MinRes’ transhipper delivering Onslow Iron’s first ore to bulk carrier off the Pilbara coast. Image: MinRes
Mineral Resources (MinRes) has signed an Indigenous land use agreement with Buurabalayji Thalanyji Aboriginal Corporation (BTAC) for the Onslow Iron project in Western Australia.
BTAC is the prescribed body corporate for the Thalanyji People that hold native title over 11,120 square kilometres of land in the west Pilbara, where Onslow Iron is located.
Under the Indigenous land use agreement, MinRes and BTAC will collaborate for the next 30-plus years to create opportunities for the Thalanyji People.
This includes creating employment opportunities for future generations of Thalanyji People, including apprenticeships and traineeships every year at Onslow Iron.
The signage of the agreement follows more than two years of collaboration between MinRes and BTAC.
“This agreement is the start of a positive relationship between the Thalanyji People and MinRes,” BTAC chair Frances Hayes said.
“This agreement will help the Thalanyji community through employment, training and business opportunities with hopes of making Thalanyji People prosperous for decades to come.
“I want to thank MinRes for working alongside BTAC throughout the co-design process to support the vision of a bright future that we have for our people and their children.”
BTAC conducted cultural heritage surveys prior to the construction of Onslow Iron’s dedicated haul road that links the Ken’s Bore mine site to the Port of Ashburton. It will now continue providing monitoring services to ensure cultural heritage protection.
“I am grateful to the Thalanyji people for entrusting MinRes with the responsibility of implementing this agreement,” MinRes managing director Chris Ellison said. “I am excited by the future successes we will share at Onslow Iron.
“As the first agreement of its kind signed by MinRes, this is a proud moment for the company and signifies our ongoing commitment to partner with Traditional Owners on whose land we operate.”
Onslow Iron is one of the largest iron ore projects currently being developed in Australia, with a forecasted annual capacity of 35 million tonnes and a mine life of more than 30 years.
The project is being developed by MinRes and its Red Hill Iron joint venture (RHIJV) partners China Baowu Steel Group, AMCI and POSCO. MinRes designed, constructed and operates Onslow Iron, with the project delivering its first iron ore shipment in May.
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The Tomingley gold operation in New South Wales continues to be a boon for Alkane Resources, meeting its updated production guidance of 55–58,000 ounces (oz).
Tomingley produced 57,217oz of gold for the 12 months to June 30, with production anticipated to be between 70–80,000oz for the 2024–25 financial year.
“Tomingley is steadily increasing production from the Roswell underground,” Alkane managing director Nic Earner said. “Tomingley is now performing well, and the paste plant and flotation circuit upgrades remain on schedule.
“Alkane’s board and management acknowledge and thank the employees and contractors of the company for their strong and continued commitment to safety, production and exploration performance.”
Alkane announced back in June that it was looking to expand key infrastructure at Tomingley, increasing its production to above 100,000oz of gold per year while also expanding the site’s plant to a nominal 1.5 million tonnes per annum.
“The underground at Roswell has begun production, and we expect to produce over 70,000 ounces of gold next year,” Earner said at the time.
“The paste plant and the flotation/regrind circuit are under construction with commissioning expected later this year.”
Tomingley’s five-year plan also involves the relocation of the Newell Highway, a project expected to cost Alkane $89 million in capital expenditure. A final investment decision is expected to be made in early 2025.
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Shine is located near Fenix’s Iron Ridge operation in Western Australia. Image: Fenix Resources
Fenix Resources is taking steps to recommence mining at the Shine iron ore mine in Western Australia.
The miner took the reins of Shine as part of its acquisition of Mount Gibson Iron’s Mid-West iron ore, port and rail assets last year.
The Fenix board announced today it has approved the restart and is aiming to commence site works in the current quarter with first iron ore production targeted for the end of the year.
Fenix executive chair John Welborn said Shine is an attractive ‘shovel ready’ growth project with similar mining scale and operational characteristics to the company’s nearby operations at Iron Ridge.
“The restart of mining operations at Shine is an obvious opportunity to expand Fenix’s production and leverage our excellent Mid-West mining and transport logistics capabilities,” Welborn said.
“Shine will be our second wholly owned producing asset in the Mid-West and is planned to nearly double our annual production levels in the near-term, which will result in increased revenues, stronger cashflows, and profitability growth.
“Fenix is committed to unlocking value from the abundant valuable resources of the Mid-West and the obvious place to start is with the resources that we own and control.”
Fenix said approval to proceed with the Stage 1 mine plan for Shine follows a comprehensive review of all aspects of the project.
