QMines has executed a term sheet to acquire a 100 per cent interest in the Develin Creek copper-zinc-silver project from Zenith Minerals for total consideration of $4.5 million in cash and shares.
The acquisition is a two staged transaction with the initial interest of 51 per cent acquired for $1.2 million in cash and $1 million in shares. The additional interest is to be acquired for a further $1.3 million in cash and $1 million in shares within 12 months.
“Since listing in only May 2021, the QMines team has rapidly grown its copper resources at the Mt Chalmers project. We always believed that the Develin Creek asset was very complementary and would provide the scale required to progress the Mt Chalmers project towards sustainable copper production,” QMines managing director Andrew Sparke said.
“We wish to thanks the Zenith board for sharing our vision of a larger, combined copper business and for their patience and assistance with the transaction.
“We would like to welcome Zenith and their shareholders to the register as large owners in our company. We look forward to working closely with you as we test several exciting exploration targets and prepare the company for potential future production.”
Zenith Minerals executive chair David Ledger said that the company’s divestment provides itself with immediate cash and allows for it to maintain a focus on the development of its lithium assets.
“This has been a deliberate reallocation of our resources where we believe we can maximise value for our shareholders. We will continue to review the asset base and monetise projects at the appropriate times,” Ledger said.
It is said that Develin Creek has an indicated and inferred resource of 4.9 megatons (Mt) at 1.79 per cent of copper equivalent (CuEq) for 87,173 tonnes of CuEq.
Gold Road Resources has released its half-yearly results, sharing record profits.
Revenue from gold sales for the six months totalled $229 million, up from $196.5 million the previous financial year (FY22).
Gold sales reached 80,115 ounces, outstripping the 79,606 ounces sold in up to June FY22, with production benefiting from record throughput rates for the half year.
“The six months to 30 June 2023 has broken several financial records for Gold Road,” managing director and chief executive officer Duncan Gibbs said.
“The strong result reflects the consistent performance of the processing plant, a supportive Australian dollar gold price and Gold Road’s production being fully unhedged.”
Gold Road’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) for the six month period totalled $122.6 million, with a margin of 54 per cent.
Operating cash flow for the six months to June 30 was $110.3 million, smashing the $69.5 million of the previous June 30 period in 2022.
The consolidated net profit after tax for the six months was $55.7 million, compared to the June 2022 after tax profit of $39.9 million.
Gold Road ended the half year with cash and short-term deposits of $152.6 million, far above the $74.4 million from FY22.
Additionally, Gold Road’s Gruyere exploration project in WA is on target to achieve the restated 2023 annual guidance of 320,000 to 350,000 ounces of gold.
Gold Road also reported a strong exploration and investment portfolio with strategic listed investments in De Grey Mining and Yandal Resources valued at $416.1 million on 30 June 2023.
Drilling continues at Gold Road’s Mallina and Yamarna projects in WA with on ground activities commenced at the Greenvale project.
The Golden Highway project was also announced to have completed drilling in preparation for feasibility level studies.
Onetrak has officially opened its Sydney branch in Moorebank, located 27km from the Sydney business district and nearby the M5 Motorway and M7 interchange.
The new Sydney branch is the eighth Onetrak branch. The company has locations around Australia including Bridgewater in Tasmania’s south, Somerset in Tasmania’s north, Hallam in Victoria, Tumut in New South Wales, Albany in Western Australia, Mt Gambier in South Australia and Caboolture in Queensland.
Onetrak is home to large brands within the earthmoving, forestry, material handling and extractive industries. The business offering includes new and used machine sales, rental equipment, service and parts.
Onetrak’s brand portfolio includes Hidromek, Tigercat, Striker, Anaconda, Dressta, Terex Fuchs, EIW Nirox, Alicon, Timber Max, Veriga and Rotobec nationwide and additionally it has Hyundai in Tasmania only.
The company’s regional manager for QLD and NSW, Brad Madden, will be heading the branch and is looking forward to being a part of Onetrak’s growth in the Sydney area.
“Onetrak have had a presence in Sydney for the last three years gradually stepping into the market as we grew,” he said.
“The time has now come to commit to our own facility, and we are excited and serious about providing service and support for our customers. We are currently running two fully maintained service vehicles, have a sales team and parts support for the area. The move into our new facility at Moorebank provides us with a large yard, plenty of hard stand area, office space to accommodate our team and a large warehouse.
