<br />
will pay Monax a success fee of US$10 million.<br />
It must spend a minimum of US$1.5 million on<br />
the Punt Hill project within the first two years.<br />
Drilling program under way at Lucknow deposit<br />
A DETAILED infill and step out reverse circulation<br />
drill program has commenced at Metallica<br />
<strong>Miner</strong>als’ Lucknow deposit, which is part<br />
of in its tri-metal Nornico project area in<br />
northern Queensland. Results will allow the<br />
company to announce an upgraded mineral<br />
resource estimate by February 2012.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 150-hole program is being conducted<br />
across high-grade scandium mineralization at<br />
the southern end of the project, northwest of<br />
the city of Townsville. Drilling is being conducted<br />
on an approximate 40 metre x 40<br />
metre grid pattern to more fully define the highgrade<br />
scandium resource boundaries and expand<br />
the measured and indicated resources<br />
for further detailed mine planning and preliminary<br />
plant feed scheduling studies.<br />
Metallica’s managing director Andrew<br />
Gillies says the drilling campaign is an important<br />
part of the company’s current spread of<br />
feasibility and environmental studies, permit<br />
applications, mineral resource studies and<br />
detailed metallurgical work. He says Lucknow<br />
will be the main long term source of scandium<br />
ore and will be blended with nickel and<br />
cobalt ores from the historical Greenvale mine<br />
site for the project’s proposed High Pressure<br />
Acid Leach (HPAL) processing plant.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> Lucknow scandium resource stands<br />
at 6.24 million tonnes at an average grade of<br />
169 grams/tonne and at a 70 grams/tonne<br />
cut off grade. Using a higher grade cut-off of<br />
Drilling along 40 metre spaced drill lines at the southern end of Metallica’s Lucknow scandium deposit.<br />
120 grams/tonne, a higher grade scandium<br />
resource of 4.12 million tonnes at 206<br />
grams/tonne is revealed, containing about<br />
1200 tonnes of scandium oxide.”<br />
Metallica is targeting aluminum alloy companies<br />
and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) developers<br />
for expressions of interest in offtake<br />
agreements for Nornico’s scandium production.<br />
<strong>The</strong> current studies are based around a<br />
HPAL process plant with an on-site power<br />
and acid plant, annually treating 750,000<br />
tonnes of combined nickel, cobalt and scandium<br />
ore over a 20-year mine life.<br />
Andrew Gillies says preliminary test work on<br />
the Greenvale and Lucknow ores has indicated<br />
high metal recovery and low to moderate<br />
acid consumption. <strong>The</strong> initial annual<br />
production target from 2015 at Nornico is<br />
6000 tonnes of nickel and cobalt and 40<br />
tonnes of scandium oxide. Scandium production<br />
could easily be expanded to match<br />
expected growth in scandium oxide demand<br />
once a long-term reliable supply is presented<br />
to aluminium and SOFC end users.<br />
“High grade scandium resources will be selectively<br />
mined for blending with higher grade<br />
nickel and cobalt ores from our Greenvale<br />
mine just 8km by road to the northwest. All<br />
three metals will be recovered from the same<br />
plant and produce nickel metal, cobalt sulphide<br />
and scandium oxide.”<br />
28 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Mongolia<br />
Oyu Tolgoi 70% complete but power is an issue<br />
Construction of a siding at the pebble crusher complex at Ivanhoe Mines’ Oyu Tolgoi project.<br />
IVANHOE Mines expects construction at the<br />
Oyu Tolgoi Copper-Gold Project in southern<br />
Mongolia to be 70% complete by the start of<br />
2012 with commercial production scheduled<br />
for the first half of 2013. <strong>The</strong> site based construction<br />
workforce is about 14,760 with<br />
about 11,680 working on site each day and<br />
the balance on leave.<br />
About 7820 Mongolians are employed at the<br />
site with an additional 3300 Mongolians participating<br />
in offsite training and educational programs.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se Mongolian employees will form<br />
the bulk of the eventual production workforce.<br />
Oyu Tolgoi is expected to annually produce<br />
an average of 450,000 tonnes of copper and<br />
330,000 ounces of gold over the next 10<br />
years. It is projected to account for one-third<br />
of total Mongolian GDP by 2020.<br />
An obstacle to the timetable of Ivanhoe and<br />
joint developer Rio Tinto remains the provision<br />
of power with the Chinese government<br />
yet to agree to supply power across the border.<br />
Extra diesel generators have been installed<br />
and the companies have launched an<br />
investigation into alternative power sources<br />
should electricity from China not be available<br />
on schedule. Ivanhoe has conceded that production<br />
could be delayed.<br />
In May 2011, the project received final approvals<br />
to construct a 220 kilovolt power<br />
transmission line along a 95km route south<br />
to the Chinese border. Construction of the<br />
transmission towers was completed in October<br />
and the stringing of power cables will<br />
start in spring 2012, if agreement is reached.<br />
As part of the investigation into alternatives,<br />
Ivanhoe may need to bring forward construction<br />
of a coal-fired power plant at the mine. It<br />
said in a statement: “Although a power plant<br />
is expected as part of the Oyu Tolgoi project’s<br />
future development, there is no provision in<br />
the current capital cost estimates for 2011<br />
and 2012 and the financing that would be required<br />
is not contemplated as part of the<br />
company’s current financing plan.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> plant would increase initial capital expenditure<br />
and delay commercial production.<br />
Ivanhoe has acknowledged that constructing<br />
the plant in Mongolia is the best choice<br />
for the project.<br />
New acquisition for Xanadu-Noble alliance<br />
XANADU Mines is acquiring the Khavtsgait<br />
Coal Project which is within a highly prospective<br />
coal-bearing sedimentary basin in northern<br />
Mongolia. <strong>The</strong> project covers 2869<br />
hectares in this basin, which is known to host<br />
premium hard coking coal. It is in Khuvsgul<br />
province, about 60km east of the provincial<br />
centre of Murun and 250km west of the established<br />
rail spur at Erdenet.<br />
<strong>The</strong> acquisition is being undertaken by<br />
Ekhgoviin Chuluu LLC (EC), a vehicle established<br />
by strategic alliance partners Xanadu<br />
and Noble Group to seek out and develop premium<br />
metallurgical coal opportunities. <strong>The</strong><br />
highly prospective exploration licence overlies<br />
an early to middle Mesozoic aged coal-bearing<br />
sedimentary basin. Similarly aged basins in<br />
northern Mongolia, such as the Ovoot Coking<br />
Coal Project of Aspire Mining, are known to<br />
host premium hard coking coal deposits.<br />
<strong>The</strong> opportunity was recognized as part of<br />
a thorough regional reconnaissance exploration<br />
program conducted by EC’s geologists.<br />
Initial exploration, including trenching,<br />
indicates the stratigraphic sequence at<br />
Khavtsgait is consistent with the alliance’s<br />
newly discovered Nuurstei coking coal project,<br />
which is about 60km to the west.<br />
It represents the third major metallurgical<br />
coal acquisition in Mongolia for EC, which<br />
was created in March 2011. Xanadu’s chairman<br />
Brian Thornton says, “<strong>The</strong> Khavtsgait<br />
acquisition further underpins the core strategy<br />
of EC – to identify and develop significant<br />
metallurgical coal opportunities, close to existing<br />
infrastructure, that will meet anticipated<br />
current and future demands from China and<br />
North Asian markets. With the acquisition of<br />
a second metallurgical coal project in Khuvsgul<br />
by EC, our exploration focus on the newly<br />
emerging metallurgical coal basins of northern<br />
Mongolia is coming to fruition.” EC plans<br />
to begin a comprehensive exploration program<br />
at Khavtsgait immediately.<br />
<strong>The</strong> acquisition follows EC’s recent<br />
Javkhlant coking coal joint venture where<br />
drilling started recently. <strong>The</strong> project is in Gobi<br />
Altai province, about 22km from the Burgastai<br />
border crossing into China and only 200km<br />
from the Chinese rail network at Hami. EC can<br />
earn up to 80% of the 1005sqkm exploration<br />
licence by meeting various spending commitments<br />
over two years.<br />
Reconnaissance mapping and exploration<br />
has identified numerous coal and carbonaceous<br />
mudstone sub-crops, containing coal<br />
fragments, which occur over a strike of 40km.<br />
30 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
ERDENE Resource Development Corp is undertaking<br />
a 3000 metre drill program at the<br />
Altan Nar (Golden Sun) epithermal gold property<br />
in southwest Mongolia. <strong>The</strong> program will<br />
test multiple targets over 1km of strike length<br />
extending north and south from the original<br />
discovery which returned significant, near<br />
surface epithermal-style gold, silver and base<br />
metal mineralization.<br />
<strong>The</strong> program is concentrating on the central<br />
portion of a target area measuring 3km by<br />
2km and containing multiple prospects defined<br />
by geochemistry and geophysics. <strong>The</strong>se<br />
prospects are also associated with a number<br />
of gold-bearing epithermal-style quartz<br />
vein/breccia zones identified on surface and in<br />
the initial four-hole drilling program.<br />
<strong>The</strong> initial drilling tested a 75 metre wide,<br />
low sulphidation epithermal system over a<br />
strike length of 100 metres with geophysical<br />
anomalies suggesting continuity and local intensification<br />
at depth. <strong>The</strong> initial hole intersected<br />
mineralization from 20 to 75 metres<br />
averaging 1.02 grams/tonne gold and 12<br />
grams/tonne silver over a 55 metre interval<br />
Drilling follows up Altan Nar gold targets<br />
and included 23 metres averaging 2.07<br />
grams/tonne gold and 23 grams/tonne silver.<br />
Other intersections were 40 metres from<br />
surface @ 0.32 grams/tonne gold and 3<br />
grams/tonne silver, including 4 metres from<br />
15 metres @ 0.96 grams/tonne gold and 12<br />
Initial drilling at Erdene’s Altan Nar epithermal gold property.<br />
grams/tonne silver; 18 metres from 48 metres<br />
@ 0.56 grams/tonne gold and 6<br />
grams/tonne silver, including 2 metres from<br />
62 metres @ 1.24 grams/tonne gold and 17<br />
grams/tonne silver; and 48 metres from 28<br />
metres @ 0.51 grams/tonne gold and 9<br />
grams/tonne silver, including 10.,5 metres<br />
from 36 metres @ 1.20 grams/tonne gold<br />
Mongolia<br />
and 16 grams/tonne silver. <strong>The</strong>re was also<br />
lead and zinc mineralization in all holes.<br />
Following the initial drilling success, the<br />
company completed additional infill soil sampling,<br />
regional and detailed magnetic surveys,<br />
an extension of the existing IP gradient array<br />
and additional dipole-dipole IP lines.<br />
<strong>The</strong> expanded geophysical program has<br />
clearly defined chargeability and resistivity<br />
anomalies coincident with anomalous gold<br />
and base metal soil anomalies in the central<br />
portion of the target area. <strong>The</strong>se geophysical<br />
anomalies include extensions from the<br />
original discovery as well as parallel zones<br />
to the north and south.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 3000 metre diamond drill program,<br />
consisting of about 18 holes, is expected to<br />
be completed by early January. Holes will be<br />
drilled to depths of between 100 and 200<br />
metres targeting coincident gold and base<br />
metal geochemical and high chargeability<br />
anomalies hosted within a distinct magnetic<br />
low feature over an area of about 1km by 800<br />
metres. This area contains a number of gold<br />
bearing epithermal quartz veins at surface.<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 31
Mongolia<br />
Haranga increases Selenge interest to 80%<br />
THE acquisition of a further 20% interest in a<br />
joint venture company that holds five exploration<br />
licences comprising the Selenge Iron<br />
Ore Project in northern Mongolia has boosted<br />
Haranga Resources’ ownership to 80%. <strong>The</strong><br />
ASX-listed company maintains full operational<br />
and management control of the joint venture.<br />
Selenge covers 600sqkm in the heart of<br />
Mongolia’s premier iron ore development region,<br />
about 200km north of Ulaanbaatar. <strong>The</strong><br />
project has access to the Trans-Mongolian<br />
rail line and nearby rail spurs.<br />
Drilling is ongoing with four diamond rigs in<br />
operation. Significant widths of iron mineralization<br />
have been intersected at all three of<br />
the targets drilled thus far and metallurgical<br />
test work has started in initial samples. <strong>The</strong><br />
company aims to define an initial JORC-compliant<br />
resource early in 2012.<br />
A total of 36 diamond core holes have been<br />
drilled for a total of 8366 metres. Drilling has<br />
focused on the Bayantsogt prospect where<br />
Haranga Resources’ projects in Mongolia. <strong>The</strong> company is focusing on the Selenge project in the country’s north.<br />
there are at least five major iron lodes each<br />
averaging about 20 metres and up to 103<br />
metres in apparent width.<br />
Assay results received to date include 28<br />
metres from 3 metres @ 30% iron, 17 metres<br />
from 50 metres @ 28%, 41 metres from 107<br />
metres @ 26 metres including 10 metres from<br />
113 metres @ 42%, 18 metres from 65 metres<br />
@ 31%, 5 metres from 106 metres @<br />
40%, 9 metres from 13 metres @ 39% including<br />
5 metres from 14 metres @ 47% and<br />
38 metres from 68 metres @ 24%.<br />
<strong>Miner</strong>alization at Bayantsogt is primarily<br />
hosted in Banded Magnetite Skarn and is<br />
similar in nature to the nearby 300 million<br />
tonne Eruu Gol deposit, which has proven<br />
amenable to low-cost mining and beneficiation,<br />
and is currently Mongolia’s largest<br />
iron ore export mine.<br />
Initial drilling at the larger Dund Bulag<br />
prospect has recently discovered significant<br />
widths of iron mineralization of a similar nature<br />
to Bayantsogt while mineralized intersections<br />
from initial drilling at the Huiten Gol<br />
prospect appear to be smaller in width but of<br />
a higher iron grade than Bayantsogt.<br />
All targets are associated with large magnetic<br />
anomalies and lie within a well-defined<br />
structural corridor that contains all of the<br />
known iron ore deposits in Selenge<br />
province, including Eruu Gol, which currently<br />
produces about 2.5 million tonnes of magnetite<br />
concentrate annually.<br />
Initial estimate for South Gobi Coal Project<br />
AN initial JORC resource estimate of 63.1<br />
million tonnes for Guildford Coal’s South Gobi<br />
Coal Project underpins the potential start-up<br />
open cut mining opportunity of 1-2 million<br />
tonnes annually for at least 20 years. <strong>The</strong> estimate<br />
comprises 38.2 million indicated and<br />
24.9 million inferred tonnes.<br />
<strong>The</strong> ASX-listed company lodged mining licence<br />
application for two tenements and expected<br />
to have these granted by the end of<br />
2011. It has completed scoping studies for<br />
the start-up operation and mining is targeted<br />
to begin by the end of the second quarter of<br />
2012 in the North Pit.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company will continue drilling on other<br />
key tenements in the South Gobi Project to define<br />
the JORC resource required to underpin<br />
the conceptual Central, West and East pit mine<br />
strategy for the project. Discussions with potential<br />
offtake partners have also commenced.<br />
Guildford’s interests in Mongolia are held<br />
through its 70%-owned subsidiary Terra Energy.<strong>The</strong><br />
South Gobi Coal Project comprises<br />
five exploration licences in South Gobi<br />
province about 1000km southwest of Ulaanbaatar<br />
and only about 60km from the Chinese<br />
border station town of Ceke.<br />
<strong>The</strong> project is also about 50km east of<br />
Nariin Sukhait which includes SouthGobi Resources’<br />
Ovoot Tolgoi mine and the MAK<br />
mine, which currently produce and export<br />
coking and thermal coal to customers in<br />
China. <strong>The</strong>se mines produce more than 5<br />
million tonnes annually of high volatile bituminous<br />
coals which are marketed as separate<br />
thermal and coking coal products.<br />
This coal is currently sold ROM at the mine<br />
gate to Chinese traders who transport the<br />
coal by truck to a Chinese border coal stockpile<br />
at Ceke where it is then transferred by rail<br />
to Chinese power stations and steel mills.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company also has the Middle Gobi<br />
Project, which consists of two exploration licences<br />
in Dundgovi province, about 200km<br />
south of Ulaanbaatar and about 200km<br />
west of the Mongolian railway grid with a logistics<br />
route to China via the Erlianhaote<br />
border crossing. Guildford recently announced<br />
a significant upgrade in exploration<br />
targets at its Mongolian projects to a range<br />
of 30 million to 1.38 billion tonnes<br />
32 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Mongolia<br />
Centerra aims to increase Boroo production<br />
CENTERRA Gold is hoping to increase annual gold production<br />
from its Boroo project by more than 300% by 2014 as part of a<br />
plan to boost overall production at all operations to just under 1<br />
million ounces. <strong>The</strong> Canadian company is also aiming to increase<br />
output at the Kumtor mine in the Kyrgyz Republic.<br />
At Boroo the company is currently producing at an annual rate<br />
of around 50,000 ounces using stockpiled ore, but wants to increase<br />
the mill’s output to between 150,000 and 200,000 ounces<br />
by feeding it with ore from the Gatsuurt deposit 35km away. Permitting<br />
issues have delayed Centerra’s plans but it remains confident<br />
that these will be resolved by the Mongolian Government.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Boroo Gold Project where Centerra Gold is planning to increase production.<br />
<strong>The</strong> problems began in 2009 when the government introduced<br />
a new law that blocked any mining development in forested areas<br />
or at headwaters, and Gatsuurt is in this category. <strong>The</strong> legislation<br />
said that miners that lost previously held licences would be compensated.About<br />
a year ago the government completed a study<br />
of how many permits were affected and what levels of compensation<br />
it would have to pay out. It came up with a figure of more<br />
than $5 billion to compensate the holders of around 1700 licences<br />
that were to be revoked.<br />
Despite the amount of compensation, the government decided<br />
it would implement the law but would do so in stages. <strong>The</strong> first to<br />
pay would be around 500 alluvial miners, mainly local companies,<br />
however, the compensation still amounted to $500 million, a hefty<br />
price tag for the government, so the companies that had licences<br />
revoked decided to collectively sue it.<br />
As a result, Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold suspended the<br />
enforcement of the law, and the miners dropped their case. He<br />
formed a parliamentary committee that came up with amendments<br />
to the legislation to make it more practical, which would<br />
have allowed Gatsuurt to progress.<br />
Parliament broke off shortly after for the summer recess and before<br />
the amendments had gone to vote. Upon its return, a group<br />
of 20 parliamentarians demanded that the PM renegotiate an investment<br />
agreement with the owners of the giant Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold<br />
mine. <strong>The</strong>y, in turn, refused to budge on the agreement<br />
with the government ultimately backing down.<br />
This distracted the Parliament from amendments to the environmental<br />
legislation and Centerra is uncertain whether the Gatsuurt<br />
issue will be resolved before general elections set for June<br />
this year but is cautiously optimistic that it eventually will be.’<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 33
China<br />
Exploration at Zhongqu and Diebu<br />
Red Mountain Mining’s Zhongqu and Diebu gold projects are in Gansu Province.<br />
RED Mountain Mining has started structural surface and underground<br />
geology studies at the Xinqu mineralized area within the Zhongqu<br />
project to assist interpretation of the gold mineralization. <strong>The</strong> ASXlisted<br />
company is also commencing exploration work at the Diebu<br />
project with access to exploration adits.<br />
Due to above average rainfall, the stage II underground drilling program<br />
at Zhongqu was delayed until December. This program is designed<br />
to follow-up the exciting Stage I drilling results, including a best<br />
intersection of 31 metres @ 4.61 grams/tonne gold.<br />
Despite the delay, the company expects that it will still have sufficient<br />
time to finish the planned program by the end of February 2012 with<br />
the aim of outlining the size and dimensions of the gold mineralization<br />
encountered in the first stage which intersected the main granodiorite-contact<br />
shear zone as well as previously unrecognized limestone<br />
hosted structures, which included 14.3 metres @ 4.50 grams/tonne.<br />
<strong>The</strong> stage II program will target both these styles with up to 15<br />
drill holes totalling about 2430 metres. Provision has also been<br />
made to follow-up encouraging drill intercepts during the program<br />
with additional holes. <strong>The</strong> program aims to establish the down dip<br />
extension of the main granodiorite-contact shear zone and get a<br />
better understanding of the orientation and tonnage potential of the<br />
high-grade limestone structures.<br />
A structural geological mapping program started in November underground<br />
and on surface with studies intended to better understand<br />
the controls on gold mineralization. This is expected to assist in drill<br />
34 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
China<br />
targeting and resource definition with potential<br />
open pit mineralization.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company has also assembled an exploration<br />
team and mobilized it to Diebu to<br />
commence rehabilitation of the existing exploration<br />
adits and mapping of surface and<br />
underground exposures to establish potential<br />
drill targets with drilling expected to<br />
begin in the first half of 2012.<br />
忠 曲 与 迭 部 项 目 实 施 勘 探 作 业<br />
Red Mountain 矿 业 公 司 忠 曲 项 目 内 的 辛 曲<br />
矿 化 区 为 更 好 地 进 行 金 矿 化 的 解 释 工 作 , 已<br />
经 开 始 开 展 地 表 和 地 下 地 质 构 造 研 究 。 这 个<br />
在 澳 大 利 亚 证 券 交 易 所 上 市 的 公 司 同 时 也 在<br />
迭 部 项 目 通 过 平 硐 进 行 勘 探 施 工 。<br />
由 于 降 水 量 高 于 平 均 值 , 忠 曲 第 二 阶 段 地<br />
下 勘 探 计 划 推 迟 至 12 月 。 该 计 划 旨 在 对 第<br />
一 阶 段 得 到 的 激 动 人 心 的 结 果 进 行 跟 进 , 最<br />
佳 的 测 试 结 果 包 括 31 米 岩 芯 金 品 位 为 4.61 克<br />
/ 吨 。<br />
尽 管 有 所 推 迟 , 公 司 仍 然 期 望 能 够 有 足 够<br />
的 时 间 在 2012 年 2 月 底 之 前 完 成 计 划 , 以 期<br />
概 括 出 第 一 阶 段 在 主 要 的 闪 长 岩 剪 切 带 和 先<br />
前 未 确 认 的 石 灰 岩 构 造 见 矿 的 大 小 和 尺 寸 ,<br />
其 中 包 括 14.3 米 岩 芯 品 位 为 4.5 克 / 吨 。<br />
第 二 阶 段 计 划 以 这 两 种 类 别 为 目 标 , 共 计<br />
实 施 15 个 钻 孔 , 约 钻 进 2430 米 。 公 司 也 为<br />
计 划 执 行 期 间 进 一 步 跟 进 积 极 的 见 矿 结 果 而<br />
实 施 另 外 的 钻 孔 做 好 了 准 备 。 此 次 计 划 旨 在<br />
确 立 主 要 的 闪 长 岩 剪 切 带 的 下 倾 延 伸 带 , 并<br />
对 高 品 位 的 石 灰 岩 构 造 潜 在 的 方 位 和 吨 位 数<br />
有 更 好 的 认 识 。<br />
构 造 地 质 测 绘 计 划 已 于 11 月 份 在 地 下 和 地<br />
表 实 施 , 其 中 包 括 为 了 更 好 的 认 识 金 成 矿 带<br />
的 控 矿 作 用 而 进 行 的 研 究 工 作 。 该 计 划 预 期<br />
通 过 潜 在 的 露 天 矿 成 矿 带 推 进 钻 探 定 位 和 资<br />
源 界 定 。<br />