This included the completion of an in-pit drilling program, product sampling, a tender process for mining and processing operations, and updated resource modelling.
Pre-production capital expenditure is expected to be minimal given the availability of all required critical infrastructure and that all required approvals and permits are in place.
The approved capital expenditure budget for Stage 1 is $7.4 million and includes the upgrade of existing camp infrastructure, contractor mobilisation, and the upgrade of the Shine access road.
TAKRAF Australia: growing from strength-to-strength
TAKRAF Group project highlights in Australia. Image: TAKRAF Group
TAKRAF Group is one of Australia’s leading OEM (original equipment manufacturer) suppliers of new machines and equipment to the mining and resources industry. The Group also boasts an in-house capability to provide comprehensive aftermarket and maintenance support for its own and other OEM equipment.
With Australia’s mining and resources industry seeking to balance economic growth with environmental sustainability and social responsibility, TAKRAF Group is ideally positioned to support the local industry in the next stage of development of this ever evolving and dynamic sector.
Through its long and distinguished history in Australia, TAKRAF Group has developed an innate understanding of local mining conditions, standards and requirements, enabling its Australian offices to provide its clients with the most suitable solutions to their unique project requirements.
As a result, the Group boasts an extensive and increasing reference list of projects in Australia, covering both TAKRAF and DELKOR technologies.
Its reputation as the world’s leading technology provider in run-of-mine and bulk material handling has meant that its TAKRAF brand portfolio is in considerable demand from Australian operations, from its technologies for overburden removal and raw material extraction through processing to ship loading.
Recent project examples include the supply of a rail-mounted, slewing and luffing stacker for an important bulk export terminal. This machine, with its 62-metre curved boom is one of the largest and technically advanced globally.
A TAKRAF double jib level luffing ship unloader replaced two existing machines at an important deep-water port on the Australian east coast, enhancing the capability of the port in handling a range of commodities.
Other TAKRAF equipment currently in operation at Australian mines and ports ranges from semi-mobile crushing plants to bridge-type bucket-wheel reclaimers, stackers and trippers, radial stackers and portal scraper reclaimers.
The DELKOR liquid/solid separation range of technologies is also seeing increasing application in Australia, and globally, for their ability to enable the optimum recovery and recycling of water, reducing freshwater intake into the plant and enhancing environmental sustainability.
DELKOR dewatering equipment, such as its high-rate and high-density thickeners, are specifically designed for the needs of the mining industry and the ongoing transition from wet to dry tailings deposits.
In a recent order, TAKRAF successfully commissioned a 30m diameter DELKOR tailings thickener for a plant in Australia.
DELKOR has also provided four of the largest DELKOR belt linear screens (40 square metres) available globally to a gold mine in Australia, while its new generation BQR flotation cells, equipped with the MAXGen mechanism, have found wide acceptance in the country, with orders coming from several gold mines to a nickel restart project.
TAKRAF Australia’s countrywide presence includes office representation in Brisbane, Sydney and Perth, close to its clients’ registered offices; as well as smaller satellite offices close to its clients’ operations to support them in their day-to-day operational requirements.
Such long experience, combined with the wide extent of its network, has enabled TAKRAF Australia to establish strong working relationships with some of the largest diversified mining companies, as well with the smaller mid-tier and junior players.
In addition, its services, both technology supply and aftermarket support, are enhanced by solid partnerships with local Australian suppliers.
TAKRAF is one of the largest and most experienced full-service suppliers of mining industry equipment, supporting not only its own machines over their full product lifecycle, but also that supplied by other OEMs.
Given the importance of quickly identifying and solving issues before problems occur, TAKRAF Australia’s satellite offices are conveniently located to timeously and efficiently provide customised maintenance solutions.
These solutions range from continuous condition monitoring through regular inspections, spare parts supply, on-site repair support and stock management, to site assistance for troubleshooting and major repairs including complete refurbishments as an alternative to purchasing new equipment, as well as equipment relocation.
“Worldwide, the resource industry is facing complicated challenges in transforming towards a sustainable future,” TAKRAF Australia managing director Ivan Agostini said.
“As a result, TAKRAF Group focuses on areas that are critical for reliable and sustainable operations, providing innovative solutions that save energy, lower environmental impact and meet or exceed operational requirements.
“This, together with our commitment to innovation and technology development, means that we are well placed to support our clients in Australia towards the next significant step in our industry’s move towards greater environmental sustainability – an area in which the combined strengths of our TAKRAF and DELKOR portfolio will provide for fully integrated solutions that make the difference.
“Furthermore, we believe that our commitment to fostering collaboration between owners, operators and original equipment providers is the best approach in building systems that exert real savings on energy and water consumption.”