“We will be able to hold more parts to make a quicker turn around for our valued customers along with a large workshop space to better service our customers machinery. I personally am excited about the growth we are seeing in Sydney and am excited to be a part of the Sydney journey.”
Onetrak managing director David Hazell said it was important to establish a presence in Sydney as part of the company’s business plan to become a truly national heavy equipment dealer.
“With the help of our loyal customers and fantastic brands, Onetrak has grown beyond our original expectations, and it was important we established a full-time presence in Sydney to better support our growing client base and key franchises in this important region,” Hazell said.
“We are extremely fortunate to have some of the most talented and dedicated employees in the industry working for Onetrak and it’s the company’s family feel and commitment to providing exceptional customer service that has allowed us to grow and prosper in what is otherwise a saturated and competitive space.
“We really look forward to growing and expanding the business further in conjunction with our people and providing a level of customer service that is recognised with our Onetrak brand”.
The Sydney branch is located at 9 Helles Ave, Moorebank, and can be contacted at 02 8729 8400.
Evolution Mining has released an updated mineral resource estimate for its Ernest Henry project.
Ernest Henry is located 38km north-east of Cloncurry, Queenslandand is a large-scale copper-gold operation. Its mine life was extended in June of this year.
As of June 30, the Ernest Henry mineral resource is estimated at 101.5 million tonnes at 1.25 per cent copper and 0.73 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for 1.3 million tonnes of contained copper and 2.4 million ounces of contained gold.
This is an increase of 6.7 million tonnes, 76,000 ounces of contained gold and 63,000 tonnes of contained copper compared to the December 31 2022 mineral resource estimate (MRE).
The new MRE was said to be informed by results from 26 new drill holes completed from January 1 to March 8.
The new MRE will now inform the Ernest Henry extension feasibility study engineering work following the results of the mine extension pre-feasibility study that demonstrated an opportunity to extend the Ernest Henry mine life by 17 years to 2040.
“Ernest Henry continues to demonstrate its world class status with additional mineral resource growth since the previous estimate with the addition of only 26 new holes,” Evolution Mining chief executive officer Lawrie Conway said.
“This is the fourth increase in the first 18 months of 100 per cent ownership, with a net increase of 41–44 per cent in contained metal over this period.
“Resource increases outside the mine extension feasibility study footprint highlights the excellent potential for further resource growth and the potential to operate the plant at full capacity over the full 17-year mine life extension to 2040.”
Glencore Queensland Metals mines zinc and copper in the Mt Isa region. Image: Glencore
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has visited Glencore’s Mount Isa mines to discuss the importance of metals and minerals.
The Mt Isa copper-zinc mines are located in Mount Isa, Queensland, and are home to the only copper smelter and refinery in the state.
Glencore head of zinc and copper business Sam Strohmayr said the company had been looking forward to welcoming the Prime Minister to the site.
“We were delighted to host the Prime Minister and pleased that he was able to take time to visit our zinc operations,” Strohmayr said.
“We were also grateful to have the opportunity to discuss the increasing importance of metals and minerals in Australia and the contribution our operations make to the region.
“Mount Isa is one of Australia’s most successful mining towns and this is in large part to the support we get from the community.”
Glencore’s Queensland metals business employed over 4400 people in 2022, and contributed $2.4 billion to the economy.
This number included $1.7 billion spent on goods and services, which allowed the company to work with approximately 2130 local suppliers.
In 2022, Glencore spent $1.25 billion in investment commitments in transition metals, including spending $475 million to acquire the remaining 56.25 per cent interest in the MARA copper project in the Catamarca province of Argentina.
Quarries need reliable equipment that can handle intense conditions. High temperatures, freezing cold, heavy material and constant use can put extreme pressure on components.
This is why Oli Vibrators Australia is fully stocked and on standby to assist Australian quarries.
Many quarries are also located in remote areas, operating almost 24 hours per day. They can’t afford a breakdown.
Sean Brewer, sales executive at Oli Vibrators, told Quarry this is why the vibration motor specialist remains fully stocked and on standby.
“Having our Australian subsidiary and warehouse located in Melbourne is perfect for the many customers we have in the quarry and mining sector,” he said.