同 时 , 公 司 已 经 组 建 了 一 支 勘 探 队 , 并 已<br />
遣 往 迭 部 开 展 对 现 有 勘 探 平 硐 的 修 复 工 作 和<br />
Both projects are in the south of Gansu<br />
Province. Zhongqu is an operational gold<br />
mine with substantial exploration potential. It<br />
has been operational since 2002 using manual<br />
underground mining methods and covers<br />
7.19sqkm on a granted mining lease. <strong>The</strong><br />
project has a modern gold treatment plant<br />
with annual capacity of 400,000 tonnes.<br />
Diebu has an exploration target of between<br />
400,000 and 500,000 tonnes at 3.5-<br />
4.5 grams/tonne gold. Red Mountain obtained<br />
encouraging results from its first<br />
comprehensive examination in 2008. <strong>Miner</strong>alization<br />
occurs irregularly over 6km but has<br />
not yet been adequately explored and has<br />
not been drilled. Adits have been developed<br />
following the common Chinese approach to<br />
‘explore by mining’.<br />
对 地 表 与 地 下 露 头 的 测 绘 工 作 , 以 确 定 潜 在<br />
的 钻 探 靶 区 , 且 钻 探 作 业 预 计 在 2012 年 上<br />
半 年 开 始 。<br />
这 两 个 项 目 都 位 于 甘 肃 省 南 部 。 忠 曲 是 一<br />
个 运 营 中 的 金 矿 , 具 有 巨 大 的 勘 探 潜 力 。 自<br />
2002 年 开 始 采 用 手 工 地 下 采 矿 方 式 运 营 ,<br />
矿 场 覆 盖 面 积 7.19 平 方 公 里 。 该 项 目 拥 有 一<br />
个 现 代 化 黄 金 加 工 厂 , 年 产 能 达 40 万 吨 。<br />
迭 部 拥 有 一 个 产 能 介 于 40 万 吨 -50 万 吨 的<br />
勘 探 靶 区 , 金 品 位 介 于 3.5-4.5 克 / 吨 之 间 。<br />
在 2008 年 ,Red Mountain 首 次 全 面 的 测 试<br />
获 得 了 鼓 舞 人 心 的 结 果 。 不 规 律 的 成 矿 带 超<br />
过 6 公 里 , 但 尚 未 得 到 充 足 的 勘 探 , 钻 探 工<br />
作 一 直 未 实 施 。 平 硐 的 钻 进 采 用 中 国 通 用 的<br />
‘ 边 采 边 探 ’ 的 方 法 。<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 35
China<br />
Production delayed at Eastern Dragon<br />
Eastern Dragon construction continued during the chilly northeast China winter.<br />
PRODUCTION at Eldorado Gold’s Eastern<br />
Dragon project in Heilongjiang Province is not<br />
expected to begin until the third quarter of<br />
2012 with the company unable to complete<br />
construction owing to it not yet receiving the<br />
Project Permit Approval (PPA) as well as the<br />
early onset of winter. Earthworks programs<br />
are now expected to be carried out during<br />
the Northern Hemisphere spring.<br />
<strong>The</strong> PPA is the key permit required to allow<br />
earthworks to proceed at the tailings facility,<br />
waste dump and open pit areas. Eldorado<br />
continues to work with the provincial government<br />
on advancing the permit application and<br />
remains confident of a successful outcome.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se works are the last remaining hurdle<br />
before gold production can begin. Remaining<br />
construction activity was all but completed by<br />
the end of 2011 with contractors demobilized.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company made a concerted effort<br />
to finish all outside work before the winter<br />
season set in. Piping and electrical installations<br />
in the process area have begun and will<br />
be completed during winter.<br />
Construction at Eldorado Gold’s Eastern Dragon project<br />
in Heilongjiang Province.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are proven and probable reserves of<br />
764,000 ounces @ 7.71 grams/tonne gold and<br />
7 million ounces of silver @ 71 grams/tonne.<br />
Resources comprise 852,000 ounces @ 7.50<br />
grams/tonne gold in the measured and indicated<br />
categories and 8.3 million ounces of silver<br />
@ 73 grams/tonne, and 190,000 inferred<br />
gold ounces @ 2.67 grams/tonne.<br />
Eldorado’s president and chief executive<br />
officer Paul Wright says, “Despite the disappointment<br />
associated with not being able to<br />
complete construction as planned by the<br />
end of 2011, we are extremely pleased with<br />
both the strong performance of our mines<br />
which are all operating in accordance with<br />
plan and the excellent start-up of our Efemcukuru<br />
Mine in Turkey.”<br />
Eastern Dragon will be the company’s<br />
fourth operating mine in China behind Tanjianshan,<br />
Jinfeng and White Mountain. While<br />
production is ongoing, the company is continuing<br />
exploration at and near these projects.<br />
At Tanjianshan, diamond drilling has focused<br />
on the 323 Deposit and Qinlongtan<br />
Deeps target. Assay results at 323 indicate a<br />
good correlation of gold values from section<br />
to section and support existing geological<br />
and resource models. Reverse circulation<br />
drilling has been completed in the ZXS target<br />
area, directed towards identifying possible<br />
geochemically anomalies concealed beneath<br />
Quaternary gravels.<br />
At Jinfeng, five underground drills and two<br />
surface drills have conducted exploration<br />
drilling. Underground targets included the F3<br />
and F7 fault zones, as well as conceptual targets<br />
in the footwall to the deposit. Results<br />
broadly support the revised structural model<br />
for grade distribution within the deposit. <strong>The</strong><br />
company has also been active on four exploration<br />
licence areas in the Jinfeng district.<br />
At White Mountain, stepout drilling of the<br />
deep zone at the north end of the deposit<br />
area has been carried out.<br />
忠 曲 与 迭 部 项 目 实 施 勘 探 作 业<br />
Red Mountain 矿 业 公 司 忠 曲 项 目 内 的<br />
辛 曲 矿 化 区 为 更 好 地 进 行 金 矿 化 的 解 释 工<br />
作 , 已 经 开 始 开 展 地 表 和 地 下 地 质 构 造 研<br />
究 。 这 个 在 澳 大 利 亚 证 券 交 易 所 上 市 的 公<br />
司 同 时 也 在 迭 部 项 目 通 过 平 硐 进 行 勘 探 施<br />
工 。<br />
由 于 降 水 量 高 于 平 均 值 , 忠 曲 第 二 阶<br />
段 地 下 勘 探 计 划 推 迟 至 12 月 。 该 计 划 旨 在<br />
对 第 一 阶 段 得 到 的 激 动 人 心 的 结 果 进 行 跟<br />
进 , 最 佳 的 测 试 结 果 包 括 31 米 岩 芯 金 品 位<br />
为 4.61 克 / 吨 。<br />
尽 管 有 所 推 迟 , 公 司 仍 然 期 望 能 够 有 足<br />
够 的 时 间 在 2012 年 2 月 底 之 前 完 成 计 划 ,<br />
以 期 概 括 出 第 一 阶 段 在 主 要 的 闪 长 岩 剪 切<br />
带 和 先 前 未 确 认 的 石 灰 岩 构 造 见 矿 的 大 小<br />
和 尺 寸 , 其 中 包 括 14.3 米 岩 芯 品 位 为 4.5 克<br />
/ 吨 。<br />
第 二 阶 段 计 划 以 这 两 种 类 别 为 目 标 , 共<br />
计 实 施 15 个 钻 孔 , 约 钻 进 2430 米 。 公 司 也<br />
为 计 划 执 行 期 间 进 一 步 跟 进 积 极 的 见 矿 结<br />
果 而 实 施 另 外 的 钻 孔 做 好 了 准 备 。 此 次 计<br />
划 旨 在 确 立 主 要 的 闪 长 岩 剪 切 带 的 下 倾 延<br />
伸 带 , 并 对 高 品 位 的 石 灰 岩 构 造 潜 在 的 方<br />
位 和 吨 位 数 有 更 好 的 认 识 。<br />
构 造 地 质 测 绘 计 划 已 于 11 月 份 在 地 下 和<br />
地 表 实 施 , 其 中 包 括 为 了 更 好 的 认 识 金 成<br />
矿 带 的 控 矿 作 用 而 进 行 的 研 究 工 作 。 该 计<br />
划 预 期 通 过 潜 在 的 露 天 矿 成 矿 带 推 进 钻 探<br />
定 位 和 资 源 界 定 。<br />
同 时 , 公 司 已 经 组 建 了 一 支 勘 探 队 , 并<br />
已 遣 往 迭 部 开 展 对 现 有 勘 探 平 硐 的 修 复 工<br />
作 和 对 地 表 与 地 下 露 头 的 测 绘 工 作 , 以 确<br />
定 潜 在 的 钻 探 靶 区 , 且 钻 探 作 业 预 计 在<br />
2012 年 上 半 年 开 始 。<br />
这 两 个 项 目 都 位 于 甘 肃 省 南 部 。 忠 曲 是<br />
一 个 运 营 中 的 金 矿 , 具 有 巨 大 的 勘 探 潜 力<br />
。 自 2002 年 开 始 采 用 手 工 地 下 采 矿 方 式 运<br />
营 , 矿 场 覆 盖 面 积 7.19 平 方 公 里 。 该 项 目<br />
拥 有 一 个 现 代 化 黄 金 加 工 厂 , 年 产 能 达 40<br />
万 吨 。<br />
迭 部 拥 有 一 个 产 能 介 于 40 万 吨 -50 万 吨 的<br />
勘 探 靶 区 , 金 品 位 介 于 3.5-4.5 克 / 吨 之 间 。<br />
在 2008 年 ,Red Mountain 首 次 全 面 的 测<br />
试 获 得 了 鼓 舞 人 心 的 结 果 。 不 规 律 的 成 矿<br />
带 超 过 6 公 里 , 但 尚 未 得 到 充 足 的 勘 探 , 钻<br />
探 工 作 一 直 未 实 施 。 平 硐 的 钻 进 采 用 中 国<br />
通 用 的 ‘ 边 采 边 探 ’ 的 方 法 。<br />
36 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
CHINA Magnesium Corporation has signed<br />
an agreement to acquire a stand-alone, profitable<br />
ferrosilicon producer in Ningxia<br />
Province of northern China. <strong>The</strong> acquisition<br />
will add an additional market in ferro-alloys<br />
which complements the company’s existing<br />
magnesium and magnesium alloy markets.<br />
China Magnesium has agreed to purchase<br />
100% of the shares of Ningxia Tianjing Tianda<br />
Metallurgical Smelting Co (NTTMS) which operates<br />
the ferrosilicon plant. <strong>The</strong> vendor is a<br />
subsidiary of a state-owned provincial electricity<br />
company and the plant is near Zhongwei,<br />
about 670km west of the China Magnesium<br />
manganese production operations in Pingyao<br />
County of Shanxi Province.<br />
<strong>The</strong> ASX-listed company believes the<br />
Aus$6 million acquisition represents excellent<br />
value because it secures supply of the single<br />
largest raw material cost input in the magnesium<br />
manufacturing process and adds an additional<br />
market in ferro-alloys which<br />
complements its existing magnesium and<br />
magnesium alloy markets.<br />
<strong>The</strong> purchase price is expected to be funded<br />
by a combination of debt and equity with the<br />
company agreeing to place about 4 million<br />
shares to raise about Aus$1.4 million to fund<br />
the equity component. China Magnesium has<br />
already completed technical and legal due diligence<br />
on the vendor and its operations.<br />
<strong>The</strong> replacement cost of the ferrosilicon<br />
production facility has been estimated at<br />
about Aus$15 million while the new business<br />
is expected to contribute about Aus$1.6 million<br />
and Aus$3.3 million to the company’s net<br />
profit after tax for financial year 2012 and financial<br />
year 2013 respectively.<br />
China Magnesium’s managing director Tom<br />
Blackhurst says, “<strong>The</strong> proposed acquisition<br />
is another significant milestone in the company’s<br />
business strategy. This very attractive<br />
opportunity was brought to the attention of<br />
China Magnesium’s executive director Xinping<br />
Liang as a result of his long-term relationships<br />
and connections within China.”<br />
Ferrosilicon is used primarily in the steel and<br />
magnesium industries, and represents about<br />
40% of the input cost of magnesium production.<br />
<strong>The</strong> plant has been operated by NTTMS<br />
for 10 years and has recently been upgraded<br />
to increase annual capacity to about 60,000<br />
China<br />
China Magnesium in ferrosilicon acquisition<br />
tonnes from four electric furnaces.<br />
This is sufficient feedstock for China Magnesium’s<br />
intended phase one and phase<br />
two magnesium production expansions to<br />
about 55,000 tonnes of magnesium alloy<br />
annually. NTTMS will continue to operate in<br />
its current form suppling China Magnesium<br />
and ferrosilicon not required for this purpose<br />
will continue to be sold to other existing<br />
local and export markets. NTTMS employs<br />
about 400 qualified and experienced personnel,<br />
whom China Magnesium intends to<br />
retain going forward.<br />
<strong>The</strong> ferrosilicon plant is in Ningxia Province, west of China Magnesium’s Shanxi Province manganese operations.<br />
中 国 镁 业 集 团 硅 铁 并 购 协 议<br />
中 国 镁 业 集 团 已 经 与 中 国 北 部 宁 夏 省 的 一 家<br />
独 立 、 盈 利 的 硅 铁 生 产 企 业 签 署 了 一 份 并 购<br />
协 议 。 此 次 并 购 使 公 司 从 现 有 的 镁 与 镁 合 金<br />
市 场 扩 张 至 铁 合 金 市 场 。<br />
中 国 镁 业 同 意 收 购 经 营 硅 铁 厂 的 宁 夏 天 净<br />
天 达 冶 金 冶 炼 公 司 (NTTMS) 所 有 的 股 份 。 卖<br />
方 是 一 家 国 有 省 电 力 公 司 的 子 公 司 , 硅 铁 厂<br />
位 于 中 卫 市 附 近 , 距 离 中 国 镁 业 位 于 山 西 省<br />
平 遥 县 的 镁 生 产 厂 西 部 约 670 公 里 。<br />
在 澳 大 利 亚 证 券 交 易 所 上 市 的 中 国 镁 业 相<br />
信 此 次 价 值 600 万 澳 元 的 收 购 展 现 出 了 极 佳<br />
的 价 值 , 因 为 公 司 在 镁 制 造 过 程 中 获 得 了 单<br />
一 的 、 最 大 化 的 原 材 料 投 入 , 并 从 现 有 的 镁<br />
与 镁 合 金 市 场 扩 张 至 铁 合 金 市 场 。<br />
收 购 价 款 预 期 将 通 过 发 行 债 券 和 股 票 的 方<br />
式 筹 集 , 公 司 同 意 发 行 400 万 股 筹 集 140 万<br />
澳 元 完 成 股 票 权 益 部 分 的 融 资 。 中 国 镁 业 已<br />
经 对 卖 方 及 其 运 营 完 成 了 技 术 和 法 律 方 面 的<br />
尽 职 调 查 。<br />
硅 铁 生 产 设 施 的 重 置 成 本 估 价 约 为 1500 万<br />
澳 元 , 新 业 务 预 期 在 2012 财 政 年 和 2013 财<br />
政 年 分 别 为 公 司 带 来 大 约 160 万 澳 元 和 330<br />
万 澳 元 的 税 后 净 利 润 。<br />
中 国 镁 业 的 董 事 总 经 理 Tom Blackhurst<br />
称 ,“ 此 次 提 议 的 并 购 是 公 司 商 业 战 略 的<br />
另 一 个 重 要 的 里 程 碑 。 这 个 极 具 吸 引 力 的<br />
机 会 引 起 了 中 国 镁 业 的 执 行 董 事 梁 新 平 的<br />
关 注 , 因 为 他 与 中 国 境 内 有 着 长 期 的 合 作<br />
与 联 系 。”<br />
硅 铁 主 要 用 于 钢 和 镁 产 业 , 大 约 占 镁 生 产<br />
投 入 成 本 的 40%。 天 净 天 达 已 经 运 营 该 硅 铁<br />
厂 10 年 了 , 近 期 将 四 个 电 炉 的 年 产 能 大 约<br />
提 高 至 6 万 吨 。<br />
这 为 中 国 镁 业 预 计 将 镁 合 金 年 产 量 提 高 至<br />
约 5.5 万 吨 的 一 期 和 二 期 镁 产 量 扩 张 计 划 提<br />
供 了 充 足 的 原 材 料 。 天 净 天 达 将 继 续 按 照 当<br />
前 的 方 式 运 营 , 为 中 国 镁 业 供 货 , 此 计 划 所<br />
需 之 外 的 硅 铁 将 继 续 出 售 给 其 他 现 有 的 当 地<br />
和 海 外 市 场 。 中 国 镁 业 将 继 续 保 留 此 前 天 净<br />
天 达 雇 佣 的 大 约 400 名 合 格 的 且 经 验 丰 富 的<br />
员 工 。<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 37
China<br />
More balanced approach to resource supplies<br />
CHINA will increase exploration and apply advanced<br />
technology in order to provide a more<br />
balanced mix of domestic resources and<br />
overseas imports to feed its ongoing growth.<br />
As part of this push the government will also<br />
strive to ensure a more environmentally sustainable<br />
approach to mining.<br />
China’s vice-minister of Land and Resources<br />
Wang Min told delegates at the 13th China<br />
Mining Congress and Expo in Tianjin that the<br />
ministry had established 47 blocks for strategic<br />
exploration in various parts of China and<br />
announced its methods for ‘Improving Mining<br />
Rights Management for Coordinated Exploration’.<br />
“We will use domestic and overseas<br />
resources and markets in a more balanced<br />
way to ensure the country’s resource supply<br />
during the 12th Five-Year Plan to 2015.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> ministry will announce new mining rights<br />
and welcomes the participation of domestic<br />
and foreign mining companies.” He said the<br />
ministry would use new exploration methods<br />
and establish a market-oriented pattern that<br />
placed more importance on technology as well<br />
as inter-departmental coordination. “<strong>The</strong> government<br />
will increase efforts to create a more<br />
favourable environment for exploration.”<br />
Wang Min said the government also<br />
planned to restructure the mining industry<br />
and implement green mining initiatives.<br />
Measures include stricter mineral resources<br />
planning, integration of mineral resources and<br />
a system of mining rights while newer mines<br />
will be developed in accordance with green<br />
mining standards.<br />
“We’ll do away with badly distributed mining<br />
rights, restructure mines and improve the<br />
scale and intensiveness of mining resources<br />
development. We will expand the scope of<br />
green mining projects to more than 600<br />
demonstration sites within five years.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> ministry will announce new<br />
mining rights and welcomes the<br />
participation of domestic and<br />
foreign mining companies. He<br />
said the ministry would use new<br />
exploration methods and establish<br />
a market-oriented pattern<br />
that placed more importance on<br />
technology as well as inter-departmental<br />
coordination. <strong>The</strong><br />
government will increase efforts<br />
to create a more favourable environment<br />
for exploration<br />
Land and Resources Minister Xu Shaoshi<br />
said the mining industry would follow a green,<br />
low-carbon, sustainable path. “We will improve<br />
industry management and insist on<br />
protective measures during exploration. We<br />
will also try to restore the natural environment<br />
of mines and create better natural surroundings<br />
for local people.”<br />
Reflecting the commitment to more sustainable<br />
mining, Datong Coal Mine Group, a<br />
coal producer in Shanxi Province, intends to<br />
become a leader in energy saving and environmentally<br />
friendly development. Its chairman<br />
Zhang Youxi told the China Daily:<br />
“Developing a recycling economic model is<br />
the optimal way to sustain development at<br />
coal mines around the world and green exploration<br />
is the principle we need.”<br />
He said the Tashan mine was taking the<br />
lead in environmentally friendly development<br />
with its Tashan Circular Economy<br />
Park and its clean coal developments.<br />
“Washed coal is transported by a special<br />
railway, residual coal pieces are used to<br />
produce methane, coal rubble is separated<br />
and used to make bricks, and low-value<br />
coal is used by the power plant to generate<br />
electricity. Excess heat from the power<br />
plant is used to warm residences in the<br />
area, fly ash discharged by the power plant<br />
is used as raw material for a cement plant<br />
and the shale left by the excavation<br />
process is used as raw material for kaolin.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> group also has forest projects around<br />
its mines while residential areas around old<br />
mines have been replaced with greenery and<br />
forests. It has also started construction on the<br />
Jinhuagong National Mine Park, the first in<br />
China, which will open in 2012. It will educate<br />
people about mining and demonstrate what<br />
can be done in terms of rehabilitation.<br />
中 国 寻 求 更 趋 平 衡 的 资 源 供 应<br />
中 国 将 推 进 矿 产 资 源 勘 探 , 并 且 采 用 先 进 技<br />
术 , 从 而 提 供 更 趋 平 衡 的 国 内 资 源 和 海 外 进<br />
口 资 源 供 应 , 满 足 其 经 济 持 续 增 长 的 需 要 。<br />
作 为 这 一 政 策 的 一 部 分 , 中 国 政 府 将 努 力 推<br />
行 在 环 境 方 面 更 具 可 持 续 性 的 采 矿 方 式 。<br />
在 天 津 举 办 的 第 13 届 中 国 国 际 矿 业 大 会 暨<br />
博 览 会 上 , 中 国 国 土 资 源 部 副 部 长 汪 民 告 诉<br />
与 会 代 表 , 国 土 资 源 部 已 在 国 内 不 同 地 区 设<br />
立 了 47 片 找 矿 突 破 战 略 行 动 整 装 勘 查 区 。<br />
他 还 宣 布 了 “ 改 进 协 作 勘 探 的 矿 业 权 管 理 ” 的<br />
手 段 ,“ 我 们 将 以 更 平 衡 的 方 式 , 利 用 国 内<br />
和 海 外 的 资 源 和 市 场 , 以 保 障 ‘ 十 二 五 ’ 期 间<br />
我 国 的 资 源 供 应 。”<br />
“ 国 土 资 源 部 将 投 放 新 的 矿 业 权 , 并 欢 迎<br />
国 内 外 采 矿 企 业 的 参 与 。” 他 表 示 , 国 土 资<br />
源 部 将 推 动 使 用 新 的 勘 探 方 法 , 并 建 立 以 市<br />
场 为 导 向 的 模 式 , 更 重 视 技 术 以 及 不 同 部 门<br />
间 的 协 作 。 他 说 :“ 政 府 将 努 力 为 资 源 勘 探<br />
创 造 一 个 更 有 利 的 环 境 。”<br />
汪 民 表 示 , 政 府 已 经 计 划 调 整 矿 业 结 构 ,<br />
同 时 推 进 绿 色 矿 山 建 设 。 为 此 将 实 行 更 严 格<br />
的 矿 产 资 源 规 划 , 整 合 矿 产 资 源 , 健 全 矿 业<br />
权 体 系 , 对 于 新 建 矿 山 将 严 格 按 照 绿 色 矿 山<br />
标 准 进 行 开 发 。<br />
“ 我 们 将 取 消 布 局 不 合 理 的 矿 业 权 , 调 整<br />
矿 业 结 构 , 提 升 矿 产 资 源 开 发 的 规 模 化 和 集<br />
约 化 水 平 。 我 们 将 在 五 年 内 将 绿 色 矿 山 项 目<br />
扩 大 到 600 个 以 上 试 点 示 范 矿 山 。”<br />
国 土 资 源 部 部 长 徐 绍 史 表 示 , 采 矿 业 将 走<br />
一 条 绿 色 、 低 碳 、 可 持 续 的 道 路 。“ 我 们 将<br />
提 升 矿 业 管 理 水 平 , 在 勘 探 中 坚 持 采 取 保 护<br />
性 措 施 。 同 时 我 们 还 将 尝 试 恢 复 矿 区 自 然 环<br />
境 , 为 当 地 群 众 创 造 更 好 的 生 活 环 境 。”<br />
作 为 矿 业 可 持 续 发 展 道 路 的 代 表 , 山 西 省<br />
的 煤 炭 生 产 商 大 同 煤 矿 集 团 致 力 于 成 为 节 能<br />
和 环 境 友 好 型 开 发 的 标 兵 。 集 团 董 事 长 张 有<br />
喜 告 诉 中 国 日 报 记 者 :“ 发 展 循 环 经 济 模 式<br />
是 全 世 界 煤 矿 可 持 续 发 展 的 最 优 道 路 , 而 绿<br />
色 勘 探 也 正 是 我 们 必 需 遵 循 的 原 则 。”<br />
他 说 , 塔 山 煤 矿 的 塔 山 循 环 经 济 园 区 以 及<br />
清 洁 煤 炭 开 采 在 环 境 友 好 型 开 发 方 面 处 于 领<br />
先 水 平 。“ 洗 出 的 精 煤 通 过 铁 路 专 用 线 运 输<br />
, 残 余 的 煤 块 用 来 生 产 沼 气 , 分 离 出 来 的 煤<br />
矸 石 用 作 制 砖 , 低 值 煤 被 发 电 厂 用 作 发 电 。<br />
发 电 厂 产 生 的 多 余 的 热 量 用 于 地 区 供 热 , 发<br />
电 厂 排 出 的 粉 煤 灰 成 为 水 泥 厂 的 原 料 。 在 采<br />
掘 过 程 中 剥 离 的 页 岩 被 用 作 生 产 高 岭 土 的 原<br />
料 。”<br />
集 团 在 矿 区 周 围 推 行 造 林 项 目 , 老 矿 区 周<br />
围 的 居 民 区 已 经 被 绿 地 和 树 林 所 取 代 。 集 团<br />
已 动 工 建 设 的 晋 华 宫 国 家 矿 山 公 园 为 国 内 首<br />
创 , 预 定 于 2012 年 开 放 。 它 将 用 于 矿 业 教<br />
育 , 并 展 示 矿 区 复 原 工 作 。<br />
38 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Indonesia<br />
Significant gold results at Tandai<br />
DRILLING at the Lusang North prospect of the Tandai joint venture of<br />
Sumatra Copper & Gold and Newcrest Mining in southwest Sumatra has<br />
resulted in significant gold intersections. <strong>The</strong> latest results at this discovery<br />
confirm that mineralization is hosted in a series of vein breccias.<br />
<strong>The</strong> vein breccias, which are similar in appearance to those mined<br />
at the historically productive Tandai Lode, were intersected in the first<br />
hole at Lusang North, about 200 metres north of Tandai Lode. A second<br />
hole was drilled from the same site at a steeper angle and returned<br />
seven separate intersections from 21 to 187 metres.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se are 3 metres from 21 metres @ 2.09 grams/tonne gold and<br />
2.6 grams/tonne silver; 4 metres from 31 metres @ 20 grams/tonne<br />
gold and 19.5 grams/tonne silver including 2.1 metres @ 37<br />
grams/tonne gold and 35.6 grams/tonne silver; 2 metres from 41 metres<br />
@ 3.53 grams/tonne gold and 9.5 grams/ tonne silver; 4.1 metres<br />
from 60 metres @ 8.84 grams/tonne gold and 17.9 grams/tonne silver;<br />
6 metres from 68 metres @ 2.47 grams/tonne gold and 5.7<br />
grams/tonne silver; 1 metre from 82 metres @ 4.43 grams/tonne gold<br />
and 7.2 grams/tonne silver; and 4 metres from 183 metres @ 3.71<br />
grams/tonne gold and 17.2 grams/tonne silver.<br />
Sumatra C&G’s chief executive officer Julian Ford says the company<br />
is highly encouraged that the early drilling has resulted in significant<br />
intersections: “What is encouraging is both the high grade gold intersections<br />
and width of mineralization. It is important that this discovery<br />
is very close to the historic Tandai Lode and yet remained undiscovered<br />
by previous explorers.<br />
“Our current understanding suggests the mineralization is mostly<br />
blind and does not outcrop except in an artisanal working. A significant<br />
CSAMT anomaly occurs 300 metres to the west of the current<br />
drilling and will now be tested by new drill holes.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> Tandai joint venture is in southwest Sumatra and includes historic workings.<br />
Tandai is an under-explored, high grade gold and silver project. It is<br />
about 100km north of Bengkulu, covers about 1000sqkm and has<br />
reported historic production of 1.4 million ounces of gold and 15 million<br />
ounces of silver.<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 39
Indonesia<br />
Deep drilling success at Wonogiri project<br />
RESULTS from drilling at the Randu Kuning<br />
prospect of Augur Resources’ Wonogiri Gold-<br />
Copper project in Central Java have confirmed<br />
the extension of mineralization at depth and to<br />
the north. Two additional drill rigs are now on<br />
site for further drilling targeting extensions for<br />
potential high grade mineralization.<br />
Drilling at Augur Resources’ Wonogiri project in Central Java.<br />
One hole was drilled to test for mineralization<br />
below a previous hole that returned 199<br />
metres @ 0.46 grams/tonne gold and 0.13%<br />
copper. <strong>The</strong> new hole was drilled to a depth<br />
of 456 metres and intersected a number of<br />
mineralized zones including 95.5 metres from<br />
41 metres @ 0.74 grams/tonne gold and<br />
0.16% copper which included a high-grade<br />
zone of 5 metres from 82 metres @ 5.08<br />
grams/tonne gold and 0.50% copper.<br />
This zone indicates that high-grade zones<br />
may be viable targets within the Randu Kuning<br />
porphyry system. Other intersections in this<br />
hole include 66 metres from 198.5 metres @<br />
0.47 grams/tonne gold and 0.11% copper, including<br />
3 metres from, 215.5 metres @ 2.62<br />
grams/tonne gold, 0.48% copper and 3.5<br />
grams/tonne silver, and a further 7.0 metres<br />
from 269.5 metres @ 0.32 grams/tonne gold<br />
and 0.16% copper.<br />
Another hole was drilled to test for down<br />
dip extension of mineralization identified in a<br />
previous hole that returned 123.5 metres @<br />
1.42 grams/tonne gold and 0.22% copper<br />
and a further 65 metres @ 1.03 grams/tonne<br />
gold and 0.17% copper. <strong>The</strong> new hole intersected<br />
near-surface mineralization including<br />
96 metres @ 0.54 grams/tonne gold and<br />
0.13% copper in altered dioritic porphyry before<br />
intersecting a post-mineralized banded<br />
quartz and magnetite intrusion.<br />
Other intersections in this hole include 6.0<br />
metres from 166 metres @ 0.57 grams/tonne<br />
gold, 29 metres from 246 metres @ 0.63<br />
grams/tonne gold and 0.10% copper, and a<br />
further 18 metres from 282 metres @ 0.30<br />
grams/tonne gold.<br />
Interpretation of core has concluded that<br />
Randu Kuning consists of multiple porphyry<br />
intrusives indicating a prolonged intrusive history.<br />
Extensive alteration may be indicating a<br />
deeper mineralizing source which has yet to<br />
be drill tested. A drill rig capable of testing targets<br />
to more than 1000 metres has arrived<br />
on site to test for deeper high grade zones<br />
on the flanks of the porphyry intrusions.<br />
Augur has received preliminary flotation<br />
metallurgical results for three sulphide samples<br />
and two oxide samples. Initial first pass<br />
tests were focused on recovery from the sulphide<br />
portion which is expected to be the<br />
bulk of the deposit. <strong>The</strong> results indicate very<br />
good recoveries with a recovery range of<br />
78.6% to 88.7% with a mean of 82.7% for<br />
the gold and a recovery range of 92.1% to<br />
