Major miner Rio Tinto has joined forces with steelmaker China Baowu to explore ways to decarbonise the steel value chain in China and Australia.
Under a recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the two companies will advance specific decarbonisation projects including:
Researching, building and demonstrating a pilot-scale electric melter, enabling low-carbon steel making
Optimising pelletisation technology for low-carbon shaft furnace-based direct reduction
Expanding China Baowu’s HyCROF technology, which can mitigate CO2 emissions
Jointly studying opportunities for the production of low-carbon iron in WA.
The MoU was signed in Shanghai by Rio Tinto chief commercial officer Alf Barrios and China Baowu vice president Hou Angui.
“Rio Tinto and China Baowu are united in a commitment to accelerating the delivery of low-carbon solutions for the entire steel value chain,” Barrios said.
“This MoU aims to address one of the biggest challenges faced by the industry – developing a low-carbon pathway for low-to-medium grade iron ores, which account for the vast majority of global iron ore supply.
“China’s commitment to curbing emissions and promoting high-quality green development is strongly aligned with our own position where climate change and the low-carbon transition are at the heart of our strategy.”
Rio chief executive of iron ore Simon Trott said the company is proud of its 40-year relationship with China Baowu.
“We look forward to progressing this study into the potential of low-carbon iron making in Western Australia as we work to ensure a positive future for Pilbara ores in a green steel world,” Trott said.
China Baowu said the company is committed to working with Rio Tinto now and into the future.
“With the mission of building an industrial ecosystem to promote the progress of human civilisation, China Baowu is committed to working with Rio Tinto to jointly study and provide low-carbon and green comprehensive solutions for the steel value chain, help the low-carbon transformation and upgrade of the steel industry chain, and support the world to address the challenge of climate change with pragmatic actions,” the company said.
Coal miner Glencore will sell its CSA copper mine in Cobar, New South Wales, to Metals Acquisition Corp (MAC) for $US1.1 billion ($1.64 billion).
CSA is an established, high-grade producing, long-life underground copper mine with an estimated current mine life of over 15 years, and MAC has identified opportunities to further extend it, subject to exploration success.
The sale is the latest indicator of copper’s growing importance, after Evolution Mining extended its Ernest Henry mine life to 2040 earlier this week.
Similarly, South32 is looking to grow its portfolio, identifying a copper mine that could be an M&A fit. The copper outlook continues to be supported by the rising decarbonisation narrative, with the commodity a highly efficient conduit for renewable energy systems such as solar, wind, hydro and thermal energy.
The Glencore/MAC deal has been on the table for some time now, with the companies entering into an agreement back in March 2022.
“The acquisition of CSA represents a strong strategic fit for MAC. Our management team’s operational expertise, understanding of regional operations and relationships with local stakeholders uniquely position us to identify and realise the full potential value of the asset,” MAC chief executive officer Mick McMullen said at the time.
“We believe that copper has favourable fundamentals that will continue to support an elevated copper price.
“Copper is expected to play a key role in the global energy transition ‘megatrend’, with approximately one million tonnes per annum of new supply required from 2024 onwards in order to meet the surging demand forecast.
“With few new projects globally in the pipeline, increasing permitting issues and jurisdictional risk, and declining copper grades across the industry, we believe that there are significant challenges ahead to close the projected supply deficit.”
MAC will acquire 100 per cent of the issued share capital of Cobar Management from Glencore. Cobar Management owns and operates the mine.
The company has made arrangement for the copper streams with Osisko Gold Royalties in the US.
“CSA is a high-grade, long-life asset, with significant upside that can be unlocked by the MAC management team,” Osisko president and chief executive officer Sandeep Singh said.
“We are pleased to see this important transaction nearing completion, and look forward to having both the silver and copper streams contribute to our near-term cash flows.”
AspenTech is providing intelligent digital solutions to the mining industry, helping reduce downtime and emissions while maximising asset performance.
Mobile and fixed equipment plant maintenance is one of the costliest parts of a mining operation. This stems from the fact that site operators typically rely on preventive maintenance schedules designed by the original equipment manufacturer.
But this system is too rigid to depend on, and can fail to account for variations in the use of equipment, different working environments and the effects of extreme weather. It’s the equivalent of ignoring the warning light in a car because it’s still got three months until the next service.
There is a better way of doing things, and it’s called prescriptive maintenance. AspenTech’s Aspen Mtell solution offers the mining industry exactly that.
Aspen Mtell is a predictive and prescriptive maintenance solution that uses machine learning to monitor equipment in real-time for imminent and future failures.
