#Official Mining Thread

[Wayno]

Reintegration Employment Opportunity Program

I believe it costs BHP approx $6000 per person, and gives these people valuable work experience. Win Win...

http://minerals.pir.sa.gov.au/press_and ... rst_for_sa

A new partnership between Port Augusta Prison and BHP Billiton will see low security prisoners gain valuable work experience and potential employment at Olympic Dam upon their release.

Correctional Services Minister Tom Koutsantonis said prisoners on Mobile Outback Work Camps would gain nationally accredited skills and training through the Prisoner Reintegration Employment Opportunity (PREO) Program.

“The program will deliver tangible outcomes for Indigenous and non-Indigenous prisoners as they prepare for life beyond prison,” Mr Koutsantonis said.

Mr Koutsantonis said this was the first time that a private company has linked with the outback work camps.

“Work camps have been operating out of Port Augusta Prison since 1996 and the work they have done in remote areas for the Department of Environment and Heritage equates to millions of dollars and tens of thousands of hours work.

“I hope this program encourages other private sector companies to explore similar partnerships that seek to improve prisoner reintegration, reduce reoffending and ultimately help create a safer, stronger community.”

Barry Mitchell, BHP Billiton Vice President of Mining at Olympic Dam, said the camps form part of BHP Billiton’s Indigenous Participation Program at Olympic Dam, which provides training, scholarships and employment opportunities for Aboriginal people.

“BHP Billiton is committed to supporting training and employment for Aboriginal people, " Mr Mitchell said.

“This program is primarily focused on delivering outcomes for Indigenous prisoners, however some eligible non-Indigenous prisoners are also able to participate in the program.”

The current work camp, which includes five Indigenous and four non-Indigenous prisoners has been working at Andamooka Station maintaining, renovating and restoring two homesteads.

Some of the work that has been completed thus far includes:
* The sanding and painting of timber doors, door frames, fascias and exterior timber surfaces
* Cleaning of surrounding garden areas
* Preparation of a new dump site utilizing the front end loader to dig new pits.

The remoteness of the locations and the type of work that is undertaken mean that if it weren’t for these programs, it would be difficult to find the contractors of the workers to carry out the projects.

Mr Koutsantonis said the participants in the program will re-enter society equipped with nationally accredited training, new skills and importantly – a number of them will have a job to go to and the support in place to ensure they keep that job.

“For someone leaving prison - having a job to go to – and having the training, skills and support of their potential employers and recruiters means they are already on the front-foot in turning their lives around.

“They can hold their head up high and be proud that they have taken steps to actively change their life and become productive members of their community.

“I’d like to congratulate BHP Billiton, Port Augusta Prison and all those involved in making the Prisoner Reintegration Employment Opportunity Program a reality.”

[Wayno]

Company still keen on Woomera mining

I hope common sense prevails here. WPR are happy to jump through hoops to make this mine (in the restricted woomera area) a success.

From ABC Online:

Mining company Western Plains Resources says it is willing to change a joint venture structure with a Chinese partner.

It is keen to win federal approval to mine an iron ore deposit south of Coober Pedy in outback South Australia.

The Defence Department has blocked the planned joint venture on national security grounds because the Hawks Nest ore deposit is in the Woomera Prohibited Area.

Western Plains executive director Heath Roberts says the company and its proposed partner, Wuhan Iron and Steel, are confident the Department's concerns can be dealt with.

Western Plains has met officials in Canberra to outline more information about the possible scale and scope of mining.

Mr Roberts says the company is willing to change the joint venture structure to accommodate any security concerns.

"We can move haul roads, we can move concentrators, we can move people and camps so that they're in less sensitive areas and we stand here ready, willing and able to all these things," he said.

Mr Roberts says it would be a huge loss to the region if mining could not proceed.

"We estimate about 200 new jobs in the Coober Pedy area would've been generated, a significant royalty income to the state and taxation income to the Commonwealth so look it's going to be a major blow, we believe, to the area if the outcome is ultimately that this project doesn't fly," he said.

[rhino]

From Adelaide Now:

Zircon is confident it can recapitalise
MEREDITH BOOTH
October 13, 2009 09:30am

MINERAL sands explorer Australian Zircon has appointed an administrator a week after mothballing its key Mindarie mine in SA's Murray Basin.
Pitcher Partners Perth-based administrator Bryan Hughes said a creditors' meeting would be held next Wednesday, October 21, at the Hilton Adelaide at 3pm.
Australian Zircon had ``full support'' of its major shareholder, Austrian-based DCM DECOmetal GmbH, which was likely to underwrite a future recapitalisation.
"We're really looking at this as a Chapter 11 process and hope to recapitalise through, probably, a rights issue,'' Mr Hughes said.
The voluntary administration process would take between three to five months for creditor approvals, before the company's shares began trading again on the Australian Securities Exchange, he said.
Australian Zircon would continue its mineral separations plant in SA and was talking with third parties to have their ore processed through the facility.
Australian Zircon made a $15.8 million loss in the 2008 financial year, is yet to report its annual result for last year and shares have remained untraded since September 1.