96.1% with a mean of 94.1% for the copper.<br />
Results for the oxide component range from<br />
58.1% to 69.6% for gold and 16.2% to 26%<br />
for copper. <strong>The</strong> lower copper recoveries in<br />
the oxide were expected given the tests were<br />
focused on recovery of copper sulphides.<br />
Further testing will be undertaken with a<br />
focus on determining an appropriate<br />
process for recoveries in the oxide zone and<br />
gravitational testing for further improving the<br />
gold recovery.<br />
Full production achieved at Toka Tindung<br />
FULL production has started at Archipelago<br />
Resources’ 95%-owned Toka Tindung gold<br />
mine in North Sulawesi province. <strong>The</strong> operation<br />
achieved its targeted production rate in<br />
early November and was expected to produce<br />
at least 60,000 ounces of gold by the<br />
end of 2011. Annual output during 2012 and<br />
for the remaining life of the mine is expected<br />
to be 150,000 ounces.<br />
Archipelago is mining from the Toka Tindung<br />
open pit as well as the satellite deposits of Pajajaran<br />
and Araren, and is continuing its exploration<br />
of the area covered by the mining permit.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company’s chief executive officer Marcus<br />
Engelbrecht says, “Meeting our production<br />
objective is a significant achievement for<br />
Archipelago and our ability to generate positive<br />
cash flow will provide the platform for<br />
meaningful growth.<br />
“Having successfully established our production<br />
base, the company is committed to<br />
pursuing further drilling programs at Toka Tindung.<br />
This will support organic production<br />
growth at Toka through increased reserves,<br />
additional sources of ore and greater production<br />
optionality.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> 2011 production fell well short of the initial<br />
forecast of 110,000 ounces due to a number<br />
of complications during the mine’s ramp-up.<br />
While such problems are common during mine<br />
start-ups, the company was encouraged that<br />
its annual throughput rate was achieved during<br />
the final quarter and is confident that the 2012<br />
production guidance will be met.<br />
Archipelago is also on track to report an increase<br />
in its reserves and resources following<br />
an increase in exploration and drilling since<br />
completion of the feasibility stage.<br />
Meanwhile, the company has also announced<br />
that it will not proceed with the Pac-<br />
Lang joint venture in Vietnam. <strong>The</strong> decision<br />
follows a comprehensive review of the work<br />
conducted there to date. <strong>The</strong> company says<br />
that the exploration results do not justifying<br />
further expenditure.<br />
40 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Indonesia<br />
Banda Raya samples show significant gold<br />
SIGNIFICANT gold assay results have been returned<br />
from rock channel samples gathered at<br />
Centurion <strong>Miner</strong>als’ Banda Raya project in<br />
Aceh Province, northern Sumatra. <strong>The</strong> results<br />
are indicative of potentially large epithermal and/<br />
or shallow intrusion-related gold mineralization.<br />
Highlights from the 105 rock samples taken<br />
from Zulham prospect are: 8 samples @ 6-<br />
14.5 grams/tonne gold, including 4 samples<br />
@ 10-14.5 grams/tonne; 18 samples @ 1-3.9<br />
grams/tonne; and 17 samples @ 0.1-0.9<br />
grams/tonne. <strong>The</strong> balance all assayed less<br />
than 0.1 grams/tonne.<br />
All assays came from 1 metre sawn rock<br />
channel samples with the exception of four<br />
analyses within the 1-3.9 grams/tonne group<br />
that were rock chip samples. <strong>The</strong> company is<br />
preparing a first-phase drilling program in the<br />
area to commence as quickly as possible.<br />
Zulham is within the east-west trending<br />
Miwah-Menawan lineament and about 1875<br />
metres above sea level. Thus far mineralization<br />
has been defined over an area of 300 metres in<br />
length and 2-7 metres in width, and remains<br />
open in all directions. <strong>The</strong> prospect is about 750<br />
metres northeast of the Keladi prospect, from<br />
which past explorer Highlands Pacific reported<br />
9 rock chip samples that returned between 2<br />
and 27 grams/tonne gold over a 500 metre-long<br />
<strong>The</strong>se results validate our geological<br />
teams’ efforts to ‘cover<br />
the last mile’ in challenging terrain<br />
and we are eager to advance<br />
the exploration program<br />
in order to determine the size of<br />
this gold prospect.<br />
vein system. Zulham and Keladi lie within a<br />
1.5km diameter multiple-ring circular structure.<br />
Centurion’s chairman Alfred Lenarciak says,<br />
“<strong>The</strong>se results validate our geological teams’<br />
efforts to ‘cover the last mile’ in challenging<br />
terrain and we are eager to advance the exploration<br />
program in order to determine the<br />
size of this gold prospect.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> Canadian-headquartered company has<br />
also received results from the first holes of its<br />
ongoing, phase one diamond drill program on<br />
the Nareh prospect within its Badak property,<br />
also in northern Sumatra. Five holes tested the<br />
gold-copper-molybdenum anomalous surface<br />
rock samples along the north-western margin<br />
of the Nareh volcanic-intrusive complex. Results<br />
include 12 metres from 197 metres @<br />
0.11% copper and 13 metres from 198 metres<br />
in the same hole @ 0.03% molybdenum; 17<br />
metres from 173 metres @ 0.07% copper; and<br />
23 metres from 23 metres @ 0.08% copper.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company has completed two drill holes<br />
on the epithermal gold target in the Nareh volcanic<br />
complex. One hole ended at a depth of<br />
200 metres and intersected narrow mineralized<br />
zones registering 3 metres @ 0.6 grams/tonne<br />
gold and 0.15 % copper from 5 metres, and 1<br />
metre @ 0.96 grams/tonne gold from 158 metres.<br />
Rock channel samples in this area assayed<br />
up to 1 metre @ 11 grams/tonne.<br />
Assays for the second hole are pending.<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 41
Indonesia<br />
New alliance covers manganese tenements<br />
WESTERN Manganese has joined forces with<br />
Borneo Brothers Limited (BBL) to advance a<br />
number of manganese prospects throughout<br />
Indonesia. <strong>The</strong> companies have established<br />
an investment agreement and also signed an<br />
Option Sale and Purchase Agreement for the<br />
option to buy 51% of the issued shares of PT<br />
Genesis Berkat Utama, a manganese concession<br />
with an IUP production licence in Toli<br />
Toli, Central Sulawesi.<br />
<strong>The</strong> alliance provides Australian-based Western<br />
Manganese with first right of refusal to Indonesia-based<br />
BBL’s pipeline of manganese<br />
concessions for the next two years. <strong>The</strong>re are<br />
six projects in the pipeline located in Nusa<br />
Tenggara Timor, Central Sulawesi and Halmahera,<br />
with total area of 9233 hectares.<br />
BBL is an investment company that specializes<br />
in resources exploration and the early<br />
stages of mining investments in Indonesia. <strong>The</strong><br />
company recently exited its substantial investment<br />
in an Indonesian thermal coal concession<br />
through a sale to a multi-national Asian publicly<br />
traded conglomerate, after doing detailed exploration<br />
work on the concession and having<br />
a JORC reserves estimate of plus-60 million<br />
tons and resources estimate of plus-100 million<br />
tonnes completed.<br />
BBL’s well-established Jakarta-based team<br />
is highly engaged in the Indonesian resource<br />
Artisinal miners at a Western Manganese prospect in West Timor. <strong>The</strong> company aims to be the first company to delineate<br />
a JORC-compliant resource in West Timor.<br />
and financial communities. It includes managing<br />
director Chris Clower, who has extensive<br />
experience in the Indonesia resources<br />
sector and was formerly head of South East<br />
Asia Corporate Finance at Merrill Lynch Investment<br />
Banking Division. From 2005 to<br />
2009 he raised more than US$2 billion for resource<br />
companies operating in Indonesia.<br />
Western Manganese’s primary focus is to<br />
identify and secure quality manganese projects<br />
throughout Indonesia. It currently holds<br />
the rights to two manganese tenements near<br />
Atambua in West Timor, an area regarded as<br />
an emerging manganese province.<br />
Western Manganese paid Aus$100,000 in<br />
cash upon signing the Heads of Agreement<br />
with 2 million fully paid shares and 5 million<br />
options issued to BBL upon the transfer of<br />
the option to acquire 51% of the issued<br />
shares of Genesis. <strong>The</strong> Genesis concession<br />
is in Dondo Subdistrict and Bualan Subdistrict,<br />
Kabupaten Toli Toli, Central Sulawesi. A<br />
number of manganese boulders have been<br />
found in the production licence area. Should<br />
the Genesis licence hold economic manganese<br />
mineralization, there are two potential<br />
jetty sites within 25km of the concession.<br />
Five rock chip samples were submitted to Intertek<br />
Laboratory and results range from 41.4%<br />
to 55.3% manganese. Genesis has conducted<br />
a geomagnetic survey over 490 hectares of the<br />
licence area with a number of anomalies identified<br />
which require follow up work.<br />
Horas estimate adds to Martabe resources<br />
RESULTS from 41 diamond drill holes at G-<br />
Resources’ Horas deposit have led to an initial<br />
JORC-compliant resource estimate of<br />
400,000 ounces of gold at an average grade<br />
of 0.8 grams/tonne and 880,000 ounces of silver<br />
at 1.7 grams/tonne. It’s the last of three<br />
2011 resource estimates aimed at defining the<br />
Purnama Timur, Tor Uluala and Horas deposits<br />
at the Martabe project in North Sumatra.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Martabe licence area covers 1639sqkm<br />
with a resource base to date of 7.86 million<br />
ounces of gold and 73.48 million ounces of silver.<br />
G-Resources acquired the gold and silver<br />
mine in July 2009 as its core starter asset,<br />
around which it hopes to build a globally competitive<br />
Asia-Pacific focused gold company.<br />
A team of 15 geologists and five helicopter<br />
supported diamond drill rigs are engaged in<br />
drilling programs across the projects, with staff<br />
working to generate and test exploration targets<br />
for both epithermal gold/silver and porphyry<br />
copper/gold mineralization.<br />
Gold-silver mineralization at Martabe comprises<br />
a higher grade core with intense silicification<br />
and a lower grade halo with lower<br />
silicification and strong clay alteration. <strong>The</strong><br />
Horas deposit outcrops at the surface and dips<br />
to the west with a strike length of about 600<br />
metres and a known depth to 250 metres. <strong>The</strong><br />
high grade Horas Barat prospect to the west<br />
may represent a higher grade feeder zone or a<br />
parallel but separate gold-silver system.<br />
Preliminary metallurgical analysis was<br />
conducted by comparing the ratio of<br />
cyanide soluble gold assay to gold by fire<br />
assay. G-Resources says the work indicates<br />
that the deposit is likely to be refractory in<br />
nature because it is largely composed of<br />
primary mineralization style. Initial test work<br />
has indicated that recoveries of about 80%<br />
have been obtained on mineralization from<br />
Purnama deposit.<br />
Construction of the Martabe mine is under<br />
way and G-Resources aims to start production<br />
at its Purnama Timur deposit in early<br />
2012 at an annual rate of 250,000 ounces of<br />
gold and 2-3 million ounces of silver.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company is hoping to increase production<br />
to more than one million ounces of<br />
gold annually by exploring the licence area<br />
and acquiring other quality gold assets.<br />
42 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Thailand<br />
Coal trader moves into coal mining<br />
THAI coal importer and distributor Energy Earth<br />
Plc has entered the mining industry through its<br />
acquisition of licensed coal miner PT Tri Tunggal<br />
Pitriati (TTP), which is based in the Indonesian<br />
province of South Kalimantan. TTP owns<br />
two mines with combined reserves of 7.4 million<br />
tonnes and has been awarded contracts<br />
to supply 2 million tonnes of coal to Chinese<br />
power producers over the next four years.<br />
TTP’s Sebamban mine, with reserves of 2<br />
million tonnes, produced its first coal in late<br />
November, and expected to ship its first lot<br />
of 60,000 tonnes to China by the end of<br />
2011.<br />
After a bumpy start to its Indonesian coal<br />
foray when it says it was cheated by a local<br />
trader out of the 10 million baht it paid for the<br />
first lot of coal from Indonesia, Energy Earth<br />
is confident it can move forward after taking<br />
on an Indonesian partner and completing the<br />
share-swap deal worth about 1 billion baht.<br />
Energy Earth’s managing director Khajohnpong<br />
Khamdee, whose family founded the<br />
company as Energy Perfect four years ago,<br />
told local media: “To do business in Indonesia,<br />
you must understand the culture and find<br />
the right partner.”<br />
When Energy Perfect took over the listed<br />
firm Advance Paint & Chemical (Thailand) at<br />
the end of 2010 in a back-door listing, it renamed<br />
itself Energy Earth. Compared with<br />
Thai mining heavyweights Banpu and PTT,<br />
both of which own coal assets in Indonesia,<br />
Earth has taken a different approach.<br />
Khajohnpong Khamdee says, “While PTT<br />
and Banpu have lots of money to spend, our<br />
company is more down-to-earth. We try to<br />
get close to the locals.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> acquisition of TTP makes Earth the<br />
third-largest listed coal miner after Banpu and<br />
Lanna Resources. <strong>The</strong> three other coal<br />
traders on the Thai stock exchange - Asia<br />
Green Energy, Unique Mining Services and<br />
Thai Capital - do not own any mines, although<br />
Asia Green has been in talks to acquire<br />
Indonesian coal assets.<br />
<strong>The</strong> share swap gave Energy Earth five new<br />
shareholders including Nugoon Sri-in, whose<br />
group took over TTP late last year. A former<br />
top executive of National Power Supply,<br />
which is part of the Advance Agro Group,<br />
Khajohnpong Khamdee has sourced Indonesian<br />
coal for the power company since 2007.<br />
He says the transformation from a trader<br />
into a miner is a major step ahead for Energy<br />
Earth to hedge against coal price risks. “This<br />
move is not a risk. In fact, it is an opportunity<br />
to grow our business, as Indonesia has much<br />
more coal than Thailand. Supply is critical in<br />
this business. Having our own mine helps to<br />
secure supply and minimize effects when the<br />
coal price soars.”<br />
Through TTP, Energy Earth is continuing its<br />
search for more coal assets to secure additional<br />
supply including a potential site in Central<br />
Kalimantan province. In October the<br />
company signed a memorandum of understanding<br />
to supply 8.5 million tonnes of coal<br />
to India’s Chettinad Group to fuel its power<br />
plants starting in July 2013.<br />
Khajohnpong Khamdee said that after selling<br />
1.4 million tonnes in the first nine months<br />
of 2011, Energy Earth revised up its annual<br />
sales target from 1.2 million tonnes to 1.6 million,<br />
excluding the first shipment to China.<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 43
Philippines<br />
Mining Group to acquire 80% Comval stake<br />
AUSTRALIAN exploration company Mining<br />
Group Limited is acquiring an 80% interest in<br />
the Comval Copper-Gold project from Canadian-based<br />
Cadan Resources. Comval is in<br />
the established copper and gold producing<br />
region of the Compostela Valley on Mindanao<br />
with potential for large-scale copper gold<br />
porphyry mineralization.<br />
Proven copper/gold mineralization has<br />
been identified from historical mining, extensive<br />
and exploration adits, trenches and surface<br />
sampling. On completion of the<br />
acquisition, Mining Group intends to undertake<br />
a comprehensive reinterpretation and review<br />
of all available data with a view to<br />
designing an infill drilling program.<br />
Cadan will retain a 20% interest which is<br />
free and carried until Mining Group has incurred<br />
a minimum of Aus$48 million of expenditures<br />
on the project. Mining Group will<br />
also be granted an option to acquire an 80%<br />
interest in the Batoto Gold/Silver Project, with<br />
a nine month exercise period from settlement<br />
of the Comval acquisition.<br />
Mining Group’s managing director Andrew<br />
Maurice says that the proposed Comval acquisition<br />
is consistent with the company’s<br />
objective of acquiring commercially significant<br />
mineral properties that can readily be<br />
brought into production. “Having evaluated<br />
a number of opportunities in Australia and<br />
offshore, this represents Mining Group’s first<br />
offshore project and builds on the company’s<br />
existing gold and base metal tenements<br />
in Western Australia.<br />
“Comval’s tenement area covers 4310<br />
hectares, and has had more than 24,000 metres<br />
of drilling completed which we intend to<br />
review with the aim of defining a JORC resource.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Philippines provides a stable investment<br />
environment, and given its scale<br />
and location, with a number of major copper<br />
and gold deposits in the same geological<br />
belt, the Comval Project has the potential to<br />
transform Mining Group.”<br />
Comval consists of two exploration permits<br />
which are prospective for copper and gold. It<br />
is about 90 km north of the Mindanao capital,<br />
Davao and is within the East Mindanao<br />
Ridge, a world-class copper/gold province<br />
which hosts major deposits such as Kingking,<br />
Dilwalwal and CoO.<br />
<strong>The</strong> project has three main targets - Tagpura,<br />
Maangob and Kalamatan - with numerous<br />
other early stage targets having been<br />
previously identified as prospective for both<br />
copper and gold. Work completed previously<br />
includes surface mapping and sampling,<br />
trenching, diamond and RC drilling, geophysical<br />
surveys (IP and magnetic) and preliminary<br />
metallurgical studies. <strong>The</strong> majority of data exists<br />
over the Tagpura target, with about<br />
20,000 metres of the drilling having been<br />
completed there.<br />
Cadan’s president and CEO Robert<br />
Butchart says the sale will enable Cadan to<br />
focus its resources and efforts to the advancement<br />
of its core asset - the T’Boli goldsilver<br />
project and mine.<br />
Agata studies yield positive results<br />
KEY development studies on Mindoro Resources’<br />
Agata Nickel-Cobalt Project have<br />
yielded positive results, underpinning the company’s<br />
strategy for a two-stage development<br />
and enhancing the prospects for near-term<br />
cash flow. <strong>The</strong> studies confirm that Agata is a<br />
robust, 20-year project with key strategic advantages<br />
that allow Mindoro to pursue a lower<br />
risk path to fast-track production, as well as<br />
demonstrating the value of the low-operating<br />
cost downstream processing developments.<br />
<strong>The</strong> stage 1 scoping study indicates improved<br />
economics for direct shipping ore<br />
(DSO) production and the potential to produce<br />
a high-value, upgraded, nickel-iron concentrate.<br />
<strong>The</strong> stage 2 hydrometallurgical project<br />
pre-feasibility study (PFS) confirms a low operating<br />
cost (US$2.60/lb nickel), 20-year project<br />
with a post-tax NPV of US$380 million and IRR<br />
of 14% assuming US$10/lb nickel, 8% discount<br />
rate, including estimate contingency of<br />
14% but excluding project contingency.<br />
On the basis of these positive results Mindoro<br />
plans to pursue feasibility and permitting<br />
of DSO and pilot scale thermal-upgrading prior<br />
to advancing hydrometallurgical processing<br />
options to pilot-scale testing and feasibility<br />
study. In order to progress these options the<br />
company is seeking a strategic partner.<br />
It has developed a series of priorities:<br />
• <strong>The</strong> near-term cash flow from the proposed<br />
low capital cost (US$8 million) DSO operation<br />
will help fund further studies and pilot<br />
scale testing of downstream processing options<br />
as well as assist future permitting<br />
needs under the staged development plan.<br />
• Initial infrastructure established for stage<br />
1, including roads, stockpile areas, wharf,<br />
camps, etc, will contribute towards capital<br />
requirements for the proposed stage 2 hydrometallurgical<br />
processing project.<br />
Mindoro has engaged Deloitte Corporate<br />
Finance as its financial advisor to assist the<br />
company to secure a strategic partner to advance<br />
and finance these objectives.<br />
Meanwhile, the company has received final<br />
results from infill and extension drilling of the<br />
Southwest Breccia (SWB) epithermal gold<br />
shoot at Lobo deposit of the Batangas project.<br />
Two near-surface holes intersected highgrade<br />
gold with best results being 4.9 metres<br />
from 4.8 metres @ 11.1 grams/tonne gold, including<br />
2 metres @ 21.1 grams/tonne, and<br />
7.75 metres from surface @ 4.67<br />
grams/tonne, including 1.95 metres @ 11.8<br />
grams/tonne. A deeper drill hole, drilled at low<br />
angle to the lode, intersected 18.35 metres @<br />
1.52 grams/tonne gold from 91.95 metres including<br />
1.0 metre @ 5.72 grams/tonne and<br />
1.0 metre @ 5.25 grams/tonne.<br />
<strong>The</strong> eight drill holes at SWB have completed<br />
the infill program to an approximate 15<br />
metre x 15 metre grid which will allow the<br />
company to upgrade the resource estimate.<br />
Checking nickel laterite samples from Mindoro Resources’<br />
Agata project.<br />
44 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Philippines<br />
First nickel from Acoje pilot plant<br />
THE first nickel has been produced at ENK’s<br />
pilot plant on Luzon Island in northern Philippines.<br />
About 50kg of nickel hydroxide product<br />
(NHP) was released from the filter press,<br />
with initial assays showing the product contains<br />
about 49% nickel and 4% iron.<br />
<strong>The</strong> plant is about 250km north of Manila<br />
and can produce about 200kg of NHP each<br />
month using ion exchange to separate and<br />
purify the nickel and cobalt. <strong>The</strong> initial NHP is<br />
being sent to potential off-takers for evaluation.<br />
It has wide market appeal due to significantly<br />
low metal impurities.<br />
ENK’s managing director Robert Gregory<br />
says, “It is a magnificent effort by the Acoje<br />
team to go from being on care and maintenance<br />
last year to building and commissioning<br />
the pilot plant 10 months later.”<br />
ENK has two deposits on Luzon Island,<br />
with a combined JORC estimate of 840,000<br />
tonnes. <strong>The</strong> company hopes to use its lowcost<br />
heap leach process to extract nickel laterites<br />
at both the Acoje and Zambales<br />
chromite deposits.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company has demonstrated the percolation<br />
and extraction of nickel at its largescale<br />
demonstration plant at Çaldag in Turkey<br />
with continuous operations over a three year<br />
period. At this flagship project, ENK irrigates<br />
the heaps with dilute sulphuric acid, producing<br />
saleable mixed hydroxide product from<br />
<strong>The</strong> pilot plant and research facility at ENK’s Acoje<br />
Nickel Project.<br />
the downstream precipitation plant. Recoveries<br />
of 72% have been used in the Çaldag<br />
bankable feasibility study (BFS) for both nickel<br />