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Australian Vanadium Limited (AVL) has locked in key mining areas and a location for its downstream processing plant as the company moves closer to production.
AVL has finished the first phase of an optimised feasibility study (OFS), which was launched following the completion of AVL’s merger with Technology Metals Australia (TMT).
The study aimed to consolidate the companies’ adjoining projects into one orebody.
The Australian Vanadium project includes a vanadium mine and a crushing, milling and beneficiation plant located at Gabanintha near Meekatharra in WA, where the mining and upstream processing of vanadium bearing magnetite ore is proposed to be undertaken.
The next phase of the study will focus on finalising a detailed mining plan and optimisation of the plant and infrastructure.
“By focusing on the most promising sections of the orebody and conducting a comprehensive analysis to select the optimal location for the downstream processing plant, we have now finalised the key foundations from which the remaining OFS activities can fully define a ‘stronger for longer’ version of the project which has been unlocked through the recent merger,” AVL chief executive officer Graham Arvidson said.
In parallel to ongoing OFS works, Arvidson said AVL continues to assess opportunities for grant funding provided by the Australian Government.
The funds provide AVL options for activities such as detailed engineering and the acceleration of project schedule by proceeding with long lead equipment orders.
“Timely delivery of the project is a key objective for the company in anticipation of growing demand for vanadium flow batteries, which will cornerstone the essential long duration energy requirements of the net-zero carbon energy transition,” Arvidson said.
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Overlooking the Great Australia mine within the Cloncurry project. Image: True North Copper
True North Copper (TNC) has commenced clearing activities and blast hole drilling at the Wallace North deposit that sits within the Cloncurry copper project (CCP) in north-west Queensland.
TNC’s personnel is set operate the dry hire equipment at Wallace North, most of which is already on-site. The company is currently recruiting for the operations team, which is close to finalisation, with a supportive technical team already in place for when mining begins.
Dewatering of Wallace North’s pit area is already well advanced, with all blast hole drilling expected to be in dry holes.
Leading TNC during this next phase of operations is newly appointed managing director Bevan Jones, who commenced his role on June 10.
“We have commenced mining operations at Wallace North, which will allow our CCP to restart copper production,” Jones said.
“This has been our major goal since listing on the ASX (in June 2023). I thank our team for their efforts in moving towards this goal to allow TNC to become Australia’s next copper and critical metals producer.”
The mining ramp-up at Wallace North will initially build ore stockpiles, with road haulage expected to start within a few weeks of start-up.
Oxide ore will be transported by road train to True North’s Cloncurry heap leach. Sulphide ore will then be transferred to a nearby concentrator for toll treatment under True North’s toll-milling agreement with Glencore.
“CCP is estimated to deliver free cash flow of about $200 million at current prices over its 4.6-year initial mine life, based on existing JORC reserves,” Jones said.
“Cash flow from mining will be used to explore further opportunities to build this inventory.”
Wallace North is one of four open-pit deposits that makes up Cloncurry. The deposit currently holds an ore reserve totalling 0.7 million tonnes (probable) grading 1.01 per cent copper and 0.46 grams per tonne gold for 6800 tonnes of copper and 10,000 ounces of gold.
The miner described the MRE upgrade as “major” as it represents an 82 per cent increase in contained gold at the project.
“This is a wonderful result for Delta shareholders, reaffirming our long-held belief that the gold system at Mt Ida has significant scale and upside,” Delta Lithium managing director James Croser said.
“The Baldock is fast becoming one of the very few, large high-grade undeveloped gold deposits in WA in excess of 500,000 ounces.”
Mining approval has already been granted for Phase 1 open pit mining at Mt Ida, with significant potential for further resource growth now being tested as drilling gets underway.
“The commencement of open pit mining has been approved, and the underground approval with the department is submitted and pending,” Croser said.
“We are investigating the best options for Delta shareholders to crystallise value from our gold, which can then be applied to further developing our core lithium business.
“The efforts of Delta’s geology team have been tireless and driven toward this success. We have already started follow up gold drilling at Mt Ida to target resource growth beyond one million ounces.”
Holcim will expand its usage of AI technology. Image: Holcim
Holcim will use artificial intelligence to include more than 100 plants worldwide over the next four years under a new plan announced recently.
The announcement is an expansion of the company’s current use of artificial intelligence, which has already been deployed in 45 plants. The technology is used to predict and prevent failures as part of the company’s approach to preventive maintenance. The inclusion of AI technology is part of Holcim’s Plants of Tomorrow program, which involves over 140 integrated plants and grinding stations across more than 40 countries.
