AROUND THE
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Trevali’s Caribou Mine Ships First Concentrates
Trevali Mining reported in mid-August that its Caribou underground zinc-lead-silver-copper mine and mill complex in northern New Brunswick, Canada, has achieved initial production of zinc and lead concentrates and shipped its first zinc concentrates. Trevali began commissioning the 3,000-metrictons- per-day (mt/d) Caribou mill in May and as of the end of July had produced 1,933 mt of zinc.... read
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Denison/Fission Merger to Focus on Athabasca Basin Prospects
Denison Mines and Fission Uranium have agreed to merge their companies, creating a company focused on uranium development in the Athabasca basin in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. The combined company will be named Denison Energy Corp. Its two key properties will be Fission’s 100% owned Patterson Lake South project and Denison’s 60% owned Wheeler River project. Denison’s exploration portfolio in the eastern Athabasca Basin region includes numerous other wholly owned and jointventure properties covering more than... read more
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EPA Spills Polluted Water From Inactive Colorado Mine
On August 5, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) crew and contracting company conducting an investigation of the inactive Gold King mine north of Silverton, Colorado, accidentally breached an earthen wall holding back built-up, polluted water in the mine, discharging an estimated 3 million gallons into Cement creek and downstream into the Animas river. The mine was last worked in 1923. Pollutants in the spill included arsenic, lead, copper, aluminum and cadmium. The discharge turned the color of Cement creek and the Animas river orange to mustard yellow as the pollution spread downstream.... read
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AROUND THE
WORLD - Latin America |
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$5B Vale Project Will Allow it to Process Lower-grade Iron Ore
With an announced investment of $5.5 billion, Vale has embarked on one of the largest revamp projects in the mining business: Itabirites. By constructing and adapting processing plants, Vale can reprocess low-grade iron ore that has been stockpiled over the last four decades. The Itabirites project will expand current production volumes and extend the lifespan of three mines: Vargem Grande near Belo Horzonte, and Conceição and Cauê…… read
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Lundin Stepping Up Candelaria Production
Lundin Mining has reported an updated mine plan and annual sustaining capital cost estimate for the Candelaria coppergold mine complex in Atacama province Chile. The complex’s annual production of copper in concentrates from 2016 through 2019 is now expected to average 154,000 mt/y, up from an average of 122,000 mt/y in the previous mine…. read more
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AROUND THE
WORLD - Australasia |
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MMG Gives Go-ahead for Dugald River Project
MMG Ltd. has approved an updated development plan for its underground Dugald River zinc project in the North West region of Queensland. The updated plan assumes a mine production rate of 1.5 million metric tons per year (mt/y), construction of a concentrator, and annual production of approximately 160,000 mt of zinc in concentrate, plus byproducts, over an estimated 28-year mine life…. read
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Exploration by Northern Star Extending the Lives of its Mines Northern Star Resources reported that its A$50 million exploration program during its financial year ending June 30 increased gold resources at its mines and exploration properties in Western Australia by 2.7 million oz to 8.9 million oz, a gain of 44%. The company’s reserves increased by 26% to 1.5 million oz over the same period. The mineral resource estimate is based on 75 million mt at a grade of 3.7 g/mt gold. The reserve estimate is based on 8.6 million mt at 5.4 g/mt gold …. read
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Lucara Recovers Exceptional Diamonds at Karowe
Lucara Diamond Corp.’s Karowe mine in Botswana is continuing to deliver exceptional diamonds, including four during the first half of August alone. Among the four was a Type IIa, 336-carat diamond, accompanied by a 184-carat stone, a 94-carat stone, and an 86-carat stone. A 12-carat pale pink diamond was also recovered. Since recovery of the first large diamond at Karowe in 2013, Lucara has recovered 216 diamonds that have sold for more than $250,000 each. Twelve of these sold for more than $5 million each.….
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Debottlenecking Will Expand Tiger’s Kipoi Copper Production
Tiger Resources has reported positive results from an engineering and costing study of a planned debottlenecking project at its Kipoi copper SX/EW plant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The project is expected to increase the plant’s production of copper cathodes from 25,000 mt/y to 32,500 mt/y and is backed by mine reserves to support the increased operating rate over a period of more than 16 years. Capital costs to develop the project are estimated at less than $25 million. Average life-of-mine operating costs at the…. read
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Centerra Targeting 895,000 oz of Gold Production From Öksüt
Centerra Gold has reported a positive feasibility study for its 100% owned Öksüt gold project in south-central Turkey that estimates total gold production of 895,000 oz over an eight-year mine life, including an average of 155,000 oz per year (oz/y) during the first four years. Pre-production expenditures and construction capital to develop the project are estimated at $221 million, including a $25 million contingency. All-in sustaining costs of production are estimated at $490/oz. First production is targeted for early in the second quarter of 2017…. read more
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Alrosa Mines Last Open-pit Ore at Udachny
Russian diamond miner Alrosa reported in late July that it has completed mining at its Udachny open-pit mine in Yakutia, east Russia. An underground mine was commissioned on the Udachnaya pipe in June 2014, so production from the pipe is ongoing. The Udachny open pit came into production in 1967 and grew to be Alrosa’s largest mine. About 350 million mt of ore containing rough diamonds worth around……
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EPA Launches Clean Power Plan
President Barack Obama and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy unveiled the final Clean Power Plan (CPP), which will require U.S. power plants to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 32% from 2005 levels by 2030. This plan is more stringent than the one EPA initially proposed in 2014. The reaction was quick and predictable. Murray Energy immediately filed a lawsuit against the administration and the EPA and said it would prevail. Peabody Energy urged…. read more
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Alpha Natural Resources Files for Chapter 11
During August, U.S. coal producer Alpha Natural Resources voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring. The petitions were filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond. The company said it hoped the reorganization will "enhance the company’s future as it weathers a historically challenged coal market," adding that the filing will help it to emerge as a "financially viable business that is better positioned to compete in dynamic energy markets." Alpha had secured, from Citigroup, an 18-month…. read more
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Abbott Plans to Revise Australian Environmental Policy
Responding to a question in the House of Representatives, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he would repeal a section of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, which gives environmental activists the ability to challenge approvals. Recently, environmental activists managed to stop Adani’s Carmichael coal project in central Queensland after it had received approval from the government to move forward…. read
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