and cobalt. However, this mixed hydroxide<br />
product (MHP) has a higher level of metal impurities<br />
than the NHP produced from the pilot<br />
plant. Test work on an atmospheric pressure<br />
tank leach (ATL) in China is also continuing<br />
with encouraging results to date. ATL is an alternative<br />
leaching process to heap leaching<br />
and the company hopes test work on this<br />
system will help it to decide which leaching<br />
process will be taken forward to the Acoje<br />
BFS, which remains on track for completion<br />
by June 2012.<br />
ENK has started a comprehensive drilling<br />
program on the nearby Zambales Chromite<br />
Mining Corporation (ZCMC) tenement, which<br />
is about 5km north of Acoje and 250km north<br />
of Manila. It is owned 40% by ENK and 60%<br />
by an associated entity, Montemina Resources<br />
Corporation, and contains a JORC<br />
inferred resource of 23.5 million tonnes of<br />
nickel laterite ore at a grade of 1.18% nickel<br />
and 0.05% cobalt.<br />
<strong>The</strong> drill program of 255 holes totalling<br />
about 3000 metres is designed to provide infill<br />
drill data to upgrade the limonite estimate<br />
to indicated status as well as provide sufficient<br />
data to estimate an indicated resource<br />
for the untested saprolite horizon. <strong>The</strong> company<br />
expects the saprolite horizon will be<br />
similar Acoje where the saprolite could make<br />
up at least 50% of the total resource. Drilling<br />
will continue until the end of the first quarter.<br />
Joint venture for iron sands development<br />
ASTRA Far East, a subsidiary of Astra Resources,<br />
has signed a joint venture agreement<br />
with Cagayan River Construction & Development<br />
Corporation (CRCDC) to dredge, develop<br />
and manage iron sands reserves in the<br />
Cagayan River Delta and off-shore in northeast<br />
Luzon. Geological studies and extensive sampling<br />
suggest that at dredging depths of 14<br />
metres, well above 9 billion tonnes of iron<br />
sands are available with iron grades between<br />
27 and 59% with an average of 46%.<br />
<strong>The</strong> operation will be fully mechanized from<br />
river/sea bed preparation through to suction<br />
and discharge to barges. <strong>The</strong> project is expected<br />
to be supervised by dredging experts.<br />
Once dredged, the magnetite sands will need<br />
to be washed and separated and production<br />
of 60%-plus iron sands for export is expected<br />
to result from 30 to 60% of the sands, depending<br />
on the layers to be dredged.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Astra Group will maintain a super-majority<br />
of the joint venture entity in terms of equity<br />
and profit share entitlement, and is<br />
subject to Astra providing bond finance facilities<br />
for development and operation.<br />
Astra’s CEO Jaydeep Biswas says the<br />
dredging, developmental and mining permits<br />
currently allocated to CRCDC have now been<br />
assigned to the benefit of the joint venture.<br />
“Third party reports including geological studies<br />
from CRCDC have been positive, indicating<br />
that the area is an established producing<br />
region that exports to nearby steel manufacturing<br />
markets in China, Korea and Taiwan.<br />
“CRCDC has signed a memorandum of<br />
agreement with a provincial board in the<br />
Province of Cagayan, allowing the dredging<br />
of the delta with the responsibility to dispose<br />
of the sand metal content and residue. <strong>The</strong><br />
unusually high grade iron content is disposable<br />
through export and the residue is recyclable<br />
into other construction uses.”<br />
Astra’s managing director Silvana De Cianni<br />
says, “For the specific purpose of disposing<br />
the sandstone waste and residue, and marketing<br />
the processed iron component of the<br />
sands, a separate subsidiary with Astra at the<br />
helm shall be incorporated in Hong Kong.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> iron sands project is expected to supply<br />
Astra with a significant potential export<br />
business to some of the largest steel producing<br />
markets, with a key advantage of the project<br />
being its close proximity to China, the<br />
world’s largest iron ore importer.<br />
Additional geological work and feasibility<br />
studies are being conducted in the area prior<br />
to finalizing the funding from bond financiers.<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 45
Central Asia<br />
Kazakhstan world’s largest uranium miner<br />
KAZAKHSTAN’S international energy image<br />
is now that of one of the world’s rising oil exporters,<br />
an extraordinary feat given that, two<br />
decades ago its hydrocarbon output was beyond<br />
insignificant when the USSR collapsed,<br />
and the vast Central Asian nation, larger than<br />
Western Europe, has quietly passed another<br />
energy milestone.<br />
Kazakhstan produces 33% of world’s mined<br />
uranium, followed by Canada at 18% and<br />
Australia with 11% while Kazakhstan contains<br />
the world’s second-largest uranium reserves,<br />
estimated at 1.5 million tonnes. Until two years<br />
ago Kazakhstan was No 3, following Australia<br />
and Canada. <strong>The</strong> trio is responsible for about<br />
62% of global production.<br />
According to Kazakhstan’s State Corporation<br />
for Atomic Energy, Kazatomprom, during<br />
January-September 2011, the country mined<br />
almost 14,000 tonnes of uranium, 11%<br />
higher than the same period in 2010.<br />
Kazatomprom’s revenues also soared 72%<br />
year-on-year. Kazatomprom is the national<br />
operator for the export of uranium, as well as<br />
rare metals, nuclear fuel for nuclear power<br />
plants, special equipment, technologies and<br />
dual-purpose materials. To put this accomplishment<br />
in context, just five years ago Kazakhstan<br />
produced 5279 tonnes of uranium.<br />
While the disaster at Japan’s Fukuhima nuclear<br />
complex caused several European nations<br />
to reassess their commitment to nuclear power,<br />
Kazakhstan’s regional markets seem assured in<br />
Asia’s rising economic powerhouses China and<br />
India. While Beijing reacted to Fukushima by ordering<br />
thorough inspections of nuclear power<br />
plants, China’s Commission of Science Technology<br />
and Industry for National Defence in its<br />
11th Five-Year Plan for the Nuclear Industry announced<br />
China intended to produce 40 gigawatts<br />
of nuclear power electrical generating<br />
capacity within a decade, even though nuclear<br />
power currently accounts for just 1.4% of<br />
China’s electrical power generation.<br />
If China follows through with its nuclear<br />
power plant construction plans the country will<br />
need an estimated 44 million pounds of uranium<br />
annually, as by 2020 the country will have<br />
a total of 77 planned and proposed new reactors.<br />
Of China’s 11 nuclear power plants, the<br />
oldest, Qingshan-1, only came online in 1991.<br />
India’s nuclear ambitions parallel China’s.<br />
While nuclear power accounts for only 3-4%<br />
of the country’s electrical output, India has 19<br />
planned and proposed nuclear power reactors<br />
on the drawing board.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Japanese nuclear crisis has not overshadowed<br />
Astana’s optimism. Speaking at the<br />
Minex conference in Astana, Kazatomprom<br />
president Vladimir Shkol’nik stated that the<br />
Fukushima debacle would not greatly influence<br />
the Kazakh state atomic company’s plans.<br />
Kazakhstan is moving beyond mining of uranium<br />
to producing nuclear fuel rods. On November<br />
4 French Industry and Energy Minister<br />
Eric Besson signed a contract with the Kazakh<br />
government allowing France’s Areva to open a<br />
nuclear fuel plant with Kazatomprom.<br />
A statement from Besson’s office noted,<br />
“This deal commits to the creation in Kazakhstan<br />
of a nuclear fuel production plant dedicated<br />
to the Asian market. <strong>The</strong> construction<br />
of this plant could start as soon as the feasibility<br />
study is completed by the end of the first<br />
quarter of 2012.” According to the agreement,<br />
the facility will consist of a new production<br />
line at Kazakhstan’s ULBA metallurgical<br />
plant that will be 51% owned by Kazatomprom<br />
and 49% by Areva.<br />
And flush with cash, Kazatomprom may buy<br />
into the Russian Federation’s Urals Electrochemical<br />
Integrated Plant, the largest uranium<br />
enrichment facility within Russian State Nuclear<br />
Energy Corporation Rosatom. Rosatom’s CEO<br />
Sergei Kirienko said, “We are involved in purely<br />
technical procedures now, taking into account<br />
the organization and relevant restrictions (of a<br />
closed nuclear facility). We are moving within a<br />
set timetable. We have a plan - to complete all<br />
work in 2012. And we should begin working<br />
with Kazatomprom in 2012.”<br />
In the final quarter of 2011, the International<br />
Energy Agency released its ‘World Energy<br />
Outlook’ which states that if the world<br />
is serious about global warming, it should<br />
consider the continued use of nuclear power<br />
to reduce greenhouse emissions. With<br />
Kazakhstan’s daily oil exports running at<br />
1.74 million barrels and it being the world’s<br />
largest uranium miner, it would seem Astana<br />
is going to continue to rake in the cash no<br />
matter what energy policies the world<br />
adopts in the short term.<br />
—By John CK Daly of http://oilprice.com<br />
Chaarat on track for Tulkubash production<br />
CHAARAT Gold Holdings is on track to begin<br />
production at the Tulkubash deposit of its<br />
Chaarat Gold Project in northwest Kyrgyz Republic<br />
in the second quarter of 2013. <strong>The</strong><br />
company has been encouraged by a 56% increase<br />
in resources to 501,000 ounces.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company has been upgrading the resource<br />
to reserve status and increasing the<br />
overall project size and production rate as well<br />
as carrying out permitting, design and detailed<br />
engineering. Ongoing work also includes infrastructure<br />
development and construction as<br />
well as recruitment and team building.<br />
Exploration has focused on improving the<br />
resource and generating reserves from the<br />
open pittable section of the Central<br />
Tulkubash ore body, both of which provided<br />
encouraging results. This has helped improve<br />
Chaarat’s understanding of the project to the<br />
extent that it believes the resource may have<br />
the capability of supporting a larger daily production<br />
base of 2500 tonnes.<br />
A total of 15,413 metres of drilling generated<br />
an open pittable resource of 404,000<br />
ounces from a total of 501,000 ounces. Further<br />
drill results to the south and north indicate<br />
the reserve can be increased significantly. <strong>The</strong><br />
strike extension and the geometry of the pit<br />
mean production can be increased without<br />
changing the strip ratio and without interrupting<br />
mining activities.<br />
Drilling in the Tulkubash zone suggests that<br />
the mineralized zone extends by a few kilometres<br />
due north and that this extension<br />
should make it possible to significantly increase<br />
production. <strong>The</strong> generation of a feedstock<br />
that is amenable to free milling from a<br />
low strip ratio open pit will provide cash generation<br />
opportunities.<br />
<strong>The</strong> engineering of the process plant has<br />
been mandated to ProMet from South Africa,<br />
which is affiliated to a large Chinese engineering<br />
and construction company, Dadi Engineering.<br />
As such a large part of the detailed<br />
design work is being executed in China.<br />
46 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Central Asia<br />
Studies boost value of Shambesai project<br />
MANAS Resources’ Shambesai Gold Project<br />
in the Kyrgyz Republic is expected to generate<br />
net cash flows of up to US$190 million during<br />
the first five years of production, with more<br />
than 200,000 ounces of gold being produced.<br />
A revised mining evaluation and pit optimization<br />
study has upgraded the project’s potential,<br />
with increases to throughput, cash flows<br />
and mine life prompted by further oxide ore<br />
discoveries and future sulphide ore treatment.<br />
Estimated net cash flows attributable to indicated<br />
oxide resource material only totals<br />
more than US$137 million over five years with<br />
a further possible US$53 million from inferred<br />
oxide resource. <strong>The</strong> current probable reserve<br />
of oxide material is estimated to be 180,000<br />
ounces over the five-year mine-life with the<br />
potential of a further 40,000 ounces from currently<br />
inferred oxide material that is contained<br />
within the pit shell.<br />
Annual production is expected to peak at<br />
50,000 ounces in year 3 and average 40,000<br />
ounces for the five years of the projected<br />
mine life from the indicated and inferred oxides.<br />
More than 75,000 ounces of gold contained<br />
within sulphide material stockpiled<br />
during oxide mining is not included in the<br />
cash flow estimates. Cash costs are estimated<br />
at US$370 per ounce for the first four<br />
years and US$465 per ounce for life-of-mine.<br />
Manas’ managing director Stephen Ross<br />
says, “We are extremely pleased with the updated<br />
cash flow numbers from the pit optimization<br />
study which, when compared to the<br />
November 2010 scoping study, demonstrate<br />
that we can expect a much improved production<br />
rate and subsequent improved cash flows<br />
for the Shambesai shallow oxides alone.<br />
“Despite this conservative approach to the<br />
mining plan focusing on the near-surface<br />
oxide material only, project cash flows from<br />
the updated pit optimization work have almost<br />
doubled. We look forward to the granting<br />
of our mining licence and an early move<br />
into the implementation phase of the<br />
Shambesai gold project.”<br />
Shambesai is in the Tien Shan Belt and is<br />
expected to be one of the world’s lowestcost<br />
gold operations. Manas is the largest<br />
and most active gold explorer in the Kyrgyz<br />
Republic with nine projects under exploration.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company’s second largest gold project,<br />
Obdilla, is 7km from Shambesai and has a resource<br />
estimate of 485,000 ounces.<br />
<strong>The</strong> project’s feasibility study, which was<br />
scheduled for completion by the end of 2011,<br />
includes the recently completed mining evaluation<br />
and pit optimization study as well as<br />
basic engineering for the proposed processing<br />
plant and updated capital and operating<br />
costs. In September, Shambesai was upgraded<br />
to an indicated and inferred resource<br />
of 11.6 million tonnes @ 2.1 grams/tonne<br />
gold for 766,000 ounces of gold.<br />
An impression of the mineral inventory in the preliminary pit at Manas’ Shambesai project.<br />
Raisama lifts Kashkasu interest to 97.5%<br />
RAISAMA Limited has completed the acquisition<br />
of a further 22.5% interest in the<br />
Kashkasu II Uranium Project in the Kyrgyz<br />
Republic from Orca Energy and now holds<br />
97.5%. This acquisition has removed any future<br />
joint venture funding issues that may<br />
have arisen given Orca no longer considered<br />
its interest in this project as a core asset.<br />
As part consideration for the purchase of<br />
this further interest Raisama has issued<br />
870,000 fully paid shares to Orca. Moving to<br />
a 97.5% position will allow the ASX-listed<br />
company to plan the future of the project with<br />
a greater degree of certainty.<br />
Raisama has completed its 2011 field season<br />
exploration activities at the Kashkasu II<br />
project, including its phase 4 drill program.<br />
This program targeted down-dip and structural<br />
extensions of the known mineralization<br />
within the Turakavak formation.<br />
Due to difficult conditions in the uranium<br />
market as a result of the Fukushima Nuclear<br />
incident the company decided to halt the program<br />
after completing four holes. Despite<br />
that, the drilling intersections have more than<br />
doubled the known extent of mineralization<br />
down-dip, with economic uranium mineralization<br />
at depths of up to 394 metres.<br />
<strong>The</strong> best drill intersection was 10 metres @<br />
2130 ppm U3O8 and this section included 0.5<br />
metres @ 14,458 ppm U3O8. <strong>The</strong> highest individual<br />
assay was 14,941 ppm U3O8, or<br />
1.5% U3O8, from 274.5 metres to 274.75 metres<br />
depth down hole. A total of four mineralized<br />
zones were encountered within this hole,<br />
including the deepest of the project so far.<br />
Uranium is present both in sandstone and<br />
coal-bearing beds of the Turakavak formation.<br />
Structural interpretation has also highlighted<br />
the potential for additional zones of mineralization<br />
to be present due to folding and possible<br />
thrust faulting of the mineralized stratigraphy.<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 47
India<br />
Astra secures third iron ore trading licence<br />
ASTRA <strong>Miner</strong>als, a subsidiary of Astra Resources,<br />
has secured an iron ore trading licence<br />
for the Joda and Barbil areas in the<br />
Keonjhar district of Orissa state. It is the third<br />
of five trading licences Astra is securing covering<br />
the main iron ore producing regions in<br />
Orissa to Paradip Port, where Astra holds a<br />
storage and export site. Astra’s CEO Jaydeep<br />
Biswas says securing this licence is a<br />
further step towards turning the company’s<br />
5000 square metre plot at Paradip Port into<br />
a major iron ore export province.<br />
“Astra has already secured trading licences<br />
covering the Koira Mining Circle in the Sundergarh<br />
district and the Jajpur Road Mining Circle<br />
in the Jajpur district. Securing a third trading licence<br />
expands the company’s reach, allowing<br />
Astra to trade and transport self-mined and<br />
third party mined iron ore to Paradip Port for export<br />
into the international market while further<br />
developing our own mining operations for domestic<br />
use and export.<br />
“Being one of the few companies with export<br />
licences for iron ore, while also having possession<br />
of leasehold land at Paradip Port for storage<br />
and shipping, makes Astra a serious<br />
contender in the resources industry.”<br />
A further two trading licences are being applied<br />
for by Astra in the districts of Keonjhar<br />
and Cuttack, also in Orissa.<br />
Astra’s managing director Silvana De Cianni<br />
says the trading licence allows Astra to obtain<br />
iron ore from the specified area and transport<br />
it to its plot at Paradip Port for storage and<br />
export. “<strong>The</strong> plot size will allow Astra to trade<br />
and ship 200,000 to 400,000 tonnes of iron<br />
ore per month, bringing a substantial income<br />
stream into the company,” she says. “Astra<br />
Iron ore beneficiation plant takes shape<br />
NSL Consolidated’s US$2.3 million iron ore<br />
beneficiation plant at Kurnool in the southeast<br />
Indian state of Andhra Pradesh is taking<br />
shape with first stage commissioning scheduled<br />
to start by the end of 2011. <strong>The</strong> ASXlisted<br />
company is developing the plant on its<br />
stockyard site, which is adjacent to its Kuja<br />
iron ore mine and just 5km from its Mangal<br />
iron ore mine, both of which are being readied<br />
for full-scale mining and plant start-up.<br />
<strong>The</strong> plant footings were completed in December<br />
and delivery of key plant components<br />
to the stockyard site began in the last week of<br />
November, with erection of those components<br />
beginning immediately upon their arrival.<br />
NSL is the only foreign company to own and<br />
operate iron ore mines in India, which is the<br />
world’s third largest iron ore exporter, in parallel<br />
with having a strong domestic steel market.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company’s first sales from Kurnool, scheduled<br />
for the first half of 2012, will represent its<br />
maiden revenue stream. <strong>The</strong> plant has the potential<br />
to lift NSL’s ROM iron ore grades to between<br />
58-61% iron from as low as 25-27%<br />
iron with good yield and recovery rates.<br />
NSL’s trial mining operations and subsequent<br />
operational and financial modelling has<br />
suggested a return on capital within just three<br />
months of Kurnool completing full commissioning.<br />
<strong>The</strong> plant has annual capacity of<br />
196,000 tonnes of concentrate, which NSL<br />
says will deliver a steady net cash flow of<br />
US$800,000 per month at full production.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Kurnool and Kuja projects have access<br />
to established road and rail infrastructure.<br />
<strong>The</strong> road to the projects links directly to the<br />
has already been granted an export licence,<br />
and with arrangements already in place to<br />
buy iron ore from third party mines, trading<br />
can begin immediately.” A number of other licences<br />
are being applied for in numerous different<br />
regions in Orissa.<br />
Although Orissa has a long coast line of<br />
480km, Paradip is the major all-weather port,<br />
with expansion plans only enhancing the accessibility<br />
of the port to internal and external<br />
exports. Paradip has its own railway system<br />
and is connected to East Coast Railways and<br />
various other highways, enabling iron ore to<br />
be transferred to the port with ease.<br />
Work to modernize the existing port infrastructure<br />
has been agreed to, which will include<br />
deepening the approach and entrance channel,<br />
enhancing the draught at existing docks and<br />
extending the existing iron ore berth.<br />
highway leading to Krishnapatnam Port,<br />
which is around 330km by road and the closest<br />
point of departure for bulk exports from<br />
Andhra Pradesh. <strong>The</strong> road also connects to<br />
two rail sidings that have infrastructure for<br />
loading iron ore ion to trains. <strong>The</strong>se are about<br />
18km and 30km respectively by road from<br />
the Kuja mine gate with the sidings about<br />
460km by rail from the port.<br />
NSL began mining at Kuja in February<br />
2010 and focused on excavation of trial pits<br />
and small scale productivity assessments in<br />
preparation for the beneficiation plant. <strong>The</strong><br />
Kuja project has an approved mining plan<br />
allowing an annual mining rate of up to<br />
331,000 tonnes of iron ore although this<br />
should not be taken as a forecast of production<br />
by NSL.<br />
Trial mining operations at NSL Consolidated’s iron ore projects in Andhra Pradesh state.<br />
48 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Malaysia<br />
Updated Bau resource expected soon<br />
AN ongoing infill and step-out drilling program<br />
continues to intersect significant gold mineralization<br />
at the Bau Central deposit of Olympus<br />
Pacific <strong>Miner</strong>als’ Bau Gold Project in<br />
Sarawak, East Malaysia. An updated gold resource<br />
estimate is expected to be announced<br />
early this year.<br />
A conceptual model of Olympus Pacific <strong>Miner</strong>als’ Bau Gold Project in East Malaysia.<br />
Recent results around the old BYG open pit<br />
in the Bekajang sector of Bau Central include<br />
15.9 metres @ 7.35 grams/tonne gold, 11 metres<br />
@ 11.71 grams/tonne, 3 metres @ 10.25<br />
grams/tonne, 4.7 metres @ 8.14 grams/tonne,<br />
9 metres @ 7.49 grams/tonne, 78.3 metres @<br />
2.01 grams/ tonne and 16.5 metres @ 3.08<br />
grams/tonne. <strong>The</strong> company aims to complete<br />
20,000 metres in the program with a fourth rig<br />
contracted for delivery to the site during December<br />
while the Bau Central definitive feasibility<br />
study (DFS) for stage one production is<br />
advancing on schedule.<br />
Olympus Pacific’s CEO John Seton says,<br />
“<strong>The</strong> Bau Central DFS continues to deliver<br />