“Companies are facing increasing pressure to reduce their carbon footprint and improve operational efficiency in order to meet global climate targets,” senior industry marketing consultant for AspenTech, Brandon Richardson, told Australian Mining. “To deal with these challenges, many companies are turning to digitalisation solutions.
“AspenTech offers advanced digitalisation solutions specifically designed to assist companies in the mining industry to achieve their sustainability goals and improve operational efficiency, while also minimising costly environmental and safety risks.
“AspenTech’s asset performance management solutions provide a comprehensive suite of tools, including Aspen Mtell, to monitor and optimise performance of mining assets.”
By monitoring machine performance round-the-clock, the Mtell software can recognise patterns indicative of degradation and impending failure. These early warnings give site operators the chance to plan maintenance weeks – and sometimes months – ahead, rather than reactively working through equipment failures at the expense of time and money.
“The high costs associated with maintenance, repairs, and downtime can be a significant burden for mining companies,” Richardson said.
“AspenTech helps address these challenges by providing predictive maintenance solutions that can reduce downtime and maintenance costs.”
Aspen Mtell has been tried and tested in the field, and the results speak for themselves.
“A particular mining client was having difficulty predicting when maintenance was required on their trucks, resulting in frequent breakdowns and increased maintenance costs,” Richardson said.
“By implementing Aspen Mtell, the company was able to analyse sensor data from the trucks and develop predictive models called agents that could accurately forecast maintenance needs.
“This allowed the company to proactively schedule maintenance, reducing unplanned downtime and improving overall equipment reliability.”
Aspen Mtell is also making operations safer. In one instance, the software flagged a failure in a customer’s oil heater.
“In those types of industrial machines, a failure would have meant hot oil vaporising cold water, which would have caused a rapid steam explosion,” Richardson said.
“A failure would have had catastrophic safety implications, but thanks to Aspen Mtell, the site operator was able to take pre-emptive action and avoid an accident.”
Aspen Mtell pairs well with another AspenTech solution, known as advanced process control (APC). APC provides real-time control and optimisation of equipment, helping mining companies make their operations run as efficiently as possible.
“APC enables mining companies to optimise their production processes and reduce energy consumption,” Richardson said. “AspenTech APM and APC solutions help mining companies to make data-driven decisions that improve process efficiency, optimise production, and reduce environmental impact.
“The integration of AspenTech APM and APC solutions ensures that mining companies can achieve their sustainability objectives while remaining competitive in an uncertain economic environment.”
Energy efficiency and safety play a huge role in achieving environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets, meaning solutions like Aspen Mtell are vital for staying competitive in an evolving mining market.
And ESG targets are much more than just a peripheral consideration.
There is tangible value for mining companies in maintaining safe and responsible worksites, and in reducing emissions in line with the global push for net-zero.
Social and environmental practices are becoming essential for mining companies to secure a social license to operate. Demonstrating such responsibility helps project approvals go smoother, which directly translates to a faster timeline and profitability.
In this way, intelligent solutions like AspenTech APM and APC not only help keep expenses under control, but add real value for AspenTech’s mining industry clients.
“AspenTech is committed to helping its clients in the mining industry achieve sustainable, cost effective, and optimised operations,” Richardson said.
“The company has a network of experts of who can provide support and guidance throughout the implementation process, ensuring clients get the most out of their investment.”
Greatland Gold has announced that the management of the Juri joint venture (JV) will transfer to Newcrest, its joint venture partner from July 1.
The Juri JV is an unincorporated joint venture between Greatland Gold and Newcrest. Greatland own 49 per cent of the JV and Newcrest own 51 per cent. The JV was formed in November 2020 to accelerate exploration at the Paterson Range East and Black Hills exploration licences.
Under the terms of the farm-in and joint venture agreement which governs the Juri JV, Newcrest could elect to become the joint venture manager at any time following an initial period.
Newcrest has now exercised its right to do so and will assume this responsibility from the beginning of the 2024 financial year. The transfer of management of the Juri JV to Newcrest does not affect any of Greatland’s other rights as a joint venture participant.
Greatland managing director Shaun Day said the company welcomes Newcrest elevating its engagement and interest in the Juri JV.
“Greatland strongly believes in the prospectivity of the Juri Joint Venture tenure and will continue to be an active participant following the upcoming management transition,” Day said.
“The shift of Juri Joint Venture management to Newcrest provides Greatland’s exploration team the opportunity to put greater focus on our 100 per cent owned portfolio of highly prospective tenure together with our responsibilities as the new manager of the farm-in and joint venture arrangement with Rio Tinto on the Paterson South project.”