[Pistol]

Still trying to find information on the Woomera restricted zone Wayne.

Coming up empty handed tho atm.
Will keep you posted.

[Wayno]

Still trying to find information on the Woomera restricted zone Wayne.

Coming up empty handed tho atm.
Will keep you posted.

thanks pistol. what type of info do anticipate finding? i'll nosey around as well...

[Wayno]

Door's open: SA tells Beijing

We are obviously endevouring to undo some of the damage caused recently by the Dept of Defence *sigh*

From AdelaideNow:

SOUTH Australia's door is open for Chinese investors in the mining and energy sector, the State Government has told a conference in Beijing.

Delivering the opening address to the Australia-China Mining Investment Seminar in the Chinese capital yesterday, Mineral Resources Development Minister Paul Holloway said SA was a secure destination with great potential.

"SA has emerged as a competitive and reliable supplier of a wide range of resources to China,'' Mr Holloway said.

"During the past 18 months there has been a significant rise in the level of Chinese foreign direct investment in Australia - including our state - despite the global financial crisis.''

Mr Holloway is heading a delegation that includes Primary Industries and Resources SA's executive director of minerals and energy, Paul Heithersay, and representatives from the Department of Trade and Economic Development and Austrade.

From Beijing, the delegation travels to the northern port city of Tianjin where Mr Holloway will speak tomorrow at the China Mining 2009 exhibition.

Companies attending the event include Sinosteel, CITIC Group, Wuhan Iron and Steel and Shandong Geo-mineral Resources Group.

All have already joined forces with SA explorers and miners, although an investment by Wuhan Iron and Steel in a Western Plains Resources iron project faces difficulties over Defence Department concerns about the Woomera Prohibited Area.

Mr Holloway stressed there was no broad opposition to Chinese investors. "SA actively encourages and welcomes foreign direct investment in the mineral resources sector, subject to all relevant approvals, including from the Federal Government's Foreign Investment Review Board,'' he said.

"Neither the Australian nor the SA government have a blanket ban on investment from any country. All applications are reviewed on an individual basis.''

[Wayno]

A couple more Mineral Sands mines on the way

Mineral sands mining typically extract zircon for use in ceramics and paint. There is expected to be a zircon shortage in a 2-3 years time.

QUEENSLAND explorer Diatreme Resources is targeting SA in its bid to become a billion-dollar producer of mineral sands by 2014.

The company already is the second biggest player, behind Iluka, in the Eucla Basin on the Western Australian and South Australia border, and has most of its mineral sands exploration projects in the state.

Diatreme upgraded its resource estimate at the Cyclone project in the Eucla Basin last month to 98.4 million tonnes at 2.9 per cent heavy minerals, worth at least $1 billion on current zircon, titanium and rutile prices.

Diatreme, which had a market value of $23.4 million yesterday, also hopes to begin further drilling in its western tenements in the Arckaringa Basin near Coober Pedy to open up a new minerals sands precinct.

Executive chairman Tony Fawdon expected demand for zircon - used in ceramics, paint and metal products - to peak between about 2012 and 2014 as some operations closed and demand from China, now 40 per cent of a $10 billion market, grows.

"I think the Eucla Basin in 10 to 20 years will become the major producer of zircon in the world and significant amounts of titanium,'' Mr Fawdon said.

"We expect a shortage of zircon by 2012-2014 and that's when we'll be coming on stream.''

The company's pre-feasibility study for Cyclone would be completed by mid-2010 with feasibility and bankable studies in 2012-13 to develop a mine.

Benefits for SA included Ceduna being considered as a port for shipping options, where it already has up to 25 people working in a heavy mineral sands laboratory.

Mr Fawdon expects about $8 million to be spent on exploration this year: $5 million on mineral sands, $2 million on metals and its Anabama copper exploration project in eastern South Australia and $1 million in administration costs.

Heavy mineral sands typically contain zircon, used in ceramics and paint pigments, rutile and ilmenite.