positive outcomes while concurrent exploration<br />
continues to deliver exciting results<br />
from within the Bau Central deposits with<br />
strong analogies to Nevada’s Carlin trend.<br />
Progress to date supports our expectation<br />
that Bau Central start-up production will<br />
commence in 2014 and that the Bau Goldfield<br />
will ultimately become a substantial gold<br />
producing district.”<br />
Olympus has been aggressively exploring<br />
the 17km-long Bau Central mineralization<br />
trend since first acquiring the property in<br />
2009. <strong>The</strong> Bau trend contains 34 known gold<br />
prospects at various stages of exploration<br />
advancement. <strong>The</strong> current JORC/NI 43-101<br />
global resource stands at 2.45 million<br />
ounces, comprising 560,000 indicated<br />
ounces and 1.89 million inferred ounces.<br />
Geological, geophysical and geochemical<br />
studies, including surface trenching and the<br />
diamond drilling programme are in progress<br />
to further expand and upgrade this resource<br />
and support concurrent mining feasibility<br />
studies. A fully independent, internationally<br />
accredited fire assay laboratory has been established<br />
on site by SGS to ensure international<br />
standard assay quality controls and<br />
expedite sample turnaround time.<br />
Exploration is also concurrently in<br />
progress within the Jugan sector, where<br />
trenching and step-out drilling is testing<br />
open-ended strike and depth extensions.<br />
Analysis of a DIGHEM geophysical dataset<br />
has also revealed other prospective Juganstyle<br />
anomalies coincident with positive geological<br />
and geochemical indicators.<br />
New facility will process palm oil waste<br />
MISSION NewEnergy, a global provider of environmentally<br />
sustainable biofuels, will build a<br />
major waste material processing facility at Sandakan,<br />
in Sabah state, East Malaysia. <strong>The</strong> plant<br />
will be the first of its kind to recover palm oil from<br />
spent bleached earth (SBE), a kind of waste<br />
material that historically has no application.<br />
<strong>The</strong> facility will allow Mission to recover<br />
palm oil from waste material in the palm oil<br />
refining process. <strong>The</strong> waste material, called<br />
SBE has historically had no application.<br />
Mission expects to begin construction of<br />
SBE Solvent Extraction Facility in January<br />
and expects it to be fully operational by September<br />
2012. <strong>The</strong> plant will have annual capacity<br />
of 66,000 tonnes <strong>The</strong> company has<br />
secured agreements and understandings<br />
with almost all the palm oil refiners in the state<br />
of Sabah to provide a supply of SBE and has<br />
received all necessary sanctions from government<br />
authorities, including the Department<br />
of Environment.<br />
Mission Group CEO Nathan Mahalingam<br />
says, “Mission is delighted to be working in<br />
collaboration with the government and the<br />
local palm oil processing industry. <strong>The</strong> facility<br />
will reduce waste being sent to the landfill,<br />
create jobs and provide Mission with a lowcost,<br />
environmentally-friendly raw material to<br />
produce biofuels.<br />
“Producing biodiesel from this recovered<br />
non-food grade waste palm oil provides Mission<br />
with access to lower cost feedstock and<br />
therefore increased overall margins. Further,<br />
as a waste material, the greenhouse gas savings<br />
are increased and hence viewed as<br />
more desirable by the market.”<br />
Mission has selected a proven technology<br />
provider for the project while the construction<br />
of the plant and civil works is expected to be<br />
done through local Sabah companies. <strong>The</strong><br />
facility will cost RM30 million (US$10 million)<br />
and will be funded with equity and debt from<br />
a Malaysian commercial bank.<br />
Palm oil refineries typically use bleaching<br />
earth for bleaching and removing gum and<br />
other impurities when refining crude palm oil.<br />
In the process of refining, the bleaching earth<br />
absorbs and retains some of the palm oil<br />
which cannot be recovered in the normal refinery<br />
process. Once the bleaching earth is<br />
used, it is referred to as spent bleaching<br />
earth, which is a waste material and traditionally<br />
disposed of in landfills.<br />
50 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Vietnam<br />
Phuoc Son mill now at design capacity<br />
OLYMPUS Pacific <strong>Miner</strong>als expected to reach its 2011 production<br />
forecast of 40,000 ounces of gold by December 31 despite a delay<br />
of several months in commissioning of the processing plant at the<br />
Phuoc Son Gold Project due to record-breaking monsoon rains. <strong>The</strong><br />
Phuoc Son plant is the company’s second processing operation in<br />
Vietnam behind Bong Mieu.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Phuoc Son mill now regularly operates at its current daily design<br />
capacity of 500 tonnes. Olympus Pacific continues to mine the Bai<br />
Dat mine at Phuoc Son while developing the Bai Go mine that is expected<br />
to be in production by March 2012.<br />
During the first three quarters of 2011 consolidated gold production<br />
was 22,067 ounces from 161,634 tonnes milled at an average grade<br />
of 5.51 grams/tonne gold. Phuoc Son contributed 11,253 ounces,<br />
with 162 ounces in the first quarter, 1455 in the second and 9636 in<br />
the third as production ramped up. Bong Mieu contributed 10,814<br />
ounces in the first nine months of 2011.<br />
Bong Mieu gold production for the third quarter of 2846 ounces decreased<br />
compared to the previous quarter by 1416 ounces resulting<br />
from decrease in ore feed, recovery rate and tonnes milled during<br />
general maintenance of the plant. Repairs and rehabilitation of the<br />
plant began on September 22, 2011, and were completed in late October.<br />
Activities included replacement, maintenance, and optimization<br />
of equipment to improve gold recovery.<br />
During the third quarter the company’s gold sales totalled 7314<br />
ounces for proceeds of $12,464,450 with an average realized price<br />
of US$1704 per ounce. On September 30, 2011, 6882 ounces of<br />
gold bullion and 3132 ounces of gold dore bars were on hand. Gold<br />
bullion can be sold and cash transferred within three business days.<br />
Olympus is a diversified gold company focused on four advanced<br />
properties - the Bau Goldfield in East Malaysia, the Bong Mieu and<br />
Phuoc Son mines in Central Vietnam, and Capcapo in the Philippines.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company expects to substantially expand its combined gold<br />
production capacity by 2014. East Malaysia is its primary focus, and<br />
phase one of Bau Central is now in full feasibility. Vietnam will continue<br />
its production development activities to enable continued cash contribution<br />
to assist in funding a significant portion of the company’s future<br />
development expenditures.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Phuoc Son Gold Project of Olympus Pacific <strong>Miner</strong>als in Central Vietnam<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 51
2012 Calendar<br />
Coaltrans Asia Coal Trading Forum<br />
January 11-12, 2012, Singapore<br />
www.coaltrans.com<br />
Managing Commodity Risks and Riding the Spikes<br />
February 20-21, 2012, Singapore<br />
www.claridenglobal.com<br />
PDAC 2012<br />
March 4-7, 2012, Toronto, Canada<br />
www.pdac.ca<br />
Assaying short course<br />
January 20, 2012, Perth, Australia<br />
www.mets.net.au<br />
Capital Raising for Junior and Midcap Mining<br />
February 20-22, 2012, Perth, Australia<br />
www.resourcefulevents.com.au<br />
Global OHS<br />
March 5-9, 2012, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia<br />
www.ibcasia.com<br />
<strong>Miner</strong>al Processing Course<br />
January 24-25, 2012, Perth, Australia<br />
www.mets.net.au<br />
2nd Rare Earths and Strategic Metals<br />
February 21-22, 2012, Sydney, Australia<br />
www.rareearthsandstrategicmetals.com.au<br />
Mining Vietnam 2012<br />
March 7-9, 2012, Hanoi, Vietnam<br />
www.oesallworld.com<br />
4th International Mining, Exploration, <strong>Miner</strong>als<br />
Processing Technology and Machinery Exhibition<br />
January 28-31, 2012 Kolkata, India<br />
www.internationalminingexhibition.com<br />
Coaltrans USA 2012<br />
February 2-3, 2012, Miami, Florida, USA<br />
www.coaltrans.com<br />
Coal Mongolia 2012<br />
February 9-10, 2012, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia<br />
www.coalmongolia.mn<br />
Coal Operators’ Conference<br />
February 16-17, 2012, Wollongong, Australia<br />
www.Coalconference.net.au<br />
Metal and Steel Asia<br />
February 21-23, 2012, Karachi, Pakistan<br />
www.biztradeshows.com/trade-events/metalsteel-asia.html<br />
10th Annual Coal Markets Conference<br />
February 21–24, 2012, Singapore<br />
www.coalmarketsasia.com<br />
Environmental Management in Mining<br />
February 22-23, 2012, Perth, Australia<br />
www.environmentalmining.com.au<br />
Safety in Resources<br />
February 27-29, 2012, Brisbane, Australia<br />
www.resourcefulevents.com.au<br />
Indonesia Mining 2012<br />
March 12-13, 2012, Bali, Indonesia<br />
www.claridenglobal.com<br />
11th Coaltrans India<br />
March 13-14, 2012, New Delhi<br />
www.coaltrans.com<br />
Mines & Money Hong Kong<br />
March 19-23, 2012, Hong Kong<br />
www.minesandmoney.com/hongkong<br />
8th Asia Mining Congress<br />
March 26-30, 2012, Singapore<br />
http://www.terrapinn.com/conference/asia-mining-congress/<br />
52 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Chinese Investments Abroad<br />
Drilling extends Lady Colleen discovery<br />
EXPLORATION drilling has further extended the<br />
new Lady Colleen copper discovery at Hong<br />
Kong-based CST Mining Group’s Lady Annie<br />
Copper Project in northwest Queensland. <strong>The</strong><br />
latest drilling in transition/sulphide mineralization<br />
has returned broad intersections at greater than<br />
1% copper and an initial mineral resource estimate<br />
is expected by the end of quarter 2, 2012.<br />
Significant intersections from the drilling include<br />
17 metres @ 1.05% copper from 56<br />
metres in transition, 17 metres @ 3.30% copper<br />
and 1086ppm cobalt from 138 metres in<br />
transition-sulphide, and 19 metres @ 1.37%<br />
copper from 159 metres and 34 metres @<br />
2.73% from 157 metres in sulphide.<br />
CST has pursued an aggressive exploration<br />
campaign during 2011 to increase the<br />
oxide/transition resource inventory at Lady<br />
Annie. <strong>The</strong> Lady Colleen deposit, 700 metres<br />
to the west of Mt Clarke West Pit, continues<br />
to return exciting exploration drilling results.<br />
<strong>The</strong> new mineralized intervals confirm extension<br />
of the mineralized zone to the northeast.<br />
Copper mineralization remains open to<br />
the north, south and down plunge. Of particular<br />
interest are the significant elevated cobalt<br />
values in association with copper. Further extension<br />
drilling will enhance understanding of<br />
the copper-cobalt association in the deposit<br />
and is ongoing with a combination of reverse<br />
circulation and diamond drilling.<br />
Lady Annie is a copper mine and SX/EW<br />
processing facility about 120km northwest of<br />
the mining town of Mount Isa. CST owns<br />
100% of Lady Annie and resumed copper<br />
production in November 2010. <strong>The</strong> operation<br />
has the capacity to annually produce 25,000-<br />
30,000 tonnes of copper cathodes. Total resources<br />
to date consist of 65.16 million<br />
tonnes @ 0.71% copper for 459,900 tonnes<br />
of contained copper metal.<br />
CST’s chief executive officer Yang Yi-fang<br />
said in November that lower than expected<br />
copper grades mined at Lady Annie had<br />
caused the company to downgrade full year<br />
production guidance for 2011 from 24,000-<br />
25,000 tonnes to around 20,000 tonnes.<br />
Lady Annie lies within the Mount Isa Inlier<br />
which contains numerous world-class base<br />
and precious metals ore bodies. <strong>The</strong> potential<br />
for additions to resources and reserves are excellent<br />
in and around the existing ore bodies<br />
and on the company’s highly prospective<br />
3000sqkm of exploration tenements.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company is conducting infill drilling and<br />
metallurgical test work aimed at increasing<br />
reserves and mine life while a wider nearmine<br />
and regional exploration program on<br />
surrounding tenements continues to bring<br />
successful results.<br />
Copper heap leaching at CST Mining’s Lady Annie project in northwest Queensland.<br />
钻 探 作 业 扩 大 了 Lady Colleen 铜 矿 体<br />
钻 探 作 业 进 一 步 扩 大 了 总 部 位 于 香 港 的 中 科<br />
矿 业 集 团 旗 下 Lady Annie 项 目 的 Lady<br />
Colleen 铜 矿 体 , 该 项 目 位 于 昆 士 兰 州 西 北<br />
部 。 过 渡 矿 / 硫 化 矿 矿 体 中 发 现 多 个 厚 度 较<br />
大 的 矿 段 , 铜 品 位 大 于 1%。 预 计 在 2012 年<br />
第 二 季 度 末 完 成 初 步 的 资 源 估 算 。<br />
钻 孔 中 主 要 的 见 铜 矿 段 包 括 :56 米 以 下 17<br />
米 @1.05 % 铜 过 渡 矿 ,138 米 以 下 17 米 @<br />
3.30 % 铜 过 渡 矿 - 硫 化 矿 及 138 米 以 下 17 米<br />
@1086 ppm 钴 过 渡 矿 - 硫 化 矿 ,159 米 以 下<br />
19 米 @ 1.37% 铜 硫 化 矿 ,157 米 以 下 34 米 @<br />
2.73 % 铜 硫 化 矿 。<br />
中 科 矿 业 于 2011 年 积 极 进 行 勘 探 活 动 , 致 力<br />
于 提 高 Lady Annie 的 氧 化 物 / 过 渡 资 源 储<br />
量 。Lady Colleen 矿 床 位 于 Mt Clarke 西 部 采 场 以<br />
西 700 米 处 , 继 续 取 得 令 人 鼓 舞 的 勘 探 结 果 。<br />
新 见 矿 矿 段 确 认 为 从 矿 化 区 伸 延 至 东 北<br />
方 。 铜 矿 化 向 北 、 南 , 及 倾 伏 方 向 均 未 封<br />
闭 。 其 中 最 令 人 感 兴 趣 的 是 与 铜 矿 化 相 关 的<br />
重 大 钴 矿 化 。 向 矿 化 区 进 一 步 伸 延 钻 探 将 加<br />
深 对 矿 床 内 铜 - 钴 关 联 的 了 解 , 并 继 续 以 反<br />
循 环 和 金 刚 石 钻 探 一 并 进 行 。<br />
Lady Annie 为 位 于 澳 大 利 亚 昆 士 兰 州 Mount<br />
Isa 区 西 北 部 约 120 公 里 的 铜 矿 和 溶 剂 萃 取 / 电<br />
解 加 工 设 施 。 中 科 全 资 拥 有 Lady Annie, 铜 矿<br />
于 2010 年 11 月 复 产 。 该 营 运 可 每 年 生 产 2.5-3<br />
万 吨 电 解 铜 。 迄 今 , 总 资 源 包 括 6516 万 吨<br />
@0.71% 铜 , 当 中 45.99 万 吨 为 含 铜 金 属 。<br />
中 科 的 首 席 执 行 官 杨 宜 方 于 11 月 称 ,Lady<br />
Annie 开 采 的 铜 矿 品 位 较 预 期 为 低 , 导 致 公<br />
司 将 2011 年 的 生 产 指 引 从 2.4-2.5 万 吨 降 至 2<br />
万 吨 左 右 。<br />
Lady Annie 位 于 Mount Isa Inlier 内 , 其 中 包<br />
括 多 个 世 界 级 的 有 色 金 属 和 贵 金 属 矿 藏 。 在<br />
现 有 和 附 近 的 矿 藏 以 及 该 公 司 高 度 预 期<br />
3000 平 方 公 里 的 探 矿 区 域 内 , 资 源 量 和 储<br />
量 上 升 潜 力 巨 大 。<br />
公 司 正 在 进 行 加 密 钻 探 和 冶 金 测 试 工 作 ,<br />
旨 在 提 高 储 量 及 矿 场 寿 命 , 并 在 矿 场 附 近 更<br />
广 泛 的 地 方 和 区 域 周 边 积 极 进 行 勘 探 计 划 ,<br />
实 现 理 想 成 果 。<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 53
Chinese Investments Abroad<br />
Funds boost for CuDeco’s Rocklands<br />
eco has also made a second payment to Chinese<br />
State-owned Sinosteel Equipment and<br />
Engineering Co for $US10 million which is required<br />
under the procurement agreement between<br />
Sinosteel and CuDeco. <strong>The</strong> agreement<br />
is for componentry for the Rocklands 3 million<br />
tonne/annum production facility.<br />
<strong>The</strong> second payment is in addition to the<br />
$US11.6 million already paid to Sinosteel and<br />
provides the capital for the long lead items including<br />
the ball mill being manufactured to<br />
CITIC Group in China, the HPGR (high pressure<br />
rolls grinder) from Polysius Corporation<br />
from Germany and the continuous Native Copper<br />
Process Circuit from Alljig in South Africa.<br />
CuDeco has also recently signed compensation<br />
agreements with a landholder and<br />
Cloncurry Shire Council which were the final<br />
requirements for the Department of Employment,<br />
Economic Development and Innovation<br />
of a wide intersection of 23 metres from surface<br />
@ 50.1 grams/tonne gold and 101<br />
grams/tonne silver. <strong>The</strong> hole also returned tellurium<br />
values of up to 2190ppm, uranium of<br />
up to 3140ppm and molybdenum.<br />
Wilgar was initially identified as a potential uranium<br />
prospect by CRA in 1972 but it appears<br />
that gold was never tested for. In 2007 CuDeco<br />
<strong>Miner</strong>alized core from CuDeco’s Rocklands Group Copper Project in northwest Queensland.<br />
A SHARE placement by CuDeco to Hong<br />
Kong Resource Fund will raise about<br />
Aus$100 million for the Rocklands Group<br />
Copper Project in northwest Queensland.<br />
<strong>The</strong> unconditional placement will see the<br />
Hong Kong-based group obtain a 15% interest<br />
in CuDeco and provide funds to enable<br />
development of the project to continue. CuD-<br />
for the granting of the mining lease over the<br />
Rocklands project. <strong>The</strong> granting of the lease<br />
will trigger major events on site with immediate<br />
commencement of the drilling and construction<br />
of dewatering bores and monitoring bores<br />
to be completed over a three-month period.<br />
Ongoing drilling at the Wilgar prospect of<br />
Rocklands has returned the highest grade<br />
gold assay results yet achieved. One hole returned<br />
6 metres from 7 metres @ 185<br />
grams/tonne gold, including 1 metre from 7<br />
metres @ 1090 grams/tonne. This was part<br />
conducted a first-pass, wide-spaced reconnaissance<br />
soil sampling program over the<br />
Rocklands area, part of which traversed an area<br />
close to Wilgar and identified anomalous base<br />
metals. Follow-up soil sampling and limited<br />
bedrock drilling subsequently identified a potential<br />
area of high-grade gold mineralization.<br />
After advancing copper exploration at<br />
Rocklands to pre-development stage, CuDeco<br />
shifted its focus back to regional exploration<br />
in early 2011 and Wilgar is producing<br />
exceptional results.<br />
CuDeco 筹 资 推 进 Rocklands 项 目<br />
CuDeco 公 司 将 通 过 向 香 港 资 源 基 金 发 行 股<br />
票 为 昆 士 兰 州 西 北 部 的 Rocklands Group 铜<br />
矿 项 目 筹 集 1 亿 澳 元 。 此 次 无 条 件 的 股 票 配 售<br />
将 使 这 个 总 部 位 于 香 港 的 集 团 获 得 CuDeco<br />
公 司 15% 的 股 份 , 并 为 项 目 的 继 续 开 发 提 供<br />
资 金 支 持 。CuDeco 公 司 还 按 照 与 中 钢 与 之<br />
间 达 成 的 采 购 协 议 向 中 国 国 有 企 业 - 中 钢 设<br />
备 有 限 公 司 支 付 了 第 二 笔 款 项 , 即 1000 万 美<br />
元 。 该 协 议 的 目 的 是 为 Rocklands300 万 吨 /<br />
年 的 生 产 设 施 购 买 部 件 。<br />
该 款 项 是 在 向 中 钢 支 付 1160 万 澳 元 后 的 第<br />
二 次 付 款 , 为 包 括 为 中 国 中 信 集 团 制 造 的 球<br />
磨 机 、 来 自 德 国 伯 力 鸠 斯 公 司 的 高 压 辊 磨 机<br />
以 及 南 非 Alljig 的 连 续 自 然 铜 工 艺 流 程 在 内 的<br />
长 期 投 产 项 目 提 供 了 资 金 。<br />
CuDeco 最 近 已 经 与 一 个 土 地 所 有 者 和 克 朗<br />
克 里 郡 委 员 会 签 署 了 赔 偿 协 议 , 这 是 就<br />
业 、 经 济 发 展 与 创 新 部 对 发 放 Rocklands 项 目<br />
矿 场 租 约 的 最 终 要 求 。 租 约 一 旦 授 予 , 一 些 重<br />
大 活 动 将 在 矿 场 展 开 , 钻 探 作 业 以 及 排 水 孔 与<br />
观 测 孔 的 建 设 工 作 将 在 三 个 月 内 完 成 。<br />
Rocklands 项 目 Wilgar 远 景 区 继 续 进 行 的 钻<br />
探 作 业 的 测 试 结 果 得 到 的 金 品 位 较 以 往 相 比<br />
达 到 了 最 高 值 。 一 个 钻 孔 得 到 的 结 果 为 :7 米<br />
深 处 有 6 米 岩 芯 金 品 位 为 185 克 / 吨 , 其 中 7 米<br />
深 处 有 1 米 岩 芯 品 位 达 到 1090 克 / 吨 。 以 上 是<br />
一 个 距 离 地 表 23 米 的 较 厚 矿 段 的 一 部 分 , 金<br />
品 位 为 50.1 克 / 吨 , 银 品 位 为 101 克 / 吨 。 该 钻<br />
孔 的 测 试 结 果 还 显 示 具 有 品 位 高 达 2190ppm<br />
的 碲 , 品 位 高 达 3140ppm 铀 和 钼 。<br />
Wilgar 最 初 是 在 1972 年 被 CRA 确 定 为 潜 在<br />
的 铀 远 景 区 , 但 是 金 从 来 没 有 被 测 试 过 。 在<br />
2007 年 ,CuDeco 对 Rocklands 区 域 进 行<br />
了 初 次 低 密 度 土 壤 取 样 概 测 ,Rocklands 区<br />
域 的 部 分 临 近 Wilgar, 被 确 定 存 在 基 础 金 属<br />
异 常 。 后 续 的 土 壤 取 样 和 有 限 的 基 岩 钻 探 随<br />
后 确 定 了 一 个 潜 在 的 高 品 位 金 矿 化 区 域 。<br />
在 将 Rocklands 的 铜 勘 探 项 目 推 进 至 前 期<br />
开 发 阶 段 后 ,CuDeco 在 2011 年 初 期 将 重<br />
点 重 新 放 在 区 域 勘 探 上 , 目 前 ,Wilgar 取 得<br />
了 显 著 的 成 果 。<br />
54 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Chinese Investments Abroad<br />
DFS confirms Hera deposit’s viability<br />
A DEFINITIVE feasibility study (DFS) for YTC Resources’ Hera goldbase<br />
metal deposit in the Cobar Basin of New South Wales confirms<br />
the technical and financial viability of the deposit as a shallow underground<br />
mine and processing plant to produce gold and silver dore<br />
bars as well as a bulk lead-zinc concentrate. <strong>The</strong> Hera DFS represents<br />
stage 1 of the development of YTC’s Hera-Nymagee project.<br />
Stage 1 will see establishment of the Hera gold mine and construction<br />
of a processing facility at the Hera site. Feasibility studies<br />
are progressing on stage 2 to evaluate the integration of the Nymagee<br />
deposit utilizing stage 1 infrastructure.<br />
YTC, in partnership with its alliance partner China’s Yunnan Tin<br />
Group, has adopted a two-stage approach to developing the project<br />
to fast track gold revenue and to establish mining and process infrastructure<br />
with a view to self-funding the development and integration<br />
of the larger Nymagee deposit.<br />
<strong>The</strong> DFS has demonstrated that greater than Aus$510 million of<br />
revenue can be generated in stage 1 at a gold price of Aus$1450. It<br />
shows a C1 operating cost of Aus$395 per ounce after lead-zinc<br />
credits with average annual production exceeding 50,000 ounces<br />
over the life of the mine.<br />
It is based on a maiden ore reserve of 423,471 gold equivalent ounces<br />
at an average grade of 7 grams/tonne gold equivalent with a minimum<br />
7.3 year mine life. It indicates production of more than 390,000 gold<br />
equivalent ounces with life-of-mine gold recovery of 94%.<br />
YTC is also pursuing an aggressive drilling program at the Nymagee<br />
deposit, 4.5km to the north of Hera, with a view to demonstrating an<br />
integrated development of the deposits. <strong>The</strong> company purchased an<br />
80% interest in the Nymagee joint venture from CBH Resources as<br />
part of the Hera transaction in September 2009 and has subsequently<br />
earned a 90% interest through sole funding exploration.<br />
Strong results have been returned from drilling at the historic Nymagee<br />
Copper Mine as well as the area around it and the ground between Hera<br />
and Nymagee. Recent drilling has concentrated on deeper prospects<br />
with the first two holes returning encouraging results. One hole returned<br />
33 metres from 422.42 metres @ 0.96% copper including 1 metre<br />
from 438.7 metres @ 12%; 61 metres from 547 metres @ 0.8% including<br />
4 metres from 558 metres @ 2.0% and 4 metres from 602<br />
metres @ 2.1%; and 10 metres from 644 metres @ 0.5%. <strong>The</strong> other<br />
returned 16 metres from 364 metres @ 0.82%, 2 metres from 416<br />
metres @ 2.7%, 67 metres from 450 metres @ 0.55% and 37 metres<br />
from 542 metres @ 0.30%.<br />
YTC Resources’ advanced projects are in the Cobar Basin of New South Wales.<br />
最 终 可 行 性 研 究 确 定 了 Hera 矿 床 的 可 行 性<br />
YTC 资 源 公 司 的 Hera 黄 金 及 基 础 金 属 矿 床 的 最 终 可 行 性 研 究 (DFS)<br />
确 定 了 该 矿 床 作 为 一 个 近 地 表 地 下 矿 和 加 工 厂 生 产 金 条 、 银 条 以 及<br />
铅 锌 混 合 精 矿 在 技 术 和 经 济 上 的 可 行 性 , 该 项 目 位 于 新 南 威 尔 士 州<br />
科 巴 盆 地 。Hera 的 最 终 可 行 性 研 究 代 表 了 YTC 的 Hera-Nymagee<br />
项 目 开 发 的 第 一 阶 段 。<br />
第 一 阶 段 包 括 Hera 金 矿 的 建 立 和 加 工 设 施 的 建 设 工 作 。 第 二 阶 段<br />
将 进 行 可 行 性 研 究 , 对 利 用 第 一 阶 段 基 础 实 施 整 合 Nymagee 矿 床<br />
进 行 评 估 。<br />
YTC 与 其 联 盟 伙 伴 中 国 云 南 锡 业 集 团 采 纳 了 一 个 两 阶 段 方 法 开 发<br />
项 目 , 以 快 速 获 取 黄 金 收 入 并 建 立 采 矿 和 工 艺 基 础 设 施 , 以 便 为 规<br />
模 较 大 的 Nymagee 矿 床 的 开 发 与 整 合 自 筹 资 金 。<br />
最 终 可 行 性 研 究 已 经 证 实 在 金 价 为 1450 澳 元 的 基 础 上 , 第 一 阶 段<br />
带 来 的 收 入 将 高 于 5.1 亿 澳 元 。 矿 场 服 务 年 限 的 铅 - 锌 平 均 年 产 量 超<br />
过 5 万 盎 司 后 , 每 盎 司 的 C1 运 营 成 本 为 395 澳 元 。<br />
该 研 究 基 于 423471 金 等 价 盎 司 的 初 始 矿 石 储 量 , 金 当 量 平 均 品 位<br />
为 7 克 / 吨 , 采 用 7.3 年 的 最 短 矿 山 服 务 年 限 。 这 表 明 , 产 量 超 过 39.9<br />
万 金 等 价 盎 司 , 其 中 矿 场 服 务 年 限 的 黄 金 回 收 率 达 94%。<br />
YTC 正 在 Hera 以 北 4.5 公 里 的 Nymagee 矿 床 实 施 积 极 的 钻 探 作<br />
业 , 以 期 证 实 这 两 个 矿 床 的 综 合 开 发 。 公 司 于 2009 年 9 月 从 CBH 资<br />
源 公 司 收 购 了 Nymagee 合 资 项 目 80% 的 股 份 , 作 为 Hera 协 议 的 一<br />
部 分 , 目 前 已 经 通 过 独 资 勘 探 作 业 逐 步 获 得 了 90% 的 股 份 。<br />
在 历 史 上 重 要 的 Nymagee 铜 矿 及 其 周 围 地 区 以 及 Hera 和<br />
Nymagee 之 间 的 区 域 实 施 的 钻 探 作 业 得 到 了 极 佳 的 测 试 结 果 。 在<br />
最 初 的 两 个 钻 孔 获 得 了 鼓 舞 人 心 的 结 果 后 , 最 近 的 钻 探 作 业 集 中 于<br />
更 深 的 远 景 区 。 其 中 一 个 钻 孔 得 到 的 结 果 为 :422.42 米 深 处 有 33 米<br />
岩 芯 铜 品 位 为 0.96% , 其 中 438.7 米 深 处 有 1 米 岩 芯 品 位 为 12%;547<br />
米 深 处 有 61 米 岩 芯 品 位 为 0.8% , 其 中 558 米 深 处 有 4 米 岩 芯 品 位 为<br />
2.0%,602 米 深 处 有 4 米 岩 芯 品 位 为 2.1%;644 米 深 处 有 10 米 岩 芯 品<br />
位 为 0.5%。 另 一 个 钻 孔 得 到 的 结 果 为 :364 米 深 处 有 16 米 岩 芯 品 位<br />
为 0.82%,416 米 深 处 有 2 米 岩 芯 品 位 为 2.7%,450 米 深 处 有 67 米 岩<br />
芯 品 位 为 0.55%,542 米 深 处 有 37 米 岩 芯 品 位 为 0.30%。<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 55
Chinese Investments Abroad<br />
Jiangli funds for Radio Hill resumption<br />
