#Official Mining Thread

[monotonehell]

and I only wrote this to get 100 posts!

Sorry!

I only wrote this to get 596. You silly ten fingered lifeform.

Surely they'd go to yellowcake stage here. Otherwise there's safety issues in transport?

[UrbanSG]

From the Australian today:

Rann vows Olympic Dam benefits
Jeremy Roberts | April 23, 2008

SOUTH Australian Premier Mike Rann has maintained his pledge to distribute the economic benefits of an expanded Olympic Dam mine across the community.

The pledge came as Mr Rann opened a BHP Billiton-run information day in Adelaide for 1500 potential suppliers to the proposed expansion, which is yet to receive state and federal government approval.

"The South Australian Government is committed to ensuring that the enormous benefits that will flow from the Olympic Dam expansion over the coming decades are shared across our community," Mr Rann told an audience of mining industry businesspeople.

"We want there to be an employment dividend; we want there to be a social dividend."

BHP Billiton is under pressure to maximise South Australian involvement in the project, which remains in a pre-feasibility phase.

Mr Rann last year reacted angrily when it emerged BHP was considering exporting uranium-infused copper to China, avoiding expensive downstream processing at the remote Olympic Dam site, 570km northwest of Adelaide.

Back then, Mr Rann said offshore processing was "not on" because he wanted more jobs to go to South Australians.

But the executive in charge of the project, Graeme Hunt, yesterday admitted it was still an option.

"There is the potential, somewhere down that value chain, for some of that product to be processed offshore, and that is still under study," Mr Hunt said.

BHP is also facing mounting questions about the final cost of the Olympic Dam expansion.

Takeover target Rio Tinto has sought to undermine the project by claiming BHP is being "secretive" on detail, and stoking speculation that the project faces major cost blowouts.

Mr Hunt, the president of BHP Billiton's uranium group, yesterday admitted "the cost of projects has escalated in many places".

He said an environmental impact statement for the proposed expansion, which would triple copper production and make Olympic Dam the largest open-cut mine in the world, would be handed to state and federal governments in 2009.

Mr Rann, addressing an audience including state Treasurer and Deputy Premier Kevin Foley, congratulated BHP Billiton on staging the information days, which will also be held at Port Augusta and Roxby Downs.

"I look forward to the ongoing support and co-operation of BHP Billiton in bringing this great project to fruition," the Premier said.

Sounds like a lot of political spin by Rann. The EIS is now due out next year. First 2007, then this year, now next. Hopefully all these delays are only to do with the huge increase in the size of the project and not other factors. Until we get that EIS most of what is being talked about is speculation. Can't wait until the day we get concrete reports and proposals (hopefully next year) for this project so we can see its true scale.

[rhino]

Sounds like a lot of political spin by Rann.

That's a bit unfair. BHP has to supply a lot of information here which they haven't come up with yet. The Government can rant and rave but in the end they can't go any further until BHP comes up with something. I suspect BHP are stalling hoping that they will get the go-ahead to process ore in China, just to speed things up. Rann is doing the right thing by South Australia in this case.

[UrbanSG]

Well I believe it is politcal spin.

The government would be kept up to date with a lot of the info from BHP. That is the detail we don't get to see at this stage.

The extent to which the government can try to ensure the processing for Olympic Dam occurs in South Australia is highly questionable and therefore at this stage it really amounts to pure politics.

[Wayno]

Paul Holloway recently made his way around Asia selling the benefits of SA's vast mining opportunities (i have paraphrased the articles and provided links if you want to read more):

http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/minerals/press ... from_china

SA PURSUES MORE RESOURCE INVESTMENT FROM CHINA
Minister for Mineral Resources Minister Paul Holloway leaves for China Saturday April 12 with the aim of boosting Chinese investment in South Australia’s fast-developing resources sector.

Mr Holloway is leading a team of mining industry and government representatives and will meet some of China’s largest resource companies.

“There’s growing interest in South Australia from Chinese companies, particularly in iron ore, uranium and renewable energy,” Mr Holloway says. “South Australia has almost 40% of the world’s uranium reserves and significant volumes of copper, gold and silver.”
<snip>
“South Australia has vast mineral resources which are being uncovered at an unprecedented rate. The Chinese are keen to explore joint partnership arrangements to tap some of the enormous potential in our minerals and energy sector,” Mr Holloway says.
<snip>
“There are more than $12 billion worth of minerals and energy projects at various stages of development around the State.”

http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/minerals/press ... _investors

RESOURCE OPPORTUNITIES FOR HONG KONG INVESTORS
South Australia’s Minister for Mineral Resources Development Paul Holloway today told a group of Hong Kong business people his State’s resources sector offers rapidly expanding and lucrative investment opportunities.

He told the Chamber international accounting firm KPMG had rated Adelaide Australia’s most cost-competitive city to do business, for the third year in a row, beating Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

He says there has been unprecedented spending on mineral exploration in South Australia - A$330 million in 2007 - a ten-fold increase in four years, putting South Australia ahead of Queensland and only behind Western Australia.

