Sensational-Adelaide.com

SA uranium developer sets 2011 start date

A uranium developer in South Australia is aiming for maiden production from one of the State’s most recent uranium discoveries by the end of 2011.

Adelaide-based UraniumSA Limited announced it anticipated commencing by mid next year the expected 12-month regulatory process to approve a Field Leach Trial at the Company’s Blackbush Prospect at the wholly owned Mullaquana project, 20-kilometres southwest of Whyalla on Eyre Peninsula.

Subject to normal progression through the regulatory process, that would allow the trial to commence by mid-2011 and if successful, transition towards the end of 2011 into early 2012 into maiden commercial production from Blackbush.
Detailing the schedule at the company’s annual general meeting in Adelaide, UraniumSA’s managing director, Russel Bluck, said a scoping study on Blackbush’s development had commenced in recent days to lead into the field trial regulatory process schedule by mid next year.

“We have effectively commenced the transition from pure exploration to exploration and development, one of the few of the crop of uranium IPOs to achieve this benchmark,” Bluck said.

“Blackbush, since its discovery by UraniumSA in December 2007, has evolved as a real project, and we have commenced a scoping study with real contracts and real objectives and real timelines to deliver South Australia a viable new uranium mine.
“Given that South Australia has the best track record of any uranium jurisdiction in Australia, we expect to be able to stay close to our development and maiden production timelines.”

UraniumSA has defined a JORC Inferred Resource of 2,700 tonnes (equivalent to ~5.4 million pound) of contained U3O8 at the Blackbush Prospect, its first discovery within the Mullaquana project area.

The resource comprises an estimated 12 million tonnes of mineralisation at an average grade of 224 parts per million (ppm) eU3O8. Blackbush’s potential ore grade mineralisation extends for 1.6km along strike with a width of 1.3km and average thickness of 5.6m.

Pattern drilling has commenced on site at Blackbush to achieve an upgrade of the resource estimate through improved definition and mineral characterisation.

Bluck said a resource upgrade at Blackbush was expected to be developed in the opening half of next year.

Briggzy_03 wrote:There seems to be a lot of mines being planned for the near future, more than ever before no?

Will this effect the state's income significantly Wayno? Or are these mines more on the smaller scale?

Minister for Mineral Resource Development Paul Holloway today congratulated Iluka Resources on the first production of heavy mineral concentrate from its Jacinth-Ambrosia project, located in the Eucla Basin.

Iluka Resources today announced the Jacinth Ambrosia project has been completed ahead of schedule, with capital spending expected to be less than $390 million, compared with an approved budget of $420 million.

Mr Holloway says the five years taken from discovery to production at Jacinth Ambrosia is a record for South Australia, breaking the previous mark of eight years set by the Prominent Hill project.

“The record pace of five years from discovery to production is an extraordinary effort by Iluka Resources,” Mr Holloway says.

“This landmark in the project’s development hopefully marks the beginning of a pipeline of potential new mining projects for the far west coast region.”

Mr Holloway says Iluka Resources expects Jacinth-Ambrosia production will begin to replace output from the company’s Western Australian operations, which was reduced materially in 2009.

“I’d also like to acknowledge the support of Primary Industries and Resources S.A., the Department of Environment and Heritage, the Department of Transport, Energy and Infrastructure and the local community that has enabled Iluka Resources to develop this project in such a quick time frame,” he says.

“This was achieved while still subjecting the project to comprehensive environmental management planning controls and carrying out extensive community consultation including a Native Title Agreement with the Far West Coast people.”

Iluka Resources discovered the Jacinth and Ambrosia mineral sands deposits were discovered in 2004.

The unique characteristic of Jacinth-Ambrosia is its combination of size and high zircon assemblage making it the richest known zircon deposit in the world.

About 250 new jobs have been created in the initial construction stage of the Jacinth-Ambrosia mine with 110 full-time jobs expected during the 10-15 year life of the project.

$3bn Arckaringa coal deal sealed

A $3.2 billion energy project, creating 1500 jobs in the state's north, is a step closer to reality following a deal secured by Adelaide's Altona Energy.

Signed with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, the joint venture agreement will give the Chinese oil explorer a 51 per cent stake in Altona's Arckaringa project, which contains an estimated 7.8 billion tonnes of coal.

If fully developed, the project will involve a coal mine producing three times more coal a year than Leigh Creek, a petrochemical complex with the footprint of Moomba and a 560 megawatt power plant.

The company will pursue coal-to-liquid and coal-to-synthetic gas technology for fuel production and low cost power production.

Altona, which is listed on the London Alternative Investment Market, says the project is "one of the world's largest undeveloped energy banks''.

"This could be one of the great energy hubs - in the first instance for South Australia, but also for Australia,'' Altona Energy managing director Chris Schrape said.

"We have got a very large, accessible energy resource and all the work we have done suggests it can be turned into high value products that this state needs - that is power, fuel and potentially water as well.''

Under the agreement, CNOOC, through its subsidiary New Energy Investment, will fund a bankable feasibility study for Arckaringa, estimated at $50 million, with the aim of eventually developing the multi billion-dollar project.

Prince George wrote:I don't mean to be a wet blanket, but I am concerned with the effect that mining has on practically every other part of the Australian economy. The value of our mining exports are so high that they drive up the value of the dollar (*), which raises the cost of doing business for other sectors - the higher dollar makes our exports more expensive and increases the pressure to substitute imports in the place of local production. Manufacturing industries are an obvious victim, as are a whole host of service industries in the face of off-shoring.

And the value of the projects seem out of proportion with the jobs created. Look at this latest project - $3.2billion project, possibly 7 billion tons of coal (at $50/ton, that's $350 billion), creates 1500 jobs. Even if it generates another 1500 indirect jobs, that total is still dwarfed by the value of the project. So we take taxes from these operations, what do we do to convert that income into economic activity elsewhere? How do we avoid becoming mining welfare dependent? That's essentially the situation in the Middle East, where the non-petroleum industries rely on low low cost labour.

(*) Of course there are many other factors, especially the interest rate policies set by the RBA, but mining exports are an enormous driver for this

Will wrote:Thanks for the explanations Rhino and Wayno. They have answered many of my questions. If I may indulge, I have another question. Can foreign companies own outright a mine in Australia or do they have to enter into a partnership with an Australian company?

Wayno wrote:Australia is built upon foreign capital. Is it a concern? well yes and no - our governance is very strong and most foreign company's play by the rules because they know we are a good long-term bet. We'd definitely be a 'piss-ant' country if we did not leverage the financial strengths of others.