FOX Resources has signed a Memorandum of<br />
Understanding with Jiangxi Jiangli Sci-Tech Co<br />
regarding the development of the Radio Hill<br />
and Sholl Nickel/Copper Bacterial Heap Leach<br />
Project in Western Australia. Jiangli will provide<br />
Aus$30 million to fund the initial phase of the<br />
project and other associated activities.<br />
Fox plans to mine an inventory of 6 million<br />
tonnes of mineralization containing weighted<br />
average grades of 0.59% nickel and 0.79%<br />
copper over an initial mine life of nine years<br />
from the project, which is 35km south of Karratha<br />
in the Pilbara region.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Radio Hill mine produced nickel and<br />
copper concentrate for four years, before<br />
being placed on care and maintenance in<br />
2008 following adverse commodity prices.<br />
Fox has recently finalized a detailed scoping<br />
study which outlines how the mining operation<br />
can recommence using a bacterial heap<br />
leach process to deliver project revenues of<br />
$815 million over the initial mine life.<br />
Utilization of heap leaching saves the company<br />
power costs and yields higher metal recoveries<br />
than the conventional crush, grind,<br />
and float process. <strong>The</strong> end product contains a<br />
much higher metal content than conventional<br />
concentrate material. <strong>The</strong> existence of established<br />
infrastructure including granted mining<br />
leases, operating licences, offices, buildings,<br />
accommodation, underground mine, tailings<br />
dam, grid power, mains water and roads will<br />
result in a rapid ramp-up, lower start-up capital<br />
costs and lower ongoing operating costs.<br />
At least one-third of the ore feed for the initial<br />
year of production will be derived from existing<br />
surface stockpiles of about 300,000 tonnes,<br />
representing a significant saving in mining costs<br />
and leading to further cost savings.<br />
It confirms the potential of the project and reflects the culmination<br />
of many months of hard work optimizing processes.<br />
With the proposed funding arrangements under way we can<br />
look forward to the commencement of construction to develop<br />
the bacterial heap leach project.<br />
Fox Resources is on track to resuming nickel and copper operations in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.<br />
Fox’s interim CEO Laurie Chew says the<br />
MoU represents a significant milestone in returning<br />
Radio Hill to production. “It confirms<br />
the potential of the project and reflects the culmination<br />
of many months of hard work optimizing<br />
processes. With the proposed funding<br />
arrangements under way we can look forward<br />
to the commencement of construction to develop<br />
the bacterial heap leach project.”<br />
As part of the proposed arrangement, Fox<br />
will provide Jiangli with 100% of nickel and<br />
copper sulphide concentrates produced from<br />
the project over the initial mine life, and extensions<br />
to this term will be negotiable. <strong>The</strong> $30<br />
million, plus interest, will effectively be repaid by<br />
shipments of concentrates to Jiangli. <strong>The</strong> concentrates<br />
will be transported to and shipped<br />
from Dampier Port, which is about 40km away.<br />
江 锂 为 Radio Hill 项 目 的 复 产 提 供 资 金<br />
Fox 资 源 公 司 已 与 江 西 江 锂 科 技 有 限 公 司 签<br />
署 了 一 份 关 于 开 发 西 澳 大 利 亚 州 Radio Hill<br />
和 Sholl 镍 / 铜 细 菌 堆 浸 项 目 的 谅 解 备 忘 录 。<br />
江 锂 将 提 供 3000 万 澳 元 资 金 , 用 于 该 项 目<br />
的 初 始 阶 段 和 其 他 的 相 关 活 动 。<br />
Fox 计 划 在 矿 场 寿 命 的 前 九 年 中 开 采 600 万<br />
吨 矿 化 物 , 其 中 加 权 平 均 品 位 为 镍 0.59%、<br />
铜 0.79%, 该 矿 场 位 于 皮 尔 巴 拉 地 区 的 卡 拉<br />
沙 以 南 35 公 里 。<br />
Radio Hill 矿 场 在 2008 年 由 于 商 品 价 格 低<br />
迷 而 进 入 维 护 与 保 养 阶 段 之 前 的 四 年 里 一 直<br />
生 产 镍 与 铜 精 矿 。 最 近 ,Fox 完 成 了 一 份 详<br />
尽 的 概 况 研 究 , 其 中 概 括 了 采 矿 运 营 如 何 通<br />
过 采 用 细 菌 堆 浸 工 艺 恢 复 生 产 , 使 该 项 目 在<br />
初 始 的 矿 场 寿 命 里 收 入 达 到 8.15 亿 澳 元 。<br />
堆 浸 工 艺 的 使 用 会 减 少 公 司 电 力 成 本 , 与<br />
传 统 的 破 碎 、 研 磨 和 浮 选 工 艺 相 比 , 金 属 回<br />
收 率 更 高 。 最 终 产 品 的 金 属 含 量 比 传 统 的 精<br />
矿 材 料 高 很 多 。<br />
已 具 备 的 基 础 要 素 包 括 采 矿 租 约 、 运 营 执<br />
照 、 办 公 场 所 、 建 筑 、 宿 舍 、 地 下 矿 、 尾 矿<br />
库 、 电 网 、 自 来 水 和 道 路 , 这 意 味 着 产 量 的<br />
快 速 增 加 、 较 低 的 启 动 资 金 和 较 低 的 持 续 运<br />
营 成 本 。<br />
投 产 第 一 年 给 矿 量 最 少 有 1/3 将 来 自 现 有<br />
的 约 30 万 吨 的 地 表 储 矿 堆 , 显 著 的 减 少 了 采<br />
矿 成 本 , 从 而 进 一 步 节 省 总 成 本 。<br />
Fox 的 临 时 首 席 执 行 官 Laurie Chew 称 ,<br />
谅 解 备 忘 录 的 签 署 是 Radio Hill 重 新 投 产 的<br />
重 大 里 程 碑 。“ 这 证 实 了 该 项 目 的 潜 力 ,<br />
反 映 了 长 时 间 优 化 流 程 的 艰 苦 工 作 达 到 了<br />
顶 峰 。 随 着 拟 议 的 供 资 安 排 的 实 施 , 我 们<br />
期 望 建 设 工 作 的 启 动 , 以 开 发 这 个 细 菌 堆<br />
浸 项 目 。”<br />
作 为 拟 议 的 约 定 的 一 部 分 ,Fox 将 为 江 锂<br />
提 供 该 项 目 在 初 始 矿 山 寿 命 生 产 的 所 有 的 镍<br />
和 铜 硫 化 精 矿 , 该 条 款 的 延 期 将 再 进 行 协<br />
商 。3000 万 澳 元 的 资 金 以 及 利 息 将 在 精 矿<br />
运 往 江 锂 时 支 付 。 精 矿 将 被 运 输 至 大 约 40<br />
公 里 外 的 丹 皮 尔 港 口 , 然 后 从 丹 皮 尔 港 装 船<br />
运 出 。<br />
56 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Chinese Investments Abroad<br />
Sundance and Hanlong advance Mbalam project<br />
SUNDANCE Resources and Hanlong (Africa)<br />
Mining Investment have been working together<br />
with the governments of the Republic<br />
of Cameroon and the Republic of Congo with<br />
a view to confirming the ratification of the<br />
Mbalam Convention and Congo Mining Permit.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se tasks form part of the Scheme Implementation<br />
Agreement (SIA) between the<br />
Australian and Chinese companies covering<br />
the Mbalam Iron Ore Project.<br />
<strong>The</strong> SIA has a two phase structure. During<br />
phase 1, the companies are to use all reasonable<br />
endeavours to progress the Mbalam<br />
Convention in Cameroon and the Congo<br />
Mining Permit, and Hanlong is to confirm its<br />
funding arrangements. <strong>The</strong>se conditions<br />
must be met prior to progressing to phase 2.<br />
Sundance and Hanlong executive management<br />
have attended a number of meetings<br />
together with senior government<br />
officials of Cameroon and Congo to demonstrate<br />
their unified commitment to development<br />
of the project.<br />
In July 2011, Sundance and Hanlong along<br />
with representatives from CITIC Securities<br />
and China Development Bank met with the<br />
President of Cameroon, Paul Biya, in Beijing<br />
to discuss the project. On October 21 the results<br />
of the Cameroon Presidential election<br />
were announced and confirmed the re-election<br />
of Paul Biya for another seven year term.<br />
On October 27 the President of the Republic<br />
of Congo, Denis Sassou-Nguesso,<br />
met with Sundance and Hanlong in the<br />
country’s capital Brazzaville where the President<br />
gave his support to the Nabeba development<br />
and expressed his understanding of<br />
the necessary trans-border requirements for<br />
stage one of Mbalam.<br />
<strong>The</strong> final Environment and Social Assessment<br />
Report for the Congo was expected to<br />
be submitted by the end of November 2011,<br />
which completes the requirements for the<br />
application process for the mining permit. It<br />
is anticipated a successful mining permit<br />
from the government will be awarded within<br />
three months.<br />
Sundance and Hanlong also met with a<br />
number of officials in the Cameroon capital of<br />
Yaounde. Following the meetings in Cameroon<br />
and Congo, Sundance and Hanlong executives<br />
left the countries confident that an acceptable<br />
outcome for all parties was within<br />
reach and should align with the previously reported<br />
target timetable within the SIA.<br />
In Australia, Sundance and Hanlong met<br />
the Prime Minister of Cameroon, Philémon<br />
Yang, in Perth. <strong>The</strong> Prime Minister further expressed<br />
the government’s strong support of<br />
the project, confirming it was a project of national<br />
interest that they are eager to see developed<br />
in the near term.<br />
Sundance aimed to have the final terms of<br />
the convention agreed by the end of December<br />
2011 and then expects an Enabling<br />
Act which makes the convention effective to<br />
be passed by the Cameroon National Assembly<br />
when it is next expected to meet in<br />
March 2012.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Mbalam Iron Ore project straddles the border of Cameroon and the Republic of Congo.<br />
Sundance 和 汉 龙 公 司 推 进 Mbalam 项 目<br />
Sundance 资 源 公 司 和 汉 龙 ( 非 洲 ) 矿 业 投<br />
资 公 司 一 起 与 喀 麦 隆 共 和 国 和 刚 果 共 和 国 政<br />
府 协 商 , 以 确 认 Mbalam 协 议 得 到 正 式 批<br />
准 , 并 获 得 刚 果 采 矿 许 可 证 。<br />
这 些 任 务 是 澳 洲 和 中 国 公 司 之 间 关 于<br />
Mbalam 铁 矿 项 目 的 《 安 排 执 行 协 议 》(<br />
SIA) 的 一 部 分 。<br />
该 协 议 包 括 两 个 阶 段 。 在 第 一 阶 段 期 间 ,<br />
两 家 公 司 将 尽 最 大 可 能 推 进 喀 麦 隆 的<br />
Mbalam 项 目 , 并 获 取 刚 果 采 矿 许 可 证 , 同<br />
时 汉 龙 公 司 将 确 认 其 融 资 协 议 。 这 些 条 件 满<br />
足 后 方 可 推 进 至 第 二 阶 段 。<br />
Sundance 公 司 和 汉 龙 公 司 的 高 管 一 起 与<br />
喀 麦 隆 和 刚 果 政 府 高 级 官 员 进 行 了 多 次 会<br />
晤 , 以 显 示 两 家 公 司 对 开 发 这 一 项 目 的 决 心<br />
和 承 诺 。<br />
在 2011 年 7 月 ,Sundance 和 汉 龙 公 司 与<br />
中 信 证 券 以 及 中 国 国 家 开 发 银 行 的 代 表 一 起<br />
在 北 京 会 见 了 喀 麦 隆 总 统 Paul Biya, 就 该<br />
项 目 的 问 题 进 行 了 商 谈 。<br />
10 月 21 日 , 喀 麦 隆 总 统 选 举 结 果 公<br />
布 ,Paul Biya 确 认 再 次 当 选 , 将 在 今 后 七<br />
年 的 任 期 内 继 续 执 政 。<br />
10 月 27 日 , 刚 果 共 和 国 总 统 Denis Sassou-Nguesso<br />
在 该 国 首 都 布 拉 柴 维 尔 会 见<br />
了 Sundance 和 汉 龙 公 司 的 代 表 , 他 表 示<br />
支 持 Nabeba 矿 区 的 开 发 , 并 对 Mbalam<br />
项 目 第 一 阶 段 跨 国 界 开 发 的 必 要 要 求 表 示<br />
理 解 。<br />
刚 果 的 最 终 环 境 和 社 会 评 估 报 告 预 计 将 于<br />
2011 年 11 月 底 之 前 提 交 , 由 此 采 矿 许 可 证<br />
申 请 程 序 所 需 的 工 作 全 部 完 成 。<br />
预 计 三 个 月 内 可 以 顺 利 获 得 政 府 颁 发 的 采<br />
矿 许 可 证 。<br />
此 外 ,Sundance 和 汉 龙 公 司 也 在 喀 麦 隆<br />
首 都 雅 温 德 会 见 了 多 位 喀 麦 隆 政 府 官 员 。 在<br />
喀 麦 隆 和 刚 果 的 会 晤 之 后 ,Sundance 和 汉<br />
龙 公 司 高 管 离 开 这 两 个 国 家 时 满 怀 信 心 , 他<br />
们 相 信 很 快 就 能 达 成 一 个 对 于 各 方 都 能 够 接<br />
受 的 结 果 , 并 且 与 之 前 在 《 安 排 执 行 协 议 》<br />
中 提 出 的 时 间 表 相 吻 合 。<br />
在 澳 大 利 亚 的 珀 斯 市 ,Sundance 和 汉 龙<br />
公 司 会 见 了 喀 麦 隆 总 理 Philémon Yang。 总<br />
理 进 一 步 表 达 了 政 府 对 于 这 个 项 目 的 支 持 。<br />
他 强 调 , 该 项 目 关 系 到 喀 麦 隆 的 国 家 利 益 ,<br />
他 们 热 切 期 待 着 能 在 近 期 得 到 开 发 。<br />
Sundance 公 司 希 望 在 2011 年 12 月 底 之 前<br />
达 成 协 议 最 终 条 款 , 并 期 望 下 一 届 喀 麦 隆 国<br />
民 大 会 在 2012 年 3 月 份 召 开 时 能 通 过 一 项 授<br />
权 法 , 批 准 该 协 议 生 效 。<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 57
Chinese Investments Abroad<br />
East China funds for Mount Peake test work<br />
TNG Limited has signed a subscription<br />
agreement with the East China <strong>Miner</strong>al Exploration<br />
& Development Bureau (ECE), formalizing<br />
a $13.4 million investment in TNG as<br />
part of a broader strategic partnership. <strong>The</strong><br />
funds will underpin a pilot plant test work program<br />
for TNG’s TIVAN hydrometallurgical<br />
process for the Mount Peake Iron-Vanadium<br />
Project in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT).<br />
<strong>The</strong> subscription agreement between TNG,<br />
ECE subsidiary Ao-Zhong International <strong>Miner</strong>al<br />
Resources and a private investor introduced by<br />
ECE, Aosu Investment and Development Co,<br />
was signed in Tianjin, China as part of the 2011<br />
China Mining Conference. <strong>The</strong> ceremony was<br />
attended by NT Minister of Resources Kon<br />
Vatskalis, NT Department of Resources CEO<br />
Richard Galton, ECE deputy director-general<br />
Xu Jianrong and TNG Board members.<br />
<strong>The</strong> agreement encompasses funds to underpin<br />
the ongoing pre-feasibility study (PFS)<br />
and test work program for Mount Peake and<br />
forms part of a broader strategic alliance aimed<br />
at developing a long-term strategic metals<br />
business in the NT. It will also give Ao-Zhong<br />
Drilling at TNG Limited’s Mount Peake project in<br />
the Northern Territory.<br />
ECE director Ms Lu, TNG managing director Paul Burton, ECE deputy director-general Xu Jianrong, TNG nonexecutive<br />
director Stuart Crow and ECE deputy director Mr Jingbin at the signing of the subscription agreement<br />
between the two companies at China Mining 2011.<br />
and Aosu a combined 30% stake in TNG.<br />
TNG’s managing director Paul Burton says<br />
signing of the agreement marks a significant<br />
milestone. “Once completed, this transaction<br />
will provide significant funding for the company<br />
in a very uncertain economic environment<br />
– putting TNG in a strong position for<br />
growth, creating the foundations to develop<br />
our world-scale vanadium project at Mount<br />
Peake and enabling us to complete the commercialization<br />
of the TIVAN process.<br />
<strong>The</strong> PFS is based on TNG’s recently updated<br />
JORC indicated and inferred resource<br />
of 160 million tonnes grading 0.3% vanadium,<br />
5.0% titanium and 23.0% iron, making it one<br />
of Australia’s largest undeveloped vanadium<br />
projects. <strong>The</strong> final PFS will be delivered early<br />
in 2012 incorporating results of the test work<br />
program designed to underpin commercialization<br />
of TNG’s patented TIVAN process.<br />
TIVAN is able to recover all three valuable<br />
metals from the ore, offering lower capital and<br />
operating costs than conventional pyrometallurgical<br />
processing routes. <strong>The</strong> process uses a<br />
combination of acid leaching, solvent extraction<br />
and chemical stripping to selectively recover<br />
the valuable metals – rather than the<br />
alternative of energy-intensive roasting.<br />
ECE is a major Chinese mineral exploration,<br />
development and mining group, based in<br />
Nanjing, which has been set up since 1955.<br />
It has more than 5000 employees and is one<br />
of the few organizations authorized by the<br />
Chinese Government to carry out geological<br />
exploration and scientific research in major<br />
State classified projects.<br />
华 东 地 质 勘 查 局 为 Mount Peake 的 测 试 工 作<br />
提 供 资 金<br />
TNG 有 限 公 司 与 华 东 地 质 勘 查 局 (ECE) 签 署<br />
了 一 份 认 购 协 议 , 作 为 更 广 泛 的 战 略 合 作 关 系<br />
的 一 部 分 , 华 东 地 质 勘 查 局 向 TNG 注 入 1340 万<br />
美 元 。 该 资 金 将 用 于 支 持 TNG Mount Peake<br />
铁 - 矾 项 目 的 TIVAN 湿 法 冶 金 工 艺 的 实 验 厂 测 试<br />
工 作 , 该 项 目 位 于 澳 大 利 亚 北 领 地 。<br />
TNG 与 华 东 地 质 勘 查 局 的 子 公 司 澳 中 国 际<br />
矿 产 资 源 有 限 公 司 及 私 营 投 资 方 澳 苏 投 资 与<br />
开 发 公 司 之 间 达 成 的 这 份 认 购 合 同 是 在 中<br />
国 天 津 举 办 的 2011 年 中 国 矿 业 大 会 上 签 署<br />
的 。 出 席 仪 式 的 有 北 领 地 资 源 部 部 长 Kon<br />
Vatskalis、 北 领 地 资 源 部 首 席 执 行 官<br />
Richard Galton、 华 东 地 质 勘 查 局 副 局 长<br />
许 建 荣 以 及 TNG 董 事 会 成 员 。<br />
该 协 议 涉 及 的 资 金 用 于 加 强 Mount Peake<br />
的 预 可 行 性 研 究 (PFS) 和 测 试 工 作 , 以 及<br />
通 过 构 建 大 范 围 战 略 合 作 关 系 在 北 领 地 发 展<br />
长 期 战 略 性 金 属 业 务 。 澳 中 和 澳 苏 将 通 过 协<br />
议 获 得 TNG 总 计 30% 的 股 份 。<br />
TNG 公 司 董 事 总 经 理 Paul Burton 称 , 该 协<br />
议 的 签 署 是 一 个 重 要 的 里 程 碑 。“ 该 交 易 完<br />
成 后 将 在 当 今 十 分 动 荡 的 经 济 环 境 下 给 公 司<br />
提 供 重 要 的 资 本 - 使 TNG 在 发 展 中 处 于 有 利<br />
地 位 , 为 我 们 Mount Peake 这 个 世 界 级 钒<br />
矿 项 目 打 下 了 基 础 , 也 使 我 们 能 够 完 成<br />
TIVAN 工 艺 的 商 业 化 。”<br />
此 次 预 可 行 性 研 究 以 TNG 最 近 更 新 的 符 合<br />
JORC 标 准 的 1.6 亿 吨 控 制 与 推 断 资 源 量 为 基<br />
础 , 其 中 钒 品 位 为 0.3%, 钛 品 位 为 5.0%,<br />
铁 品 位 为 23%, 使 之 成 为 澳 大 利 亚 最 大 的 未<br />
开 发 钒 项 目 。 最 终 的 预 可 行 性 研 究 将 于<br />
2012 初 期 与 用 于 支 持 TNG 的 TIVAN 工 艺 专 利<br />
商 业 化 的 测 试 工 作 结 果 一 起 提 交 。<br />
TIVAN 可 以 从 矿 石 中 提 取 三 种 贵 重 金 属 ,<br />
与 传 统 的 高 温 冶 金 法 相 比 , 具 有 低 风 险 资 本<br />
和 运 营 成 本 的 优 势 。 该 方 法 综 合 使 用 酸 浸 ,<br />
溶 剂 提 取 和 化 学 剥 离 来 选 择 性 的 提 取 贵 重 金<br />
属 , 而 非 耗 能 的 煅 烧 方 式 。<br />
华 东 地 质 勘 查 局 位 于 南 京 , 成 立 于 1955<br />
年 , 是 中 国 重 要 的 地 质 勘 探 、 开 发 和 开 采 集<br />
团 。 拥 有 超 过 5000 名 员 工 , 并 且 是 为 数 不<br />
多 的 几 个 获 得 中 国 政 府 授 权 可 以 对 主 要 国 有<br />
项 目 进 行 地 质 勘 探 和 科 学 研 究 的 机 构 。<br />
58 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Chinese Investments Abroad<br />
Scope of Selwyn feasibility expanded<br />
PROMISING drill results and a review of metallurgical<br />
processing have prompted joint venture<br />
partners Selwyn Resources and Chihong<br />
Canada Mining to expand the scope of a feasibility<br />
study at the Selwyn zinc and lead project<br />
in northwest Canada. Chihong is a whollyowned<br />
subsidiary of Yunnan Chihong Zinc &<br />
Germanium Co and is earning a 50% interest<br />
in the project, with expenditure of Can$100<br />
million on exploration and development.<br />
Wardrop, a Tetra Tech Company, was engaged<br />
in January 2010 to undertake the engineering<br />
and technical work required for a<br />
feasibility study. <strong>The</strong> initial proposed work on<br />
the development plan is nearing completion,<br />
however JV company Selwyn Chihong Mining<br />
has determined that the scope of the proposed<br />
engineering work and feasibility study<br />
needs to be expanded and revised.<br />
As at September 30, 2011, Selwyn Chihong<br />
had spent about Can$73 million of the<br />
total amount. <strong>The</strong> project is in eastern<br />
Yukon and straddles the border with the<br />
Northwest Territories.<br />
Exploration drilling at the XY West deposit<br />
and at depth in the area between Don and<br />
Don East deposits, referred to as Don Connector,<br />
has defined excellent mineral potential<br />
that may be beneficial to include in the mine<br />
plan being evaluated.<br />
To advance this goal, Selwyn Chihong will<br />
resume drilling on Don Connector to confirm<br />
the presence of significant new mineral resources<br />
and, if successful, undertake preliminary<br />
mine evaluation to determine whether<br />
these mineral resources should be integrated<br />
into the current mine plan.<br />
It plans to drill an additional 12,000 metres in<br />
the Don Connector area to better define the<br />
tonnage and grade of the shallow dipping mineralization.<br />
<strong>The</strong> target area has dimensions of<br />
900 metres by 250 metres, with several thick<br />
intercepts of high grade mineralization indicated<br />
from recent drilling, which included<br />
54.94 metres @ 7.78% zinc and 2.84% lead,<br />
including several zones of very high-grade mineralization.<br />
<strong>The</strong> new drilling is projected to be<br />
completed by March 2012 at which time a new<br />
resource estimate will be completed for Don<br />
Connector, and an evaluation undertaken to<br />
determine whether it should be included in the<br />
mine plan for the feasibility study.<br />
Selwyn Resources is concentrating on exploration at and around the XY West deposit.<br />
In recent drilling Selwyn Chihong completed<br />
22,488 metres of diamond drilling on XY West<br />
deposit and a new mineral resource estimate is<br />
in progress to provide an updated resource for<br />
XY West. Proximity to the XY Central deposit,<br />
and modest pre-development requirements for<br />
accessing the deposit, makes it an attractive<br />
addition to the mine plan for XY Central.<br />
Preliminary information from a recent reevaluation<br />
of the inclusion of dense media<br />
separation (DMS) technology in the crushing<br />
circuit indicates that it could provide significant<br />
reductions in overall energy consumption<br />
in processing. Additional work is planned<br />
to further evaluate the implications of including<br />
DMS in the mill plan.<br />
赛 尔 温 项 目 扩 大 可 行 性 研 究 范 围<br />
积 极 地 钻 探 结 果 和 对 冶 金 加 工 的 重 审 使 位 于<br />
加 拿 大 西 北 部 的 赛 尔 温 锌 - 铅 项 目 扩 大 了 可<br />
行 性 研 究 的 范 围 , 该 项 目 是 赛 尔 温 资 源 有 限<br />
公 司 和 驰 宏 加 拿 大 矿 业 有 限 公 司 之 间 的 合 资<br />
项 目 。 驰 宏 是 云 南 驰 宏 锌 锗 股 份 有 限 公 司 旗<br />
下 全 资 子 公 司 , 目 前 正 在 通 过 为 项 目 勘 探 和<br />
开 发 提 供 1 亿 加 元 的 资 金 来 收 购 赛 尔 温 项 目<br />
50% 的 合 资 权 益 。<br />
2010 年 1 月 公 司 已 聘 用 一 家 Tetra Tech 公<br />
司 - Wardrop 来 进 行 赛 尔 温 项 目 可 行 性 研 究<br />
所 需 的 工 程 和 技 术 工 作 。 有 关 开 发 计 划 的 初<br />
步 拟 议 工 作 已 接 近 完 成 , 但 合 资 公 司 - 赛 尔<br />
温 驰 宏 矿 业 已 决 定 , 拟 议 工 程 工 作 和 可 行 性<br />
研 究 的 范 围 需 要 扩 大 和 修 订 。<br />
截 至 2011 年 9 月 30 日 , 赛 尔 温 驰 宏 已 花 费 了<br />
约 7300 万 加 元 费 用 。 这 是 驰 宏 收 购 赛 尔 温 项<br />
目 50% 权 益 需 要 支 付 的 $1 亿 费 用 中 的 一 部 份 。<br />
该 项 目 位 于 育 空 东 部 , 横 跨 西 北 地 区 边 界 。<br />
在 XY West 矿 床 和 Don 与 Don East 矿 床 之<br />
间 区 域 的 深 部 - 即 Don Connector 实 施 的 钻<br />
探 作 业 确 定 了 极 佳 的 矿 化 潜 力 , 有 可 能 有 益<br />
于 纳 入 已 评 估 的 开 采 计 划 中 。<br />
为 了 推 进 这 一 目 标 , 赛 尔 温 驰 宏 将 继 续 在<br />
Don Connector 进 行 钻 探 作 业 , 以 确 定 重<br />
大 的 新 矿 化 资 源 的 存 在 , 如 果 取 得 成 功 , 公<br />
司 将 采 取 初 步 的 矿 场 评 估 以 确 定 这 些 矿 化 资<br />
源 是 否 应 该 并 入 当 前 的 开 采 计 划 中 。<br />
公 司 计 划 在 Don Connector 区 域 开 展 1.2<br />
万 米 的 金 刚 石 钻 探 工 作 , 从 而 更 好 的 定 义 这<br />
个 微 倾 的 成 矿 带 的 吨 位 数 和 品 位 。 目 标 区 域<br />
为 900 米 x 250 米 , 最 近 实 施 的 勘 探 作 业 确<br />
定 了 一 些 高 品 位 的 较 厚 的 矿 段 , 包 括 54.94<br />
米 岩 芯 锌 品 位 为 7.78%, 铅 品 位 为 2.84%,<br />
其 中 一 些 区 域 矿 化 品 位 极 高 。 新 的 钻 探 作 业<br />
预 计 在 2012 年 3 月 完 成 , 届 时 Don Connector<br />
的 新 资 源 评 估 将 完 成 , 并 且 将 进 行 评<br />
估 以 确 定 其 是 否 应 该 纳 入 可 行 性 研 究 的 开 采<br />
计 划 中 。<br />
在 最 近 的 钻 探 中 , 赛 尔 温 驰 宏 共 在 XY<br />
West 矿 床 完 成 了 22488 米 金 刚 石 钻 探 作 业 ,<br />
新 矿 产 资 源 评 估 正 在 进 行 之 中 , 以 期 为 XY<br />
West 提 供 更 新 的 资 源 量 。 靠 近 XY Central<br />
矿 床 及 较 低 的 前 期 开 发 要 求 使 其 成 为 了 被 列<br />
入 XY Central 开 采 计 划 的 一 个 极 具 吸 引 力 的<br />
矿 床 。<br />
从 最 近 对 破 碎 流 程 中 纳 入 重 介 质 选 矿<br />
(DMS) 技 术 的 重 新 评 估 得 到 的 初 步 信 息 表<br />
明 , 该 技 术 将 大 大 减 少 流 程 中 整 体 的 能 源 消<br />
耗 。 公 司 计 划 展 开 更 多 的 工 作 , 对 DMS 纳 入<br />
选 厂 计 划 的 实 施 做 进 一 步 评 估 。<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 59
Chinese Investments Abroad<br />
Fusion first development option for JV<br />
THE Fusion magnetite project in South Australia<br />
is the preferred option for the first mining<br />
development of joint venture partners<br />
Centrex Metals and Wuhan Iron and Steel<br />
Corporation (WISCO). <strong>The</strong> site is west of<br />
Tumby Bay on the Eyre Peninsula where<br />
large-scale drilling is planned at three deposits<br />
to further evaluate the project’s current<br />
resource of 454.4 million tonnes.<br />
Fusion is one of a number of advanced exploration<br />
assets being assessed by the joint<br />
venture across the southern Eyre Peninsula.<br />
It consists of four deposits which have been<br />
targeted by the JV managers Eyre Iron for environmental,<br />
social and resource testing.<br />
Three of the deposits – Koppio, Brennand and<br />
Kapperna - are seen as capable of supporting a<br />
large-scale, long-life magnetite concentrate operation<br />
as well as the necessary infrastructure.<br />
<strong>The</strong> fourth deposit, Iron Mount, is on the eastern<br />
An impression of Centrex’s proposed deep water port facilities at Port Spencer.<br />
An aerial view of the Bungalow project, a joint venture<br />
between Centrex and Baotou Iron & Steel Group.<br />
edge of the Fusion area and could provide ore<br />
feed for the project in the longer term. Eyre Iron<br />
is confident of proving a large enough resource<br />
base at the three main deposits to underpin the<br />
initial 20 year life of the mine.<br />
Environmental and scoping studies are<br />
under way as well as large diameter drilling to<br />
provide diamond core results for metallurgical<br />
test work. Test work to date shows a high<br />
quality concentrate blend can be produced.<br />
Fusion is 40km from the proposed Port<br />
Spencer deep water export facility that is<br />
under development by Centrex to transport<br />
product from mine to port via a low impact<br />
slurry pipeline. <strong>The</strong> company says water for<br />
the Fusion project will be provided by a desalination<br />
plant at Port Spencer with a return<br />
water pipeline to the site.<br />
Centrex has recently received payment of<br />
Aus$8 million from another joint venture partner,<br />
Baotou Iron & Steel Group Company<br />
(Baogang), which will provide for commencement<br />
of stage 3A of the Bungalow Magnetite<br />
Joint Venture. It is the third progress payment<br />
by Baogang which has now invested Aus$24<br />
million in to the joint venture.<br />
<strong>The</strong> payment will enable the project, also on<br />
the Eyre Peninsula, to steadily continue rather<br />
than wait for the completion of stage 2 in<br />
2012. A number of key tasks on the critical<br />
path to development have now commenced,<br />
including further resource definition drilling,<br />
metallurgical test work and baseline environmental<br />
studies to support the mining lease<br />
proposal and pre-feasibility study.<br />
<strong>The</strong> payment has resulted in Baogang<br />