“South Australia is now riding the tiger unleashed by China’s appetite for resources,” Mr Holloway says.

“Not only do we have the proposed multi-billion dollar expansion of BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam uranium, gold and copper mine, but numerous other major mining projects are commencing or are in the final stages of approval,” he says.

“These include OneSteel’s Project Magnet at Whyalla; Oxiana’s Prominent Hill Copper Gold Mine, north of Olympic Dam; Australian Zircon’s Mineral Sands Mine at Mindarie in the Murray Basin; Terramin Australia’s Angas Zinc Mine near Strathalbyn, south of Adelaide and Perilya’s Beltana Zinc Mine, west of Broken Hill have all been given primary approval.”

Mr Holloway says South Australia’s third uranium mine was given the approval in January this year. He says South Australia was ideally placed in the global race for renewable energy as the world focussed on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“We have growing investment in solar and wind energy projects, but even more exciting is the vast potential for geothermal, or hot rocks energy,” Mr Holloway says.

“South Australia’s comparative advantages, in the form of naturally occurring hot rock resources, plus the Government’s supportive investment framework, have so far attracted more than 80% of Australia's national investment in geothermal research for exploration, proof-of-concept appraisals and pilot development.”

Mr Holloway says there are exciting investment opportunities in other South Australian industry sectors, such as wine, aviation, services and Information and Communication Technology.

[Wayno]

another LARGE-ish mine will start production in approx 6months time! it has a 5.5 year initial life, with scope for expansion...

http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/minerals/press ... tep_closer

CAIRN HILL PRODUCTION ONE STEP CLOSER
Friday, 18 April 2008

Acting Minister for Mineral Resources Development Michael Wright today welcomed the announcement that ASX listed I.M.X. Resources N.L. has been granted a mining lease for its Cairn Hill iron ore project.

“This announcement is an important milestone for South Australia,” Mr Wright says.

“The Cairn Hill project is the first new iron ore mining project outside of the Whyalla region.”

Termite Resources N.L., a 100% owned subsidiary of I.M.X. Resources N.L., was granted the mining lease by the Department for Primary Industries and Resources (PIRSA) for the Cairn Hill project.

The Cairn Hill project is a high-grade iron ore – copper – gold project located 55 kilometres southeast of Coober Pedy.

The lease was granted by PIRSA after an initial mining lease application in January 2008.

The planned development of the Cairn Hill iron ore mine comes close on the heels of other mining projects in South Australia such as the Prominent Hill copper-gold mine and OneSteel’s Project Magnet.

Mr Wright says that with an expectant 5-1/2 year mine life, there will be significant opportunities for I.M.X. Resources N.L. to further expand its South Australian operation.

“I congratulate I.M.X. Resources on their diligence and commitment to working closely with PIRSA to ensure the Cairn Hill project meets best practice standards,” he says.

The decision to develop Cairn Hill near Coober Pedy follows the recent announcement of the company’s partnership with China’s Tonghua Iron and Steel Mining Ltd.

I.M.X. Resources will ship ore from the project to China for processing into a high-grade magnetite concentrate and a copper/gold concentrate.

Commercial mining at Cairn Hill is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2008 after all statutory approvals are finalised

[Wayno]

Where would you invest - last boom town or the next
this is an excellent ppt prezo ==> http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/ ... cil_PH.pdf
The report clearly shows:
* how much activity has increased in SA mining across the last 7 years
* SA's share of new mining ventures (2nd only to WA)
* geothermal exploration possibilities (this could be a huge win for SA!)
* heaps of stats and location of each major mine

[muzzamo]

I hope this doesn't encourage interstate specuvestors to come here and destroy our property market the way they have their own...

[skyliner]

Where would you invest - last boom town or the next
this is an excellent ppt prezo ==> http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/ ... cil_PH.pdf
The report clearly shows:
* how much activity has increased in SA mining across the last 7 years
* SA's share of new mining ventures (2nd only to WA)
* geothermal exploration possibilities (this could be a huge win for SA!)
* heaps of stats and location of each major mine

What fantastic news wayno. I am impressed. Did not think there was this much going on. The degree and expanse of happenings, if only half as much, STILL are very encouraging.

From what I understand SA is under something akin to what economists call the accelerator effect - evidence of which has occurred in comparisons and indicators between 2006, 2007 and 2008 for SA but with a different story for the other states over the same period. Admittedly, these are trends and may alter. (Like the predictions about Adelaide's growth).

With near 40% of uranium it appears a real ''yellowcake' gold mine and an unmissable oppportunity for SA. The world slowdown in economic activity would appear to me to be largely offset in this realm by the continuous need for power anyway. (Although I think I have read of some 2nd thoughts BHP).

In consideration of all the above, we are still being referred to as the next boom state by those who are not South Australians and are reputable sources.

ADELAIDE - CITY ON THE MOVE

[AG]

With near 40% of uranium it appears a real ''yellowcake' gold mine and an unmissable oppportunity for SA. The world slowdown in economic activity would appear to me to be largely offset in this realm by the continuous need for power anyway. (Although I think I have read of some 2nd thoughts BHP).