“There’s so many OLI vibrators out there in Australia’s crushing, scalping and dewatering screens and a lot of them are purring away 24/7 and getting a real workout. The push for higher productivity and minimal downtime is factored in to all the quarry managers budgets.”
“We’re not just down the road from our manufacturing plants in Italy and Malta, so the need for a fully stocked local warehouse is crucial to our customers and distributors. As such we need to ensure that our local Melbourne warehouse is well stocked not only with all our faster moving smaller vibrators, but also our big bangers like our six & eight pole motors with huge kilograms of force and proven reliability.”
Oli Vibrators has a strong presence in Australia.
Oli Vibrators specialise in industrial vibration technology, providing high-quality, European-built industrial electric and pneumatic vibrators, frequency converters, flowaids and aerators. The company has operated in Australia for more than two decades and has built up expertise in providing the right tools for the job.
Oli Vibrators manufactures its product in Italy, where its head office is located, and Malta. Here, the equipment goes through rigorous testing and quality control to ensure they can handle the extreme conditions.
The Melbourne-based branch liaises with the European manufacturing facilities to ensure it has the core items required for quarries.
Brewer said this is important, as several local quarry plant equipment manufacturers and designers incorporate Oli vibrators into their designs.
“They need reassurance so that when they get a call from a stressed quarry manager looking for a quick supply turnaround time, we’ll be able to assist quickly and not to let them down,” he said.
He added that while much of the plant equipment found in Australian quarries was imported and not locally manufactured, it was good to see a lot of it comes with Oli vibrators as original equipment.
“Ideally, we would love to supply mainly local manufacturers with our product out of the Melbourne warehouse but realistically our European colleagues are pushing just as hard to get the Oli vibrators on to their own locally produced quarry equipment bound for Australia,” he said.
“We’re happy to offer the after sales support and advice once it’s here. We are also happy to swap out our competitor’s vibrators for the OLI as happens quite a bit, because we have the stock on hand.”
Brewer spends the bulk of his workday talking with customers, many of whom are the procurement and plant maintenance managers for quarries.
With such a wide range of applications to cover, he helps them find the right size and placement for the company’s range of equipment. Small aerators and fluidisers are often deployed for cement powder, lime, and fly ash applications, while heavy-duty vibrators are installed on hoppers and bins. Even the delivery trucks can make use of the equipment.
Oli Vibrator’s specialists work closely with the site team, using drawings and site visits to help pick the right tool for the job.
Brewer said feedback has been positive.
“They love that we can solve problems for them quickly,” he said. “A site might have a blockage or reduced flow. They give us a phone call or email, and we can work together to get things moving.”
“Oli Group worldwide for many years has strived to stand by our mantra of ‘When You need it, where you need it’, and I think with the huge range of large size and brute force vibrators that we keep on the shelf, combined with the local logistics network we have finely tuned over the years, we live up to that.
“There is also a vast number of maintenance companies in Australia that specifically service the quarry sector, so they look to us to provide solutions with fast and reliable supply times. I get great satisfaction when I’m presented with a problem where our products can help and when the call comes back to me saying problem solved.” •
Kinder Australia is helping quarries protect one of their expensive assets – conveyor belts.
The Australian sun is relentless, with some of the highest levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the world.
According to the Cancer Council, the UV radiation is strong enough to cause sunburn in as little as 11 minutes on a fine summer day.
For people, avoiding the damaging rays can be as simple as “slip, slop, slap,” but the same can’t be said about conveyors.
Usually located outside conveyors need to bear the brunt of the elements. Conveyor belts – which are usually the most expensive part of the conveyor – are susceptible to UV and heat. It can cause cracking, or delamination of the top cover, significantly shortening the equipment’s life.
Sean Kinder, business development manager at Kinder Australia, told Quarry that to avoid costly downtime and repairs, quarries can cover up and protect their conveyors with the K-AllShelter.
“K-AllShelter Conveyor Covers have been designed to provide complete and reliable coverage of the conveyor,” he said.
“K-AllShelter Conveyor Belt Covers are manufactured using a wide range of optional materials and engineered as a waterproof, durable barrier.”