being assigned a further 10% interest in the<br />
iron ore rights on the licence, taking its equity<br />
in these rights and the JV to 30%.<br />
武 钢 与 Centrex 合 资 的 首 选 - 富 绅 项 目<br />
南 澳 大 利 亚 州 的 富 绅 磁 铁 矿 项 目 是 Centrex<br />
金 属 公 司 与 武 汉 钢 铁 公 司 (WISCO) 的 合 资 公<br />
司 首 个 矿 业 开 发 项 目 的 首 选 。 该 项 目 位 于 艾<br />
尔 半 岛 塔 姆 比 湾 的 西 部 , 大 型 的 勘 探 作 业 计<br />
划 在 三 个 矿 床 实 施 , 以 期 对 项 目 当 前 的 4.544<br />
亿 吨 资 源 进 行 进 一 步 评 估 。<br />
富 绅 是 该 合 资 企 业 在 艾 尔 半 岛 南 部 评 估 过<br />
的 众 多 优 质 的 勘 探 资 产 之 一 。 艾 尔 矿 业 有 限<br />
公 司 的 经 理 已 经 针 对 富 绅 的 四 个 矿 床 进 行 环<br />
境 、 社 会 和 资 源 测 试 。<br />
其 中 的 三 个 矿 床 - 科 皮 奥 、 布 雷 南 德 和 卡 珀<br />
纳 - 能 够 支 持 一 个 大 型 的 、 服 务 年 限 长 的 磁 铁<br />
精 矿 运 营 及 必 要 的 基 础 设 施 建 设 。 第 四 个 矿<br />
床 - 铁 山 - 位 于 富 绅 区 域 的 东 部 边 缘 , 能 够 在 更<br />
长 的 时 期 内 为 项 目 提 供 矿 石 。 艾 尔 矿 业 有<br />
信 心 在 三 个 主 要 的 矿 床 提 供 足 够 大 的 资 源 基<br />
础 , 以 巩 固 矿 区 最 初 的 20 年 服 务 年 限 。<br />
环 境 与 概 况 研 究 及 大 直 径 钻 探 作 业 都 在 进<br />
行 之 中 , 旨 在 为 冶 金 测 试 工 作 提 供 金 刚 石 钻<br />
探 结 果 。 迄 今 为 止 , 测 试 工 作 表 明 矿 场 将 产<br />
出 高 品 位 的 混 合 精 矿 。<br />
富 绅 距 离 拟 议 的 斯 宾 塞 深 水 港 出 口 设 施 40<br />
公 里 , 该 设 施 目 前 正 由 Centrex 建 设 , 将 通<br />
过 一 个 低 冲 击 矿 浆 管 道 从 矿 区 运 输 产 品 至 港<br />
口 。 公 司 称 斯 宾 塞 港 的 一 个 海 水 淡 化 厂 将 通<br />
过 与 矿 场 相 接 的 回 水 管 为 富 绅 项 目 供 水 。<br />
Centrex 最 近 收 到 了 另 一 个 合 资 伙 伴 - 包 头<br />
钢 铁 集 团 公 司 ( 包 钢 ) 支 付 的 800 万 澳 元 ,<br />
将 用 于 班 格 鲁 磁 铁 矿 合 资 项 目 的 3A 阶 段 的 启<br />
动 。 这 是 宝 钢 第 三 次 支 付 款 项 , 迄 今 已 经 对<br />
该 合 资 项 目 投 资 了 2400 万 澳 元 。<br />
此 次 支 付 将 使 这 个 同 样 位 于 艾 尔 半 岛 的 项<br />
目 能 够 稳 步 推 进 , 而 非 在 2012 年 第 二 阶 段 完<br />
成 后 才 得 以 进 行 。 一 些 对 发 展 起 着 至 关 重 要<br />
的 主 要 任 务 已 经 启 动 , 包 括 进 一 步 的 资 源<br />
界 定 钻 探 作 业 、 冶 金 测 试 工 作 和 环 境 基 线 研<br />
究 , 旨 在 对 矿 产 租 约 提 案 与 预 可 行 性 研 究 提<br />
供 支 持 。<br />
宝 钢 在 此 次 支 付 后 进 一 步 获 得 了 该 铁 矿 项<br />
目 10% 的 股 权 , 使 其 在 这 些 矿 权 和 合 资 中 的<br />
权 益 达 到 了 30%。<br />
60 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Education Training<br />
Money Mining Intelligence By Lanita Idrus, publisher, <strong>The</strong> <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong><br />
DESPITE the impending rubber-stamping of the<br />
mining tax by the Senate after approval by the<br />
Lower House, the mining industry in Australia is<br />
truly alive and well if not thriving. It will also continue<br />
to survive and traverse the mining tax and<br />
carbon tax issues for some time to come.<br />
Australia, and the world’s mining industry,<br />
can thank Australian individuals, organizations<br />
and institutions for the innovative investments<br />
they have made to the industry.<br />
Australian’s innate inclination for ‘global roaming’<br />
has facilitated this transfer of knowledge<br />
worldwide and is feeding improvements in<br />
the education of the workforce for the mining<br />
industry globally.<br />
Such innovative investments and innovations<br />
generally arise out of experiences and experiences<br />
that shape the way we think. What we<br />
think enables us to design the future we want.<br />
Underpinning all this is our education – how we<br />
learn, whom or what we learn from and how<br />
we understand our experiences.<br />
It is through education that we shape our<br />
future leaders and it is no different in our mining<br />
industry. Leaders in this industry must<br />
continue to forge the path ahead in order to<br />
resolve the skills shortage issue.<br />
Education in mining has been under-estimated,<br />
under-valued and under-funded but<br />
not until it is more widely realized and understood<br />
that we are fast becoming ‘resourceless’<br />
in providing manpower to the industry<br />
will it become a hot topic again.<br />
<strong>The</strong> three prime reasons for people to look at<br />
education as a solution source are (i) improving<br />
ROIs, (ii) the need for manpower; and (iii) specific<br />
technical challenges within the industry.<br />
For whatever reason that applies to you or<br />
your company - it is never too late to invest in<br />
education for the overall good of oneself but<br />
more importantly for the mining industry.<br />
Take Money Mining for example. Now a<br />
course run by Whittle Consulting, it is the epitome<br />
of more than 25 years of research and<br />
dedication to the mining industry resulting in a<br />
rigorous plan of action to revise and revitalize<br />
the way we think about what we do, how we<br />
do it and how wisely we dissipate our company’s<br />
funds. Though having a fundamental<br />
basis in mathematical algorithms, you need not<br />
be a mathematical genius to do the course. All<br />
you need is an open mind and your experiences.<br />
Whittle Consulting director Gerald Whittle,<br />
who is also mentor/leader of this course,<br />
will do the rest with you. How can one course<br />
improve the ROI of a company by more than<br />
5%, and the Net Present Value by 5%-35% or<br />
more Well Money Mining can… case studies<br />
upon case studies have proven this to be true.<br />
Working hand-in-hand with Money Mining is<br />
Gemcom whose partnership helps Whittle deliver<br />
an outstanding software program so companies<br />
can review, monitor, evaluate and<br />
improve their performance. Gemcom is who<br />
mining companies turn to if they want to increase<br />
mine productivity. To ensure that their<br />
software yields the results that companies<br />
want, Gemcom offers ongoing training. As recent<br />
as October 2011, Gemcom announced its<br />
support of other education innovations such as<br />
the MEA (Mining Education Australia) Engineering<br />
Program. MEA is a national education joint<br />
venture between four mining education<br />
providers in Australia – Curtin University, University<br />
of Adelaide, <strong>The</strong> University of New South<br />
Wales and <strong>The</strong> University of Queensland.<br />
Among the most talked about innovative investments<br />
the mining industry has made in recent<br />
years are the development of research<br />
centres, such as IMER (Institute for <strong>Miner</strong>al<br />
and Energy Resources), MCRF (the <strong>Miner</strong>al<br />
Characterization Research Facility), CRC Mining<br />
and the newly mooted International Mining<br />
for Development Centre. This centre, hailed by<br />
Prime Minister Gillard recently in Perth, can be<br />
best described as yet another opportunity for<br />
the transfer of knowledge from Australian expertise<br />
(from government, academia and industry)<br />
to the mining industry in more than 30<br />
developing countries in Africa, the Asia Pacific<br />
region and Latin America.<br />
During a visit to the University of Western<br />
Australia, where the centre will be based, the<br />
Prime Minister espoused: “We want to make<br />
sure resource-rich developing countries use<br />
opportunities generated by mining to create<br />
much needed education and job opportunities<br />
for some of the world’s most vulnerable people.”<br />
This new Centre is a partnership between<br />
the University of Western Australia’s Energy<br />
and <strong>Miner</strong>al Institute and the University of<br />
Queensland’s Sustainable <strong>Miner</strong>als Institute.<br />
Some of the mining industry’s giants are<br />
also supporting education. Take Metso, for<br />
example, who has partnered with the University<br />
of Queensland to research the effectiveness<br />
of grinding solutions for the industry;<br />
and OK Tedi Mining Co in Papua New Guinea<br />
which is spending money on education to<br />
train 32 new apprentices. Barminco which is<br />
committed to industry education, received<br />
two awards recently for its commitment to<br />
training and education while Joy Global-P&H<br />
Minepro has started programs to train staff<br />
on the financial measures and operations that<br />
the company undertakes which ensures the<br />
sales force has a clear understanding of how<br />
and why business decisions are made. This<br />
translates to delineating customer needs and<br />
enhancing financial success.<br />
As for ensuring that the mining industry continues<br />
to have engaging and transformational<br />
leaders in the future, the Australian education<br />
system is not short of providing courses to<br />
groom them, including the Mt Eliza Business<br />
School, MGSM (Macquarie Graduate School<br />
of Management), and the AGSM (Australian<br />
Graduate School of Management in NSW. In<br />
fact, almost every state and territory of Australia<br />
has a Graduate School of Management<br />
where one can simply apply and attend with<br />
the aim of learning something that will transform<br />
them into a leader and provide their company<br />
(the employer) with a competitive<br />
advantage in the industry. For an overview of<br />
these institutions please review our Education<br />
Directory in this issue.<br />
If you are located in the Asia Pacific region<br />
education opportunities in management and<br />
leadership may be found through Australia’s<br />
Open University programs or through companies<br />
such as Caliden Global, which is<br />
based in Singapore and professes expertise<br />
from world renowned schools such as Wharton,<br />
Stanford and the like.<br />
Whatever your view on learning, training or<br />
the recruitment crises in mining, you will agree<br />
that action needs to be taken. It is heartening<br />
to see the rise in industry supporting education<br />
initiatives both within industry and with specialist<br />
institutions. It is also good to see government<br />
recognition and acknowledgement of the<br />
need to invest in education.<br />
If mining is to support nations then it is prudent<br />
to invest in education. After all, how can<br />
mines make money without money mining intelligently<br />
Special commentary by Lanita Idrus, who holds an<br />
M.Ed.St (Monash), B.App Sci (education) former senior academic<br />
at University of Melbourne and Australian Catholic<br />
University (Melbourne). Post graduate education specialist.<br />
Mentor for Masters and beginning PhD students.<br />
62 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Education Training<br />
Learning Calendar 2012<br />
<strong>The</strong> Challenge of leadership<br />
8 December, 2011-9 January, 2012<br />
http://executive.education.insead.edu/calendar.php<br />
MBA in Financial Modelling<br />
9-13 January—5 Day, www.terrapinn.com<br />
Accelerated Development for Emerging Managers<br />
13-17 February, www.mteliza.mbs.edu<br />
Managing Global Commodity Risks and Riding the Spikes<br />
20-21 February, www.claridenglobal.com<br />
Asian International Executive Programme<br />
20 Feb – March 2<br />
http://executive.education.insead.edu/calendar.php<br />
Global Business Leadership Institution<br />
Clariden Global is the pre-eminent and influential global business<br />
leadership institution in Asia. At Clariden, our core mission is to help<br />
global organizations in Asia build sustainable competitive advantages<br />
by empowering people with knowledge and insights that are impactful<br />
and highly relevant in today's competitive business environment.<br />
Through partnership with renowned thought leaders from<br />
around the world, Clariden provide strategic insights and impactful<br />
world-class global executive education, training and conferences to<br />
global organizations and FORTUNE 500 companies across Asia. We<br />
have partnered with renowned professors from prestigious universities<br />
such as Wharton, Stanford, Columbia, Michigan and other universities<br />
that have produced over 150 Nobel Laureates and thought<br />
leaders from around the world.<br />
AIMS: Advanced Industrial Marketing Strategy<br />
12 – 16 March<br />
http://executive.education.insead.edu/calendar.php<br />
Maximising your Leadership Potential<br />
14–15 March, www.mteliza.mbs.edu<br />
3 International Business Park<br />
#04-31 • Nordic European Centre<br />
Singapore 609927<br />
Tel: +65 6899 5030 • Website: www.claridenglobal.com<br />
Money Mining – Value extraction on a vast scale<br />
A unique approach to Enterprise Optimisation helps mining companies<br />
make a step change in their economic performance, by developing<br />
long term plans with significantly better cash flow profiles, increasing<br />
their Net Present Value by 5% to 35%, or considerably more.<br />
Quotes from previous attendees:<br />
"I have been putting what I learnt .. into practice and .. have added a significant<br />
amount to the NPV in our recent business plan."<br />
"<strong>The</strong>re were lots of new insights and ideas presented which can change the way<br />
we have done our planning in the past."<br />
"Every serious mining professional should attend ….. In 2 days he changed 25<br />
years of traditional mining thinking and principles. Beware, this dynamic and inventive<br />
thinking will change everything ever believed to be the norm in optimization<br />
and mine planning. No feasibility study should be done without these<br />
principles."<br />
"Earth Shattering"<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 63
Supplier News<br />
New Caterpillar plant for Indonesia<br />
CATERPILLAR will build a mining truck facility<br />
on the Indonesian island of Batam to improve<br />
its support of mining customers in the Asia Pacific.<br />
A range of mining truck chassis and bodies<br />
will be produced at the facility and shipped<br />
to mining customers throughout the region.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company plans to invest US$150 million<br />
in the facility, which is expected to be operational<br />
in 2012 for truck bodies, with first<br />
trucks produced in the third quarter of 2013.<br />
It will be Cat’s second manufacturing operation<br />
in Indonesia. <strong>The</strong> existing facility, in Cileungsi,<br />
West Java, opened in 1982 and is<br />
focused on producing excavators and skidders.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company has approved plans to<br />
triple excavator production at Cileungsi.<br />
Since the beginning of 2010, Caterpillar has<br />
announced a series of investments and capacity<br />
expansion plans for operations across<br />
Asia, including a quadrupling of excavator<br />
production in Xuzhou, China, and a total of<br />
nine new facilities, which are under construction<br />
in China. <strong>The</strong> company has 16 facilities in<br />
China, along with four research and development<br />
centres and three logistics and parts<br />
centres. It has previously announced the construction<br />
of two new manufacturing operations<br />
in Thailand.<br />
Its Indian operations have started producing<br />
40 ton and 50 ton class off-highway<br />
trucks (770G and 772G) and the 998 H<br />
loader for construction, quarry and mining<br />
applications. Manufacturing facilities are at<br />
Hosur, Thiruvallur and Pondicherry in southern<br />
India. <strong>The</strong> facilities produce engines and<br />
power generation equipment, quarry and<br />
construction trucks, mining trucks, backhoe<br />
loaders, wheel loaders and a wide variety of<br />
New features for the Cat D9T include enhanced operator safety, comfort and convenience, refined performance and<br />
increased productivity.<br />
related components.<br />
Meanwhile, Caterpillar has announced a<br />
number of new features for the Cat D9T aimed<br />
at easing the operator’s job and boosting production.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are adjustable arm rests, new<br />
automatic climate control and the standard Cat<br />
Comfort Series Seat is now available with optional<br />
heat and ventilation. <strong>The</strong> new Dynamic<br />
Inclination Monitor provides readouts of the<br />
tractor’s pitch angle and side-to-side slope<br />
while a new operator-presence system locks<br />
out the power train and hydraulic system to<br />
avoid unintentional machine movement when<br />
the operator is entering or leaving the cab.<br />
An available visibility package includes mirrors<br />
on the lift cylinders and a ROPSmounted<br />
camera system with an 18cm<br />
colour monitor near the rear view mirror. Incab<br />
sound levels are decreased from 79 to<br />
77 dB(A), and a new dash display, high-current<br />
12-volt connector, IPOD/MP3 wiring and<br />
optional window shades add convenience.<br />
New for the D9T is the Enhanced Auto Shift<br />
(EAS) system, which provides operator-selectable<br />
forward and reverse speeds. <strong>The</strong><br />
system can provide increased production,<br />
fuel efficiency and ease of operation. Cooling<br />
system refinements include a new radiator<br />
featuring an aluminium bar-plate design that<br />
is extremely durable and corrosion-resistant.<br />
A new air-to-oil hydraulic cooler results in<br />
lower hydraulic-oil temperatures for extended<br />
component life, and the hydraulically driven,<br />
variable-speed demand fan provides optimal<br />
cooling while using less power, reducing fuel<br />
consumption and lowering sound levels.<br />
Shell Tellus delivers for Barrick Gold<br />
LEADING international gold producer Barrick<br />
Gold Corporation sought assistance from<br />
Shell Lubricants in a bid improve performance<br />
and reduce energy consumption at its Plutonic<br />
gold mine in Western Australia. Barrick<br />
operates 25 gold mines around the world, including<br />
seven in the Australia–Pacific region.<br />
Shell Lubricants worked with Barrick engineering<br />
staff to identify energy-efficiency<br />
opportunities and suggested that the company<br />
would benefit by changing its hydraulic<br />
motor lubricant from Shell Tellus S2<br />
M to Shell Tellus S4 ME.<br />
Barrick agreed to implement a six-month trial<br />
of the new lubricant in two Hägglunds MA 200<br />
hydraulic motors installed on conveyors at the<br />
mine. During the trial, Barrick measured several<br />
factors including load, temperature, filters,<br />
filter ratings, lubricant viscosity and viscosity<br />
index. <strong>The</strong> results were recorded by a highly<br />
accurate power monitor provided by Shell.<br />
<strong>The</strong> results of the trial showed that using<br />
Shell Tellus S4 ME in the two hydraulic motors<br />
reduced annual energy consumption by<br />
the equivalent of 5.27%, which equates to<br />
US$10,520 a year. Barrick also benefited<br />
from extended oil-drain intervals and reduced<br />
labour costs and downtime, and expects<br />
to extend equipment life. <strong>The</strong><br />
company is planning to use Shell Tellus S4<br />
ME across its operations. Shell Tellus S4 ME<br />
hydraulic fluids are designed to help users<br />
to improve the energy efficiency of their hydraulic<br />
systems without compromising the<br />
system protection or maintenance procedures<br />
of their equipment and operations.<br />
Shell Tellus S4 ME has been demonstrated<br />
statistically to produce energy savings<br />
in applications such as plastic injection<br />
moulding and metal pressing, with typical results<br />
in the range of 1–4%. In addition, Shell<br />
Tellus S4 ME is also designed to help prolong<br />
equipment service life and lower maintenance<br />
costs by providing outstanding<br />
wear protection and long oil-life capability.<br />
64 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Supplier News<br />
ALS and Stewart Group expand in Asia<br />
ALS Group’s acquisition of Stewart Group<br />
adds a range of inspection and analysis expertise<br />
to existing services in the Asia Pacific<br />
region. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Miner</strong>als Division of ALS has a<br />
strong presence in the area with geochemistry,<br />
metallurgy, coal, environmental, tribology,<br />
food, pharmaceutical and industrial<br />
services offered through dedicated labs in<br />
China, Mongolia, Laos, Cambodia and Australia.<br />
<strong>The</strong> acquisition now means customers<br />
can also benefit from Stewart Group’s expertise<br />
in inspection and analysis services.<br />
Stewart Group Inspection and Analysis inspects,<br />
weighs, samples, analyses and reports<br />
on the quantity and quality of commodities to<br />
produce findings that can be used for final<br />
commercial settlement purposes. It also provides<br />
accurate global services for metals, including<br />
copper, as well as minerals, ores,<br />
precious metals, ferro alloys and solid fuels.<br />
Teams of surveyors are strategically located<br />
in major ports, smelters, refineries and steelworks<br />
around the world to undertake precise<br />
inspection and sampling of commodities.<br />
Major Asian markets covered by Stewart<br />
Group Inspection and Analysis include China,<br />
Mongolia, Kyrgyz Republic, Singapore,<br />
Malaysia, Thailand and India. Many of these<br />
are key areas for copper testing.<br />
ALS and Stewart Group’s Singapore facility<br />
<strong>The</strong> acquisition of Stewart Group adds inspection and analysis expertise to the services provided ALS Group in the Asia Pacific.<br />
is strategically positioned to offer minimized<br />
freight and travel times. It offers a comprehensive<br />
selection of independent inspection<br />
and analysis services to the metals and minerals<br />
industry, with an emphasis on quality,<br />
service, rapid turnaround times and providing<br />
accurate, consistent results. <strong>The</strong> Singapore<br />
lab is an LME-approved sampler and<br />
assayer, offering pre-shipment inspection, supervision<br />
of loading and discharge, sampling<br />
and sample preparation, moisture determination<br />
and analytical services for alloys, base<br />
metals, precious metals, ferrous and non-ferrous<br />
metals and LME-listed materials.<br />
Stewart Group Inspection and Analysis provides<br />
Asia with globally-recognized testing,<br />
inspection and certification services to ensure<br />
customers have access to industry-leading<br />
technology, quality results and staff with indepth<br />
industry knowledge and experience.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Singapore lab includes industry-leading<br />
laboratory plant and equipment. <strong>The</strong> business<br />
is ISO 9001-compliant and the laboratory<br />
is accredited by SAC-SINGLAS to ISO<br />
17025. <strong>The</strong> laboratory will continue to develop<br />
and expand service provisions for precious<br />
metal testing in Asia.<br />
Stewart Group Inspection and Analysis group<br />
general manager Chris Walker says, “<strong>The</strong> Asia<br />
Pacific region is clearly a key growth area and a<br />
vital part of our future success. Our advantage<br />
is that, with Stewart Group combining with ALS<br />
Group, we have a good spread of locations in<br />
the area from which to offer our services, keeping<br />
us ahead of the game.”<br />
Third Hitachi equipment plant for Japan<br />
HITACHI Construction Machinery plans to build<br />
its third mining equipment factory in Japan as<br />
demand for thermal coal rises in Asia. <strong>The</strong> plant,<br />
near a port in Ibaraki prefecture, is expected to<br />
start production in 2013 and is part of Hitachi’s<br />
three-year, $2.4 billion expansion plan.<br />
Hitachi aims to increase mining revenue as<br />
competition in its main construction-equipment<br />
business intensifies from China. <strong>The</strong> new assembly<br />
plant is expected to increase Hitachi’s<br />
sales from mining equipment to 220 billion yen<br />
(US$2.8 billion) by March 2014, or 20% of revenue.<br />
Demand for coal is rising in nations such<br />
as China and India, where demand exceeds<br />
supply by as much as 14% during peak hours.<br />
This demand is expected to lead to further investments<br />
in mines in nations including Australia,<br />
Indonesia, Africa, Russia and China.<br />
Hitachi, Japan’s second-largest maker of<br />
construction equipment, holds 40% of the<br />
global share for mining excavators weighing<br />
between 120 tonnes and 800 tonnes. A 550-<br />
tonne excavator, which is twice as heavy as<br />
an Airbus SAS A380 superjumbo and as high<br />
as a three-storey building, is used to scoop<br />
ore and load to dump trucks.<br />
So strong is the demand for its equipment<br />
that at present Hitachi’s waiting list for supply<br />
of equipment is at least 12 months and the<br />
company is in discussions with customers<br />
about new orders to be delivered in 2013.<br />
Hitachi plans to expand supply of excavators<br />