In consideration of all the above, we are still being referred to as the next boom state by those who are not South Australians and are reputable sources.

Demand for electricity tends to be inelastic, so whatever you would've read about what BHP is saying is true at least to some extent. Even with soaring energy prices, there will still continue to be an increase in the amount of energy being supplied, particularly in the fast growing nations of China and India. According to an article of the Weekend Australian's Clean Energy report section (26/4/08), there are currently 34 nuclear power stations under construction in Asia and another 200 more proposed in the rest of the world, and China will increase it's nuclear generation capacity by a factor of 6 between now and 2020 to 42000MW. With an increasing environmental awareness and demand for cleaner energy sources, it's likely that those figures are only going to get larger.

[Wayno]

600 coming to Adelaide for another mining conference

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/new ... s/1446268/

ADELAIDE, Apr 28, 2008 (AsiaPulse via COMTEX)
The heated global commodities market has focused international attention on Australia as a raw materials supplier, the organiser of a major mining conference says.

Bill Repard, who will bring 600 delegates to Adelaide for the Paydirt Resources and Energy Investment Conference from Wednesday, said global market demand had focused on Australia's resource boom states.

"That has generated, in less than three years, a rapacious appetite by overseas mills and smelters for the resource riches of South Australia and Western Australia, particularly," Mr Repard said.

But, he said, the sector was also at a pressure point on several key growth hurdles, including the emerging issue of larger capacity coastal ports and significantly improved road, power and water infrastructure in remote areas.

"Against this backdrop, it is critical this year's conference achieves some consensus on prioritising the needs of its widening pool of stakeholders," he said.

Anything less than consensus could disrupt the state's growth potential at a time key overseas commodities markets such as India and China were already "making rumbling noises" about going elsewhere.

Mr Repard said South Australia's resources sector had grown faster than that of any other Australian state into one of the most highly promising and keenly watched mining industries in the world.

"Every upside has its downside, however, and it is expected conference delegates will also use the forum to pressure for solutions to rising project material costs, spiralling salary expectations and critical shortages of skilled manpower across almost all trades and professional levels within the mining industry," he said.

[monotonehell]

"Every upside has its downside, however, and it is expected conference delegates will also use the forum to pressure for solutions to rising project material costs, spiralling salary expectations and critical shortages of skilled manpower across almost all trades and professional levels within the mining industry," he said.

Hrmz...

[Wayno]

Extra funding for P.I.R.
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/stor ... 13,00.html

PREMIER Mike Rann has flagged an increase in funding for the Department of Primary Industries and Resources SA following a speech outlining the massive potential benefits of the mining sector to the State.

Premier Rann would not reveal any details of potential funding increase to PIRSA, but told reporters at the Paydirt South Australian Resources and Energy Investment Conference to wait for the June Budget.

"Wait and see in the Budget, you're going to be very excited by it,'' he said.

The Advertiser revealed this week that the Mineral Resources Development division of PIRSA was pushing for a significant funding increase following a 13 per cent decrease in funding from 2005-06 to 2007-08.

Opening the conference today, Mr Rann reiterated his push for the State to receive a "social dividend'' from the expansion of mining in SA.

"The challenge we face is to ensure these new projects are developed so that the investments made produce lasting, long-term benefits,'' Mr Rann said.

"Due to the sheer magnitude of the projects being planned and developed, there will be huge opportunities in the areas of advanced manufacturing, fabrication and related services."

"When people outside the resources sector ask about the mining boom, they invariably want to know `what's in it for me?'''

Mr Rann said mining companies needed to ensure that disadvantaged members of the community, such as the disabled, aborigines and those in regional and remote areas shared in the gains from the expansion of mining.

"We want to use the benefits that flow from the boom to re-engage the disadvantaged, not just those who are on the edges of participation, but also those who have been deeply and persistently excluded,'' Mr Rann said.

To this end Social Inclusion Commissioner David Cappo has been asked to talk to mining companies about how they can help the long-term unemployed and will ask them to create low-skilled jobs to meet the needs of the disadvantaged.

Good to see PIR getting more cash. They facilitate/monitor many aspects of the mining industry.

[Wayno]

I'm a bit confused, perhaps in need of an education...hope you can help.

Here is a graph from the Dept of Primary Industry & Resources (PIR)

1995 to 2014.JPG (76.69 KiB) Viewed 3526 times

Source is http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/ ... cil_PH.pdf This is the same link we have on our homepage at the moment (Where would you invest, last boom town or the next)

The graph shows the growth in mining activity (mineral production & offsite processing) from $1.25b in 1995 to $3.5b as of ~10months ago. It also projects our mining industry will be worth $4b by 2014!

Hang on a minute, where's the mining boom? growing by an additional $500m across the next 6 years does not appear very exciting at all

What am I missing here?

[monotonehell]

Wayno, I guess the chart shows an increase in production. The mining boom is still in the development stage. Things like removing overburden for a year don't produce anything (except a huge pile of tailings ). The promised boom is yet to come.