The new plan will see Holcim roll out its AI preventative maintenance solution and pilot a generative AI program. The solution was developed in collaboration with C3 AI, which is a well-known AI software provider.
“AI is a transformative technology that will revolutionise our industry,” Holcim chief executive officer Miljan Gutovic said.
The company will continue to upskill its maintenance teams to use the AI technology to carry out asset management and optimisation in real time.
Overall, Holcim has AI initiatives in several other areas including product quality and process optimisation to autonomous vehicles and computer vision. These initiatives also include the use of unmanned drones for enhanced inspection and safety practices, and smart control systems for efficient energy consumption.
“Already widely embedded across Holcim, AI catalyses operational efficiency and enhances customer service. We will ultimately scale up our use of AI to hundreds of sites worldwide,” Gutovic said.
EQ Resources hit new weekly production records in June at its Mount Carbine and Saloro tungsten operations in Queensland and Spain respectively.
The Mount Carbine operations produced a record 70.4 tonnes of 50 per cent tungsten oxide (WO3) concentrate over a seven-day production period, with a daily record of 13.6 tonnes of 50 per cent WO3 concentrate produced within a 24-hour period.
According to EQ, this marks a 16 per cent improvement over the previous weekly production record at Mount Carbine. It also builds off the production record achieved in the March 2024 quarter.
The Saloro operations also achieved a weekly production record of around 50 tonnes of 50 per cent WO3-equivalent concentrate within a seven-day period at the beginning of June.
EQ credited the higher recovery and final concentrate production at Saloro to significant upgrades implemented during the June 2024 quarter.
“I am very pleased with the progress seen at both operations specifically throughout June,” EQ chief executive officer Kevin MacNeill said.
“Mount Carbine faced a major rebuild of our main screen, which allowed us to implement the previously announced upgrade of one of our XRT sorters. Technology is evolving quickly and given our good relationship with TOMRA and considering that we just commissioned the new generation sorters at Saloro, we could finish the upgrade in less than a week.”
Looking ahead, the Saloro processing plant de-bottlenecking program is scheduled for completion by the end of the September 2024 quarter.
The plant improvements implemented so far include the crushing and screening circuit, modification of jig ragging, spiral circuit optimisation and a rearrangement of the shaking table circuit to capture a higher proportion of fine scheelite previously lost in the tailings stream.
The Queensland Investment Corporation will also fund the expansion of Mount Carbine via a $20 million loan to be received by EQ in two instalments over a three-year period.
Anna Wiley speaking at Copper to the World 2024. Image: Austmine
BHP’s planned expansion of Olympic Dam could be one of the most significant investments in Australian copper infrastructure in decades.
Speaking at the recent Copper to the World conference, BHP asset president copper Anna Wiley discussed the mining giant’s aspirations for the important metal in South Australia.
“To date, we have unlocked synergies of more than $US50 million ($75 million) per year from our newly combined operations in South Australia,” she said.
“At Olympic Dam, we have invested $1.8 billion over the past five years improving the safety, stability and reliability of our surface processing facilities.
“It’s a big operation – and it’s getting bigger.”
Olympic Dam churned out 212,000 tonnes of copper in the 2022–2023 financial year, and BHP is still making discoveries at depth.
“It’s one of the amazing things about Olympic Dam – we haven’t found the bottom of it yet,” Wiley said.
What’s next? Wiley touched on BHP’s plans for its copper portfolio in South Australia, which includes:
Progress and completion of the Prominent Hill shaft that will haul ore to surface from 1.3 kilometres deep
Transition to a block cave at Carrapateena following the recent commissioning of a second underground crusher this year
Further underground development at Olympic Dam
Ongoing studies into a smelter/refinery expansion at Olympic Dam
A new decline at Oak Dam to complete underground exploration and pave the way for a potential underground mine development.
“In the coming years, we hope to make a final investment decision on an expansion of our existing copper refining facilities at Olympic Dam, to construct a two-stage smelter and associated refinery complex,” Wiley said.
“This has the potential to result in production of greater than 500,000 tonnes per annum of copper – and more than 700,000 tonnes of copper equivalent per annum when you include the by-products of gold, silver and uranium.
“This would constitute one of the most significant investments in copper metal manufacturing infrastructure in Australia for many decades.”
To achieve its copper aspirations, Wiley said it all boils down to partnership and collaboration.
“Investment in skills, training and innovation and a thriving METS (mining equipment, technology and services) sector that builds our collective capability to lead the next generation of technologies and systems will be critically important to South Australia across a range of sectors.”