[Wayno]

More digging around on Yorke Peninsula

These guys are raising cash to find the extent of the copper deposit. If it's a massive deposit (aerial surveys to date indicate this is the case), then there will be plenty of champagne corking flying in all directions - not just from the Miners profit perspective, but also for jobs and royalties...

From AdelaideNow:

REX Minerals will embark on a $42 million capital raising to accelerate its drilling program at the Hillside copper project on the Yorke Peninsula.

The Ballarat-based minerals explorer will use the funds to cover the cost of a resource definition drilling program at Hillside as well as for the testing of other targets on the Pine Point Copper Belt. The company will also use a portion of the underwritten funds to complete drill testing at Mt Carrington in NSW.

In August, the company announced positive drilling results at Hillside, along with high-resolution magnetic data which defined a "new frontier'' of multiple, large-scale copper-gold targets along the Pine Point Copper Belt.

Drilling to date had tested less than 5 per cent of the prospective copper-rich structures at Hillside. "Hillside represents 2km over a 60km-long belt so in tandem with drilling Hillside we will be looking at the prospectivity of the whole belt,'' Rex managing director Steven Olsen said yesterday.

He said the bulk of the funds raised would be used to prove up the Hillside deposit, and as many as five drill rigs will be on site next year.

"The main priority is at Hillside still - that is where we have had most of our success in defining an initial resource,'' he said.

"We will increase the drilling capacity early next year and we expect the first resource estimate around the middle of next year.''

Mr Olsen said drilling spaced at 100m would be sufficient to define an inferred resource, which is the least confident category under Australian standards.

[Wayno]

At Last - Cash is flowing from China into SA

This sort of partnering deal is well overdue for mining in our state. It should accelerate things nicely. Stay tuned for more deals like this soon.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009 ... 734092.htm

Way cleared for Chinese ore investment
China's third-largest steel group Wuhan Iron and Steel is taking a 60 per cent stake in Adelaide-based Centrex Metals' iron ore rights to five tenements on southern Eyre Peninsula.

Wuhan will also emerge with a direct 13 per cent stake in Centrex.

Centrex Metals chairman David Lindh says the cornerstones are now in place for a rapid escalation of the company's iron ore growth on Eyre Peninsula into a billion-dollar business. He says it will position Centrex as a major player in the Australian iron ore industry.

In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Centrex says the approval is unconditional.

The council at Port Lincoln is to vote soon on whether to seek a parliamentary inquiry into the approval process for ore exports through its port.

Centrex managing director Gerard Anderson thinks that is unnecessary. "I would have thought the Port Lincoln council at this time when the fishing industry is facing the likelihood that people are going to be laid off that they'd be doing everything they could to try and attract new businesses in the area," he said.

[Wayno]

Another reason SA needs more china partnership deals asap

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009 ... 733903.htm

Mining boom within three years: economist

BIS Shrapnel says strong demand for commodities from China and India will see another mining boom from 2011. The company's Adrian Hart is predicting a 30 per cent jump in mining production.

"From three years from now we'll be in the middle of another up-swing in mining investment and that'll have several years to run based on iron ore, coal and big LNG products," he said.

However he warns the problems associated with the last mining boom still remain. "Skills shortages will come back, they're not quite with us yet, but they will come back as an issue."

Mr Hart says Queensland, WA, South Australia and the Northern Territory will benefit most from the boom.

[Wayno]

Good for SA to get into the UCG game...

There's a very strong chance this will go ahead. 1000 blue & white collar jobs during development + 80 ongoing HQ white collar jobs in Adelaide. Orroroo is ~100km east of Port Augusta.

World-first gas project in South Australia

LINC Energy says it will build the world's first commercial underground coal gasification (UCG) plant near Orroroo, in as little as 18 months.

The Brisbane-based company announced yesterday its first drilling program had identified an exploration target of 1-1.3 billion tonnes of coal, but chief executive Peter Bond said Linc was sure there was enough coal there to support a commercial power and liquids plant.

The company previously has said that it plans to invest up to $1 billion building several coal-to-liquids plants in South Australia's Far North.

Mr Bond said Linc would start ramping up its South Australian presence, with its small office to expand to 20-30 people in the near term, then up to 80 over the next year.

A further 1000-1200 jobs would be created if the company's proposed power project, which could produce up to 500MW of power and 20,000 barrels of synthetic fuel a day, was to go ahead.

Mr Bond said the company's drilling results were "fantastic'', and the site had all the attributes needed to site a UCG operation. "By that, I mean great coal, at ideal depth, excellent coal seam thickness, good geology and flat terrain,'' Mr Bond said.