weighing at least 120 tonnes by 60% to<br />
360 units by March 2014 and more than double<br />
output to 510 units in the following five<br />
years. A company spokesman also says<br />
sales of dump trucks weighing at least 140<br />
tonnes will probably triple in three years.<br />
Hitachi’s larger Japanese rival Komatsu in<br />
November 2011 agreed with Rio Tinto Group<br />
to supply at least 150 driverless trucks to Australia’s<br />
Pilbara iron ore mines by 2015 while<br />
Caterpillar, the world’s largest construction and<br />
mining equipment maker, forecast revenue in<br />
2012 will rise as much as 20%.<br />
66 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Supplier News<br />
Boart Longyear expands Mine Water Services<br />
INTEGRATED drilling products and services<br />
provider Boart Longyear plans to expand<br />
Mine Water Services to the Asia Pacific region<br />
as well as Latin America, Europe and<br />
the Middle East.<br />
During the last 25 years, Boart Longyear<br />
Drilling Services has developed and honed<br />
an effective reverse circulation method in<br />
North America, and has established what it<br />
says is the leading process within the industry<br />
while creating the most highly specialized<br />
crews in the world.<br />
Boart Longyear’s global director of drilling<br />
services operations Dale Johnson says, “Boart<br />
Longyear utilizes a unique process capable of<br />
drilling large diameter holes in the most difficult<br />
ground conditions in a single-pass.<br />
“Drilling a large diameter borehole in a single-pass<br />
as opposed to multiple passes<br />
which can degrade the bore-hole improves<br />
the likelihood of drilling a straight borehole to<br />
target depth successfully. Our unique method<br />
of drilling and completing wells provides better<br />
overall well efficiency and production - ultimately<br />
saving our client’s downtime and<br />
money over the life of a well.”<br />
Boart Longyear offers a complete range of<br />
mine and other water services drilling, including<br />
production, de-watering, re-injection,<br />
monitoring, geothermal and municipal wells.<br />
In North America, the company also provides<br />
pump installation and servicing.<br />
Dale Johnson says, “Our documented procedures<br />
create reliable and effective large diameter<br />
and deep hole drilling systems.<br />
“Our water well services in the mining industry<br />
are primarily utilized for monitoring water tables<br />
in and around the mine, water supply<br />
needed in the mining process and/or lowering<br />
water tables to allow safe and efficient mining.<br />
We also install piezometers and other instrumentation<br />
holes for ground monitoring, and<br />
horizontal drains to eliminate perched water<br />
causing pressure on mine pit walls.”<br />
Boart Longyear has assembled an international<br />
strategic operations team that is currently<br />
training drill crews from the resource-rich nations<br />
of Russia, Kazakhstan and Peru.<br />
Boart Longyear is a 120-year-old global mineral<br />
exploration company providing mineral exploration<br />
services and drilling products for the<br />
global mining industry and also has a substantial<br />
drilling presence for water exploration, environmental<br />
sampling, energy, and oil sands<br />
exploration. Headquartered in Salt Lake City,<br />
Utah, with 2010 sales of US$1.476 billion and<br />
more than 10,000 employees worldwide, the<br />
company conducts contract drilling services in<br />
more than 40 countries, and provides mining<br />
products to customers in more than 100 countries.<br />
Regional offices and operations are located<br />
in Adelaide, Australia; Geneva, Switzerland;<br />
Santiago, Chile; and Mississauga, Canada.<br />
For more information on Boart Longyear<br />
Drilling Services, please visit www.boartlongyear.com<br />
Fortescue buys 14 Vermeer Terrain Levelers<br />
VERMEER Corporation and its authorized regional<br />
dealer Vermeer Western Australia and<br />
Northern Territory have announced that<br />
Fortescue Metals Group of East Perth, Western<br />
Australia, has agreed to purchase 14 Vermeer<br />
Terrain Leveler surface excavation<br />
machines (SEMs) to be used in its vast mining<br />
operations in the state’s Pilbara region.<br />
Vermeer’s senior director for specialty excavation<br />
Mark Cooper says, “This order<br />
comes after significant investment in product<br />
development by Vermeer, as well as commitment<br />
by the local dealer to support the operations.<br />
Having a respected industry leader<br />
like Fortescue embrace the technology further<br />
validates its place in the market.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> Vermeer surface excavation machines<br />
allow mines to utilize precision surface mining<br />
meaning mine operators can selectively extract<br />
mineral seams in surface mining applications.<br />
Operators can also control material sizing<br />
thus producing small-sized material in a uniform<br />
configuration so minerals can be handled<br />
more efficiently than product produced by<br />
drilling and blasting. <strong>The</strong> uniform product size<br />
allows more efficient settings on secondary<br />
and tertiary crushing systems, savings that can<br />
continue well past the primary crushing stage.<br />
<strong>The</strong> delivery of machines was scheduled to<br />
begin in December 2011 and additional machines<br />
will ship through September of 2012.<br />
Vermeer Corporation of Pella, Iowa, USA,<br />
manufactures a full line of tub and horizontal<br />
grinders, brush chippers, stump cutters and<br />
tree spades, as well as horizontal directional<br />
drilling systems, mini skid steers, utility and<br />
track trenchers and agricultural products.<br />
Vermeer offers worldwide sales, support,<br />
service and parts through an independent,<br />
authorized dealer network.<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 67
Product News<br />
Steinert Boomerangs return export efficiency<br />
THE removal of tramp iron and metal from bulk materials at ship loading<br />
facilities is important to maintain efficient exports from Australian<br />
ports. This is particularly the case for the coal industry where the volume<br />
of coal exported is only limited by the ability to load the bulk carriers.<br />
Steinert ‘Boomerang’ magnets are playing a vital role in this<br />
process at key export terminals on Australia’s eastern seaboard.<br />
<strong>The</strong> coal from the surrounding mine sites is delivered by train to<br />
these sites where the requirement for high powered, deep and wide<br />
field magnets is paramount for efficient and effective tramp iron removal.<br />
As port and ship loading facilities are developed to cope with<br />
future export needs, so too is Steinert well positioned to service the<br />
industry’s needs.<br />
<strong>The</strong> latest Steinert Boomerang left the Melbourne factory in September<br />
2011 and six of these super-sized and powerful magnets exist in<br />
Australia today. <strong>The</strong> first three were installed in the mid-to-late 1990s at<br />
Port Waratah Coal Service site on Kooragang Island. Two more were<br />
installed in 2009 for Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG) and<br />
the latest 43 tonne addition joined them a few weeks ago. <strong>The</strong>se magnets<br />
are the largest of their kind in Australia and all are installed within<br />
a radius of 1km of each other in Newcastle, New South Wales.<br />
Steinert Australia is a specialist in delivering separation technologies<br />
not only for upgrading coal, but also minerals and iron ore, and<br />
for the removal of damaging contaminants. Steinert offers an unrivalled<br />
and extensive product range to enhance the operations of Australia’s<br />
leading local and international mining projects. <strong>The</strong> company<br />
provides comprehensive services in customized design, application<br />
and commissioning of ore sorting, beneficiation and tramp removal<br />
systems to increase product yield, improve concentrate quality, reduce<br />
operating costs and boost process efficiencies.<br />
Steinert Australia also invests heavily in product development and<br />
testing both locally and in Germany, where it enjoys the confidence of<br />
having a fully appointed test facility for equipment performance analysis<br />
at the corporate head office. Steinert Australia has the benefits of<br />
more than 120 years of experience and offers both traditional and innovative<br />
leading edge solutions, as well as guaranteeing fast service<br />
and ensuring efficient, effective and reliable performance.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Steinert range includes:<br />
• Tramp material detection & removal systems to protect conveyors,<br />
crushers & HPGRs<br />
• Heavy media recovery & iron ore beneficiation<br />
• <strong>Miner</strong>al processing, upgrading upstream concentrator feed stock<br />
• Wet & dry low, medium & high intensity magnetic separators<br />
• Induction, X-Ray, XRF, 3D/laser, colour & near infra-red ore sorting<br />
systems<br />
• Electro and permanent suspension magnets<br />
• Metal detection systems<br />
• Magnetic drums/pulleys<br />
Steinert Boomerang magnets remove tramp metal from coal at ship loading facilities.<br />
Steinert says its knowledge of applications and the ability to meet<br />
almost any customer’s requirements is its strength. From a small<br />
magnet recovering steel in a recycling facility to a 43 tonne electromagnet<br />
used in Australia’s major port loading facilities, Steinert is able<br />
to meet the most stringent of mining applications.<br />
www.steinert.com.au<br />
68 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
Product News<br />
New T-thread system ‘toughest on market’<br />
ATLAS Copco has introduced a patented T-thread drilling system<br />
called T-WiZ, which has been designed to be the toughest (trapezoidal)<br />
T-thread system on the market. It features a stronger thread<br />
surface and other proprietary improvements to provide less wear on<br />
the threads and faster rod changes, with results indicating up to a<br />
30% longer service life.<br />
<strong>The</strong> T-WiZ was designed to work in the toughest rock formations,<br />
including fractured rock that could result in off-line drilling or overstressed<br />
threads. <strong>The</strong> T-WiZ drilling system provides better thread efficiency<br />
and greater thread stability for quicker rod changes. <strong>The</strong><br />
company says all drilling applications, including underground, construction<br />
and surface mining will benefit from this new design.<br />
Keeping the standard T-threaded profiles allows T-WiZ components<br />
to be operated with standard T-threaded components, however, the<br />
longer service life can only be achieved when the complete drill string<br />
is made up of Atlas Copco T-WiZ products. <strong>The</strong> company says the<br />
‘secret’ is hidden in a stronger thread surface and other proprietary<br />
improvements to the T-WiZ drill rods and striking bars.<br />
Atlas Copco T-WiZ components are provided in three dimensions:<br />
T-38, T-45, and T-51 threaded (M/F) Speedrods and shank adapters.<br />
Meanwhile, Atlas Copco Fluidcon has opened a new, 6300 square<br />
metre building in Balikpapan, Indonesia, including one of the largest<br />
Atlas Copco Mining and Rock Excavation workshops in Asia. Atlas<br />
Copco Fluidcon director Robin Stephens says, “This new parts and<br />
service distribution centre should make it possible for us to exceed<br />
our customers’ expectations. We believe this new building will contribute<br />
to sustainable productivity for our customers.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> new facility, known officially as the Atlas Copco Mining and Rock<br />
Excavation Kalimantan Parts Distribution, Remanufacturing & Training<br />
Centre, is also a sign of the progress achieved after the integration of<br />
Atlas Copco with Fluidcon in early 2011.<br />
<strong>The</strong> new T-WiZ drilling system from Atlas Copco is designed to be the ‘toughest on<br />
the market’.<br />
Company Profile<br />
CREATING PRODUCTIVE HUMAN ENVIRONMENTS<br />
Consulting • Design • Training<br />
• Australian based consultancy firm<br />
• Deliver specialized environmental community<br />
engagement solutions in the resources sector<br />
• Enabling stakeholders to transition from dependency to self<br />
reliance creating productive sustainable human environments<br />
• Our clients are leading mining companies and government<br />
entities in Australia and internationally<br />
Edge5 uses its specialized knowledge of earth envir onments,<br />
agriculture science and social education to restore human environments<br />
with sustainable & productive communities that thrive<br />
on secure food supply lines with healthy soils and clean water<br />
systems.<br />
Clients whom we have served include BHP Billiton, Azumah,<br />
Indophil,TiWest, Keegan, Telstra, FESA, Landgate and others.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se companies see the value and specialist skill of Edge5.<br />
January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 69
Product News<br />
DRX Impact Beds offer maximum belt protection<br />
FLEXCO exhibited the newly-upgraded DRX (Dual Relief Xtra) Impact<br />
Beds at Mining Indonesia 2011. Designed to deliver maximum protection<br />
to conveyor belts in the load zone, DRX impact beds are carefully<br />
engineered to maximize belt protection, offering unprecedented<br />
ease of installation and maintenance.<br />
Recent upgrades to the DRX200, DRX750, and DRX1500 impact<br />
beds have further improved installation and serviceability. <strong>The</strong> Slide-<br />
Out Service feature on the DRX allows direct access to the bars and<br />
bolts for easy inspection and quick, safe maintenance when required.<br />
Flexco’s BCP product manager Ryan Grevenstuk says, “Reducing<br />
the number of bolts and improving their accessibility enhanced an already<br />
highly serviceable product.”<br />
While other beds rely solely on the support bars to reduce impact,<br />
DRX impact beds incorporate Velocity Reduction Technology in the<br />
Upgrades to Flexco’s DRX Impact Beds have improved installation and serviceability.<br />
structure design. This multi-level support effectively deadens impact<br />
energy and reduces reaction forces for less rebound and material digestion.<br />
<strong>The</strong> impact bar supports have a unique inverted design that<br />
acts as a first level of impact defence, while channel crossbeams<br />
transfer impact energy to the isolation mounts. <strong>The</strong>se isolation mounts<br />
provide additional force reduction, absorbing energy and minimizing<br />
transmission back to the belt. Angled impact bars help centre material<br />
on the belt and anti-migration tabs prevent them from moving with<br />
the belt if bolts loosen.<br />
Also among the Flexco innovations at Mining Indonesia was the new<br />
PT Smart Belt Trainer. This was developed to further enhance the<br />
Flexco line of belt tracking products, joining the Belt Positioner and the<br />
heavy-duty PT Max Belt Trainer as an option for ‘medium-duty’ tensioned<br />
belts. Flexco says the economical and versatile PT Smart<br />
works with both mechanical and vulcanized belts, is made of durable<br />
materials and is easy-to-install.<br />
<strong>The</strong> PT Smart Belt Trainer adopts the same characteristics of the PT<br />
Max, including the patented Flexco ‘pivot and tilt’ design. With this<br />
technology, Flexco says the PT Smart applies greater belt tracking<br />
discipline than conventional pivot-only belt-steering devices, correcting<br />
even the most stubborn tracking problems on medium-tension<br />
belts. A fully-enclosed, stainless steel pivot bearing is found downstream<br />
from the roller, creating an almost immediate tracking result.<br />
<strong>The</strong> bearing requires no lubrication and is guaranteed not to seize.<br />
Cummins QSK95 extends mining power capability<br />
CUMMINS has extended its mining power capability with the new QSK95<br />
engine which will provide a 4000hp (2983kW) capability for ultra-class mine<br />
haul trucks. Cummins says this represents the highest ever power output<br />
introduced by the company for severe duty-cycle operation. <strong>The</strong> 95 litre<br />
displacement QSK95 is purpose-designed to provide enhanced strength<br />
for 360 ton and 400 ton (327 and 363 tonne) payload class trucks, with the<br />
capability to increase truck speeds for climbing steep gradient haul roads<br />
and boost hauling productivity with reduced operating cycle times.<br />
<strong>The</strong> QSK95 will be available as a global mining engine platform capable<br />
of operating at mine sites anywhere in the world and meeting<br />
all emissions standards, including Tier 4 Final in North America by<br />
using Cummins Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) after-treatment.<br />
Cummins says the 16 cylinder QSK95 reaches the mining power<br />
output previously available only from 20 cylinder engines. High power<br />
density is achieved with a hardened power cylinder featuring the<br />
strongest single piece forged steel piston available in the industry.<br />
Deep structural strength is provided by an all new ductile iron skirted<br />
block. This increased strength contributes to higher engine uptime<br />
availability, extended life-to-overhaul and more cost effective rebuilds.<br />
Cummins Mining Business executive director Jason Rawlings says,<br />
“<strong>The</strong> QSK95 is designed to meet the highest expectations in the mining<br />
industry for uptime availability, reliability and durability that will exceed<br />
all other previous engines intended for ultra-class haul trucks.<br />
“This combination of deep inherent strength and proven systems<br />
means that the QSK95 will be ready to provide outstanding performance<br />
on the mine site from Day One. <strong>The</strong> QSK95 will fully complement<br />
the success of the QSK60 and QSK78 engines in ultra-class<br />
haul truck applications. <strong>The</strong>se engines offer the widest and most flexible<br />
power choice in the industry.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> 4000hp (2983kW) output of the QSK95 engine is well within its design<br />
capabilities, with potential power increases available in the future to<br />
provide the possibility for the next generation of ultra-class haul trucks to<br />
move beyond 400 ton (363 tonne) payload capacity.<br />
Cummins says the stronger engine design of the QSK95 means<br />
more reliability in-service and less to rebuild at engine overhaul, considerably<br />
reducing total life cycle costs.<br />
70 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012
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January/February 2012 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | 71
Exploration<br />
Drilling confirms Copper Bore extension<br />
<strong>The</strong> Copper Bore Project of Southern Cross Goldfields is in Western Australia’s Mid West region.<br />
ASSAY results from recent step-out drilling have confirmed a significant<br />
down-plunge extension of the recently discovered Southern<br />
Gossan prospect, which is part of Southern Cross Goldfields’ Copper<br />
Bore Project in Western Australia. Additional step-out drilling and<br />
geophysics are now being carried out to test for further extensions to<br />
the mineralized horizon.<br />
One step-out diamond drill hole returned an intersection of 2.6 metres<br />
from 265.4 metres down-hole @ 3.0% copper, 0.9 grams/tonne gold,<br />
4.2% zinc, 19.2 grams/tonne silver and 0.2% lead within a broader intersection<br />
of 4.0 metres from 265 metres @ 2.2% copper, 0.7<br />
grams/tonne gold, 3.1% zinc, 14.3 grams/tonne silver and 0.2% lead.<br />
It was the second step-out hole to be drilled at Southern Gossan<br />
and tested the mineralized horizon 60 metres to the south and 80<br />
metres down-dip of an earlier hole which intersected 5 metres @<br />
2.0% copper, 1.9 grams/tonne gold, 7.1% zinc, 25.4 grams/tonne<br />
silver and 0.4% lead.<br />
VMS mineralization at Southern Gossan has now been defined over<br />
a strike length of about 150 metres and to a vertical depth of 230 metres<br />
and remains open down-plunge and along strike to the north and<br />
south. <strong>The</strong> latest intersection, including its higher copper grade than<br />
previous results, is viewed as highly encouraging by Southern Cross’<br />
geological team, providing further significant evidence for an emerging<br />
VMS discovery at Southern Gossan.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Copper Bore project area is 400km north-east of Perth with the<br />
Southern Gossan prospect at the southern end of a 10km-long<br />
prospective VMS horizon. Base metals mineralization has now been<br />
confirmed at multiple locations along this prospective horizon.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company is extremely encouraged by the results received to date<br />
from the Copper Bore Project and intends to progress exploration activities<br />
at this project as a priority in parallel with its ongoing gold exploration<br />
and development activities. <strong>The</strong> Copper Bore activities include<br />
further step-out drilling, down-hole electromagnetic surveying to identify<br />
off-hole conductors representing accumulations of massive sulphide<br />
mineralization, surface EM across the remaining 10km strike of the host<br />
horizon and particularly across two aeromagnetic bullseye anomalies,<br />
and new detailed aeromagnetic surveys.<br />
Bashkol reconnaissance exceeds expectations<br />
RESULTS of reconnaissance work by Kentor Gold over the Bashkol<br />
exploration licence area in the far east of the Kyrgyz Republic have exceeded<br />
the company’s expectations. Kentor can now confidently plan<br />
a geological and geophysical program that should lead to identification<br />
of drill targets.A program of geological traverses, chip sampling<br />
and one channel sample was completed to assess the overall potential<br />
of the area following encouraging results at Bekbulaktor<br />
prospect. <strong>The</strong> primary focus was a belt of mineralized granite stretching<br />
15km from Bekbulaktor to Sharkatma. Kentor geologists sampled<br />
the latter in 2008 and recorded gold assays of up to 12 grams/tonne<br />
from channel sampling.<br />
<strong>The</strong> most encouraging result from the 2011 reconnaissance program<br />
was a continuous channel sample of 14 metres @ 5.74 grams/tonne<br />
gold, 1.03% copper and 97 grams/tonne silver in the valley of the Molo<br />
Stream. <strong>The</strong>re was also widespread presence of gold and copper in mineralized<br />
granite in numerous locations over the 15km.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Molo and Sharkatma areas are at altitudes ranging from 3000<br />
to 4000 metres on the north side of Kuyliu Stream in the Teskey Ala-<br />
Too Range of the eastern Kyrgyz Tien Shan Mountains. <strong>The</strong> Bashkol<br />
area is accessible from a major road used for access to the Saryjaz<br />
Valley and the Inylchek tin deposits. A minor road runs along Kuyliu<br />
Valley and provides vehicle access to the Molo and Sharkatma areas.<br />
Kentor is also planning an exploration drilling program at Bekbulaktor<br />
prospect this year after channel sampling over a large area returned<br />
high-grade gold and copper results. A program of bedrock<br />
channel sampling, geophysics and soil sampling was undertaken to<br />
gain a deeper understanding of the potential of a large zone of mineralized<br />
granite studied in the 2009 and 2010 field seasons.<br />
<strong>The</strong> program established the presence of widespread gold and copper<br />
mineralization over an area 2km-long and 1km-wide. A best result<br />
of 12 metres @ 14.07 grams/tonne gold and 1.83% copper was returned.<br />
Other results included 13 metres @ 4.90 grams/tonne gold,<br />
8 metres @ 5.65 grams/tonne gold and 0.6% copper, 10 metres @<br />
2.53 grams/tonne gold, and 11.5 metres @ 2.83 grams/tonne gold.<br />
72 | <strong>ASIA</strong> <strong>Miner</strong> | January/February 2012