It’s not just the sun and heat that can disrupt a quarrying operation. Rain, hail, and sleet can alter the consistency and quality of the conveyed materials.
Kinder points to the example of a concrete plant that needs to keep its moisture levels consistent to maintain the relevant specification. Heavy rains would make this impossible, pausing critical production time.
Rain can also create downstream production issues, including screen blinding and clogging issues. Moist materials can also cause hang up in chutes, blocking material flow and creating a spillage risk. In extreme scenarios, the wind and rain could even wash the material off the belt.
Kinder said the K-AllShelter can be custom made to suit all belt widths and models.
“It depends on what you’re trying to do – are you just looking to keep the product dry, or are you looking to protect it from the wind? Is the cover being used as a guard? Are you looking to reduce dust?” he said.
“We can change the shape of the cover to fit almost any application. Our team will visit the site and inspect the conveyor, taking measurements and acquiring drawings. From there, we can create a digital model before beginning the manufacturing process.”
“When it is installed, we can also paint the cover to fit with the rest of the environment. If it’s in a more arid area, we can help it blend into the surrounding colours.”
The conveyor belt covers can be designed and manufactured using a wide range of high-performance materials including galvanised steel, pre-lacquered steel, stainless steel and aluminium and fibre reinforced polyester.
Covering the conveyor is also beneficial to operators from a safety perfective. Moving parts are covered effectively, and dust is contained safely within the covers. It features a patented double lock/hinge system, which allows access from either side of the conveyor.
Service props and struts also come in varying designs, shapes, and sizes. These handy tools allow operators to gain access inside the cover to conduct routine maintenance.
Service props are fully adjustable systems that hold up the conveyor belt cover safely and securely so that any maintenance inside the covers can be easily performed.
Kinder has had positive feedback.
“The sites that have generally ordered a sample to be installed on one conveyor have come back to have them installed on others,” he said.
“The sites are comfortable using them and they can see the value the protection brings.”
The K-AllShellter also feature a dust-tight seal that prevents dust from escaping the conveyor. This also prevents dust from entering the conveyor system and causing damage to the components.
Kinder said eliminating spillage and dust is vital for the company, and one of the reasons it is focusing on the K-AllShelter.
“We are always looking for ways to cut down on the amount of labour our customers need to do. Eliminating spillage means there is less time spent cleaning around the conveyors, and more time focused on tasks that add value.”
Pitchers Partners has released its Dealmakers: mid-market M&A in Australia 2023 update, where it found that the mining sector contributed significantly to the country’s M&A (mergers and acquisitions) value through the Newmont acquisition of Newcrest.
Pitcher Partners is an association of independent accounting and business advisory firms located in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth and Sydney.
Its latest dealers M&A (mergers and acquisitions) update found that international corporate buyers accounted for $48 billion of M&A activity in the first half of 2023. As a result, this has delivered the strongest six-month interval for offshore M&A values since 2018.
“Across all markets, foreign interest was led by North American dealmakers who contributed 77 per cent of deal value as they explored opportunities in Australia’s rich technology sector, as well as mining and resources, finance and healthcare,” the report said.
The overall value of global M&A was down by 35 per cent compared to the first half of 2022 and with a 37 per cent slump in the mid-market.
However, it was good news for Australia as the country’s M&A value increased by 13 per cent compared to the first half of 2022. Australian transactions in the first half of 2023 were worth $64.8 billion, coming from 390 deals. The number of deals has decreased by 26 per cent compared to those recorded in 2022.
The value figure is said to be influenced by the $26.6 billion Newmont purchase of Newcrest, which has made up approximately 41 per cent of the total deal value in Australia during the first half of 2023.
“Energy, mining and utilities made up 78 per cent of deal value in the first half of 2023, and even without the inclusion of the Newcrest sale, the sector still made up 50 per cent of total sales,” the report said.
Pitcher Partners Sydney corporate finance partner Andy Hough said that while values remain strong, Australian deal volumes were the lowest in more than five years, which he attributed to deals taking longer to complete in comparison to 12 months ago.
“Due diligence is becoming an increasingly drawn-out process, with factors such as environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) and increased regulatory burdens leading to a greater depth of scope,” Hough said.
“While that has negatively impacted on deal numbers in this half, it should result in an uptick of completed deals in the second half of the year,” Hough said.
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