Evolution Mining has doubled the copper and gold reserves and extended the mine life to 2040 since it purchased the Ernest Henry mine outright in January 2022.
The completion of Ernest Henry’s mine-extension pre-feasibility study (PFS) – announced on Monday – has seen the mine’s ore reserve increase 126 per cent from a December 2022 estimate to 77.4 million tonnes, with contained copper increasing 103 per cent to 589,000 tonnes and contained gold jumping 124 per cent to 1.11 million ounces.
The PFS indicates the mine extension could deliver approximately 655,000 ounces of payable gold and 375,000 tonnes of payable copper, delivering an internal rate of return of 28 per cent (based on a base case of $2400 per ounce of gold and $12,000 per tonne of copper). This equates to a net-present value (NPV) of $690 million.
Capital costs would be $450–500 million, with 60 per cent of this supporting development below the 750mRL (metres relative level). Majority of the capital would not be required until the 2026–27 and 2027–28 financial years.
Ever since Evolution acquired 100 per cent of Ernest Henry, the company has been aggressively exploring the project, regularly announcing resource upgrades and increases in the mine’s copper potential.
Evolution has also announced its board has greenlit capital investment for the expansion of its Mungari plant in WA, with a $250 million investment to boost throughput from 2 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) to 4.2Mtpa.
“Mungari has demonstrated its capacity to consistently and reliably deliver approximately 135,000 ounces per annum in recent years,” Evolution managing director and chief executive officer Lawrie Conway said.
“This plant expansion unlocks the very large regional resource base, reduces all-in-sustaining costs (AISC) by 18 per cent to $1750 per ounce, extends the mine life out to 15 years, and grows production to over 200,000 ounces post commissioning.
“The expansion was always envisaged and formed part of our due diligence when we acquired the Kundana and East Kundana properties in 2021. Having successfully integrated the operations, this is now the next logical phase of making Mungari a cornerstone asset of Evolution.”
Evolution has also announced a restructure of its debt profile which it said will unlock an additional $445 million of liquidity over the next three years. The restructure included a $US200 million ($303 million) US private placement (USPP) and the replacement of existing $590 million term loan facilities with a reduced four-year, $300 million loan.
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As South32 looks to grow its portfolio, the company seems to have identified a copper mine that could be an M&A fit.
According to The Australian Financial Review, South32 has sounded out a potential acquisition of Khoemacau Copper Mining which operates its namesake copper mine in Botswana.
Khoemacau ramped up to full production in February – achieving 3.65 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of throughput – and has a nameplate production capacity of 60,000 tonnes per annum of copper, with silver as an added-value product.
Khoemacau has an estimated mine life of 20 years, producing copper at C1 cash costs of $US1.15 per pound. Mining is currently taking place from Zone 5 – an underground mine where three corridors are producing an average of 1.2Mtpa of ore each.
It is understood South32 has engaged RBC Capital Markets as it prepares an indicative bid for Khoemacau Copper Mining, while the AFR also believes the company could come up against opposition, including from Sandfire Resources.
Khoemacau could be seen to complement Sandfire’s Motheo copper mine, which produced first copper concentrate in late May.
The major currently produces copper from its 45 per cent stake in the Sierra Gorda mine in Chile – an asset it acquired in February 2022.
The company also has a series of earn-in agreements with resource companies around the world. This includes two emerging copper exploration projects in Argentina – Chita Valley and Don Julio.
Kerr said Argentina could be a copper jurisdiction to keep an eye on in years to come.
“Argentina’s become an interesting location,” he told reporters at a Melbourne Mining Club luncheon in late April. “When we first started doing some work there, we were probably the only ones. You’ve got BHP there, you’ve got Barrick there, you’ve Glencore there – everyone’s sort of pouring money into that jurisdiction at the moment.
“If you look at where it is, it’s on the other side of the Chile mountains where basically all the copper is. So I think that’s an area that’s going to develop pretty quickly. The challenge around that jurisdiction is it tends to be on average higher levels of arsenic, which typically you blend out, or you look at new technology to remove it.”
Elsewhere, South32’s portfolio is made up of commodities such as alumina, aluminium, zinc, silver, lead, nickel and manganese.
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BHP and Microsoft will collaborate to improve copper recovery at BHP’s Escondida copper mine in Chile.
The collaboration will see BHP use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to optimise concentrator performance at the site.
Escondida is the world’s largest copper mine, with a known resource of 21.7 billion tonnes in 2019.
It is hoped that the new digital technology will allow the team at Escondida to generate more value from the existing resource.
“We expect the next big wave in mining to come from the advanced use of digital technologies,” BHP chief technical officer Laura Tyler said.