"The deposit can support significant production of low-cost synthetic gas for power generation and synthetic fuels gas-to-liquids production for a generation or more. With Orroroo's close proximity to Adelaide and with good access to port and power transmission infrastructure, the location is just about perfect for what we are planning to achieve.''

In UCG, coal is partially combusted underground, producing a synthetic gas which can be used to produce heat or generate electricity, or it can be used as a feedstock for gas-to-liquids processes.

The centre of Linc's coal resources is about 6km north of Orroroo, and about 40km from 275KV electricity transmission lines. The company could build its first-stage project in six to seven months.

[rhino]

This is fantastic news! Hope it goes ahead! One question though, how green is this system of power generation, considering they will still be burning the coal, even though it's underground?

[Wayno]

This is fantastic news! Hope it goes ahead! One question though, how green is this system of power generation, considering they will still be burning the coal, even though it's underground?

There is little environmental benefit at the point of burning the gas (as compared to equivalent volumes of coal). The main benefits arise during the mining (extraction) stage, and include:
* Vast reduction in water usage (obvious benefit)
* Almost negates all human mining related risks (work place accidents)
* No dust (ensure our Sydney-sider friends remain happy little campers)
* No acid rain in nearby areas as NOx and SO2 gases are retained underground and readily absorbed in nearby rock/soil

There's some cons too:
* Turns low-grade coal deposits into financially viable endevours (thus prolonging the use of coal/gas power stations)
* Ground subsidence sometimes occurs (filling the void post-coal burning). This can be accurately calculated and forms part of the mine approval process. Pumping soil into the void is sometimes done where the landscape must be retained in pristine condition

[rhino]

From Adelaide Now:

Centrex secures cashflow with ore deal
CAMERON ENGLAND
November 13, 2009 10:30am

CENTREX Metals has sold all of the iron ore from its Wilgerup project on the Eyre Peninsula, ensuring the company has early stage cashflow.
Centrex has finalised an existing agreement with Shenyang Orient Iron and Steel to supply one million tonnes of iron ore per year for five years, with a one year extension option.
"Concluding the Shenyang hematite ore sales agreement ensures that 100 per cent of Wilgerup hematite ore is sold under long-term sales agreements for a minimum of five years with the ore price determined by the existing Hamersley benchmark pricing system, but with flexibility should that pricing mechanism be replaced,'' the company said in a statement.
Last month the State Government approved Centrex Metals' plan to export 1.6 million tonnes of Wilgerup iron ore through Port Lincoln for a period of 10 years.
The mine, 20km southeast of Lock on the Eyre Peninsula, will inject $70 million into the regional economy each year, creating 120-150 full-time jobs and another 360-450 indirect jobs.
It is expected to start production next year, after the company receives approval for its Mining and Rehabilitation Plan.
Centrex said it was also testing other targets at Wilgerup, with 30 mapped out so far.
"Centrex believes that drilling of the remaining geophysical targets is likely to add to the resource inventory at Wilgerup,'' the company said.
Earlier this month Centrex received Foreign Investment Review Board approval for a $271 million investment from Chinese company Wuhan Iron and Steel Group, under which Wuhan will acquire up to 60 per cent of five Eyre Peninsula iron ore tenements, leading to the possible development of two iron ore mines.

[rhino]

Also from Adelaide Now:

IMX identifies new SA ore targets
CAMERON ENGLAND
November 12, 2009 02:30pm

IMX Resources has identified several new iron ore targets at its Mt Woods prospect in South Australia, with a total exploration target of more than half a billion tonnes.
The company said the drilling at the prospect south of Coober Pedy had identified three main targets, with an estimated tonnage range of 320-550 million tonnes of ore, at a grade of 25-35 per cent iron.
The depth to the top of the targets was about 35-40m.
The exploration targets are in the same area as the company's Cairn Hill iron ore project, for which IMX is seeking development funding.
Managing director Duncan McBain said the next phase of exploration had started, with a view to better understanding the nature of the mineralisation.
"The target mineralisation delineated by integration of the drilling and geophysics demonstrates that the Bumblebee, Fitzgerald Dam and Snaefell discoveries may have the potential for larger scale, longer life operations,'' he said.
"These discoveries warrant further drilling and metallurgical testwork to better understand the potential for economic development.
"The scale of the target mineralisation adds to the potential of future brownfields developments due to the close proximity to infrastructure being developed for Cairn Hill Phase 1.''
IMX's Chinese partner Jilin Tonghua Iron and Steel Mining has agreed to buy up to 1.4 million tonnes of iron ore a year for three years from the Cairn Hill project, if it comes into production.