#Official Mining Thread

[Ho Really]

It is unfortunate that the discovery of oil won't please some people...those that are green.

Cheers

[Bulldozer]

It is unfortunate that the discovery of oil won't please some people...those that are green.

...and own many things containing petrochemicals.

Sounds like this oil will be refined here in Brisbane as there's an oil pipeline from Moomba to here.

[UrbanSG]

Another potential big one near Olympic Dam. Article from The Australian:

Minors testing Olympic fringes
Kevin Andrusiak | October 04, 2007

OLYMPIC Dam in South Australia might soon become the biggest mine of its type in the world, but the hottest ticket at the moment is a claim to land within a short drive of the BHP Billiton behemoth.

Shares in Sydney-based junior Argonaut Resources have surged 60 per cent in the past week as the company prepares to drill its first holes at the Torrens Project after receiving initial environmental approval from South Australian authorities.

Torrens is a mere 75 kilometres southeast of Olympic Dam and Argonaut claims the tenement - which had previously been owned by BHP, Xstrata and WMC Resources - has a bigger target than that of Olympic Dam.

WMC is believed to have passed over the ground in favour of exploring Olympic Dam when access issues on the ground became too tricky.

Argonaut is the sole owner of the tenement while Perth-based Straits Resources has the option of earning a 70 per cent interest in the project after funding $7 million worth of exploration.

Drilling is expected to begin next month.

Both Straits and Argonaut still need to clear environmental hurdles before they can proceed to feasibility studies, as the tenement, which is bigger in size than Olympic Dam, straddles a national park.

"The project contains strong magnetic and gravity anomalies, with previous drilling by WMC intersecting intense magnetite and hematite alteration typical of the Olympic Dam and Carapateena ore bodies," Argonaut told the Australian Securities Exchange this week.

Copper results from exploratory drilling have returned grades averaging 1.3 per cent.

Shares in fellow junior explorer WCP Resources surged 4 per cent yesterday after it announced first drill results from the Lake Torrens project, in which it has an option to earn a 65 per cent interest.

The tenements, which border Olympic Dam to the north and west, also were previously targeted by WMC Resources.

[Cruise]

Torrens is a mere 75 kilometres southeast of Olympic Dam and Argonaut claims the tenement - which had previously been owned by BHP, Xstrata and WMC Resources - has a bigger target than that of Olympic Dam.

This is all getting too exciting

[Rob5089]

Just reading all these figures is making my eyes pop out.

only one word for this...

damn!

[rhino]

From today's Adelaide Now:

Iron the new gold

CAMERON ENGLAND
October 09, 2007 02:15am

COPPER, gold and uranium are stealing the limelight, but another metal is grabbing the attention of a growing number of South Australian mineral explorers.
Iron ore does not have the glamour of gold or the hype that surrounds uranium, but it could be the basis for as many as five new mines in SA over the next few years.
While not on the scale of producers in the Pilbara – Australia's iron ore powerhouse – SA's newcomers will potentially create hundreds of jobs at their mine sites, spend millions on infrastructure and services and are already attracting significant overseas investment to the state.
If all the projects are successful, at current production projections they would produce about 12 million tonnes of ore per year for export.

For decades, OneSteel's Whyalla operation was the only force in iron ore in SA.
Fortuitously for the industry, OneSteel has almost finished spending $385 million converting its operations from hematite to magnetite processing (two types of iron ore), and upgrading its port facilities to export hematite.
The new port, which uses barges to load 160,000-tonne, cape-size vessels 8km offshore, has extra capacity, which OneSteel and the Whyalla Economic Development Board are examining for use by other companies.
This could remove a key cost factor for some companies and turn borderline projects into viable ones.

Western Plains Resources is developing one of the most advanced projects.
It announced last month it planned to have a $110 million mine operating within a year, employing about 130 people for at least six years at its Peculiar Knob project.
The firm has completed a feasibility study on the proposed mine – which gave it the green light – and is expecting its mining lease to be granted in February of next year.
There is also the potential for a nearby deposit, Hawk's Nest, to be incorporated into the mining plan. Taylor Collison supports the story, rating Western Plains a "buy" with an initial target price of $1.86 a share "and upside potential of $2.49 a share with the Hawk's Nest magnetite project included".
Western Plains is one company, along with Goldstream Mining, which is hoping to export its product via OneSteel's Whyalla port, subject to agreements being reached.

Goldstream is also not far from Coober Pedy. It is targeting copper and gold as well as magnetite and expects to have its mining lease granted this quarter.
The company is well advanced with its feasibility study on the project and is negotiating with five groups for possible funding of the project, the company's recent quarterly report says.
Goldstream would create up to 100 jobs with the workforce based in Coober Pedy.

Centrex Metals currently has two projects on the Eyre Peninsula, with strong demand from its Chinese partners encouraging the fast-tracking of its second deposit. The company's initial project, the Wilgerup deposit, is about 30km southeast of Lock.
Centrex already has contracts in place with two Chinese companies for 10 million tonnes of ore supplied over five years from the start of mining.
Managing director Gerard Anderson has called the project "a very simple mining proposition" which would only cost about $19 million to set up.
The firm hopes to have the project on-line by the second half of next year, creating about 60 jobs.
Centrex also has a deal with one of its Chinese partners to develop its Bungalow magnetite deposit near Cowell.
Under the agreement, Baotou Iron and Steel will spend up to $40 million to progress the deposit to the bankable feasibility study stage.
In return for its investment, Baotou will earn half of Bungalow's expected total annual production of 3 million tonnes of magnetite concentrate.

Ironclad Mining is one of the newer entrants, recently spun out of Trafford Resources to develop the Wilcherry Hill magnetite project north of Kimba. Trafford was targeting gold, but found enough iron ore to justify creating a new company.

[jimmy_2486]

Woohoo thats awesome....soo much stuff here in soo many places....

Im gonna get a shovel and see whats in my backyard!! hehe

[Shuz]

Well, you'd find a lot of rock and dirt and, maybe a worm or two.

If in Elizabeth, you'd find a dead body.

[jimmy_2486]

If in Elizabeth, you'd find a dead body.

Sometimes u can find dead bodies.....mostly ud find syringes and VB cans.

[Cruise]

Well, you'd find a lot of rock and dirt and, maybe a worm or two.

If in Elizabeth, you'd find a dead body.

I post a thread about shootings in the city and everyone says ITS WORSE IN THE USA!!!, ITS NOT THAT BAD, ITS NOT THAT BAD!!!

but shit like this is supposed to be funny?

I must have lost my sense humour..........................

[rhino]

Fair call Cruise.

[Norman]

Trust me, Elizabeth and Salisbury are NOTHING compared to some suburbs in Melbourne and Sydney...

[Will409]

I was in Synday during January (riding a REAL rail system) and during that time, I passed through Redfern. I only passed through on an express service but that was enough to tell me "Elizabeth is actually better". It just looked down and out. Grafitti was everywhere and it just looked run down. I'm going to make a deliberate effort to go to Frankston when I am in Melbourne this December and see if it is any better (I have already had a couple of rail fans in Melbourne say that they would rather spend a night at Womma platform then go there!)

[Norman]

I'm in Sydney from tomorrow, so I'm gonna do some gunzelling on the trains and check it out for you lot.

[crawf]

Elizabeth isn't as bad as what people claim it to be, but it still has a shocking reputation in Adelaide. Though its improved quite a bit over the years and the retail choices up there is really good. However I couldn't live there.

Frankston has also improved a fair bit aswell, and it isn't as bad as what people claim it to be. But like Salisbury & Elizabeth it still has a shocking reputation.