“As grades decline at existing copper mines and fewer new economic discoveries are made, next-generation technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics will need to be used to unlock more production and value from our existing mines.”
John Montgomery, Microsoft corporate vice president, AI platform said the company is keen to partner with BHP in a transformational project.
“We are excited to partner with BHP on this transformative project that demonstrates the power of AI, machine learning and cloud technologies”, he said.
“We expect global demand for copper to increase significantly as the world transitions to lower carbon sources of energy powered by more solar panels and wind turbines,” Basto said in his speech.
“We have operated Escondida in Chile, the largest copper mine in the world for more than 30 years… Every year, Escondida mines enough material to fill the Adelaide Oval to the roof 80 times, and produces enough copper to produce around 12 million electric vehicles.”
The Federal Government has announced the planning approval for a $182 million upgrade of three berths at Port Kembla, located in the Illawarra region in New South Wales.
The upgrade will help to guarantee the supply of Illawarra steel for new homes, schools, hospitals, and transport infrastructure.
The Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said the upgrade will help rebuild the domestic manufacturing industry in NSW and will support more than 14,500 jobs.
“Our construction industry is the largest user of Port Kembla’s steel, using more than 70 per cent of the site’s total output,” Scully said.
The Federal Minister added that the approval provides more capacity to import coking coal for steelmaking and keep production flowing when local coal supplies are scaled back from 2028.
“It’s an investment in jobs, training, and the Illawarra community, but importantly it’s a vote of confidence in NSW manufacturing and construction, providing the locally sourced steel they need to build the homes, hospitals, and transport infrastructure NSW needs,” Scully said.
Minister for Illawarra Ryan Park said the revamp of the three berths will lead to more local steel being used for major NSW Government projects, supporting thousands of local jobs.
“Illawarra steel contributes around $10.3 billion to the NSW economy each year, and this decision secures the continued direct employment of around 4500 people, together with another 10,000 people in the supply chain,” Park said.
BlueScope Australian chief executive Tania Archibald said the planning approval demonstrates the NSW Government’s commitment to secure the future of steelmaking in Australia.
“BlueScope operates five berths at Port Kembla to import a range of raw materials such as iron ore, coal, limestone, recycled steel scrap, and export steel products to customers, and the continued supply of these raw materials is critical to the operations of the steelworks,” Archibald said.
“This infrastructure upgrade represents a significant investment to secure the asset for the long-term whilst supporting future technology options for low-emissions steelmaking.”
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“Everything that we’ve tried to do with it [Linatex rubber] to see if it can fail, it hasn’t failed yet,” says Chance Harvey, director of Engineering and Mine Plant Development, Pattison Sand.
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“It significantly reduces material costs associated with changing out too frequently. On the cost side, most importantly, it enabled us to produce more copper,” said Akhbayar Enkhsaikhan, concentrator maintenance manager, Oyu Tolgoi Mine.
Ramelius Resources has provided an exploration update on its Penny mine and other exploration projects within its portfolio of gold assets in Western Australia.
The Penny gold mine is located approximately 150 kilometres south-east of the Mt Magnet operations and 550 kilometres north-east of Perth in WA.
Ramelius has reported that the Penny gold mine received its final ore haulage approvals on May 11, and its haulage schedule is in place to clear site stockpile by June 30. The operation has seen underground diamond drilling commence with visible gold seen in core outside southern boundary of Penny North’s mine plan.
Ramelius’ Bartus East site also saw diamond drilling continuing with results from shallow-angle holes including 60 metres at 7.82 grams per tonne (g/t) Au from 448 metres, with an estimated true width of approximately 45 metres.
The Mt Finnerty joint venture (JV) Ramelius shares with Westar Resources saw ongoing surface diamond drilling yielding recorded an excellent follow-up result of 8.70 metres at 13.4g/t Au from 173.5 metres.
Adjacent to the previously reported 13 metres at 4.37g/t Au and eight metres at 4.87g/t Au, Ramelius said further drilling is planned at the JV once structural interpretation is confirmed.
Ramelius managing director Mark Zeptner said the progress made on its various gold projects was satisfying.
“It is pleasing to have finally obtained the full ore haulage approvals for our high-grade Penny mine, which should see us clear the site stockpiles and mine production, in what promises to be our best Quarter for the financial year,” Zeptner said.
“In addition, our exploration and resource development teams continue to hit high grade material at Bartus East, which confirms similar wide, high-grade intercepts to those received late last year.
“Our Mt Finnerty JV with Westar Resources is also looking more and more interesting with additional high-grade hits and the geologists beginning to understand the controls to the mineralisation.”
