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GMIN’s TZ mine on the brink of gold production

Published: 12 Jun 24

TSX-listed G Mining Ventures (GMIN) has announced progress in the commissioning of its Tocantinzinho (TZ) gold project, in Brazil. With the project engineered to produce about 175 000 oz/y of gold over a 10.5-year mine life, the company says it is on schedule and within budget to begin commercial production in the second half of 2024.

Resources Watch

Published: 12 Jun 24

This week: Richards Bay Minerals signs agreement for additional 140 MW of renewable energy; Platinum group metal poised to help protect world from growing water pollution threat and, Diamond transparency from mine to finger is on way from Petra

BHP set to avert mine strike in Chile with preliminary wage deal

Published: 12 Jun 24

BHP reached a preliminary wage agreement with union leaders in Chile, signaling the company will avert a costly strike at a copper mine that accounts for about 1% of global supply of the wiring metal. More than 1 100 members of the main union at BHP’s Spence mine in northern Chile will vote on the new offer, the Melbourne-based company said in a statement early Wednesday. The breakthrough came on the fifth and final day of talks mediated by labor department officials, with both sides agreeing to a an extension in order to hold the vote.

Elliott steps in to back faltering Canadian copper miner after bankruptcy

Published: 12 Jun 24

US hedge fund manager Elliott Investment Management has offered support to troubled Canadian miner Nevada Copper after the company filed for bankruptcy protection. Before Monday’s bankruptcy filing, Nevada Copper had attracted two bidders though it failed to close a deal with either one, CFO Gregory J. Martin said in a court filing. To help pay for the Chapter 11 restructuring case, the company agreed to borrow as much as $60-million from Elliott affiliates. Elliott didn’t immediately provide comment.

Freeport-McMoRan is looking for ways to expand copper production, CEO says

Published: 12 Jun 24

US copper giant Freeport-McMoRan believes it can unlock the equivalent of a large new mine by applying new processing technology at its existing assets, according to new CEO Kathleen Quirk. Quirk, who steps into the role on Tuesday to become the only female CEO of a major listed mining company, said in an interview that Freeport isn’t under pressure to follow rivals like BHP Group in seeking acquisitions, and will instead focus on innovation to grow production and lower costs.

Bannerman hikes Namibia uranium project capital cost estimate

Published: 11 Jun 24

Uranium project developer Bannerman Resources has announced a moderate increase in the preproduction capital forecast for the Etango-8 project, in Namibia. This update follows the completion of the front-end engineering design (FEED) and control budget estimate (CBE) processes. The completion of FEED and the CBE has refined the outcomes of the 2022 definitive feasibility study (DFS), enhancing accuracy and recency to key cost estimates. As a result, the CBE preproduction capital forecast has risen by $36-million, or 11.3%, from the DFS estimate to $353.5-million. The increase is driven by design changes and impacts of inflation.

Development of rare earth-free permanent magnets.

Artificial intelligence used to eliminate need for rare earths in permanent magnets

Published: 11 Jun 24

Discovering new materials has historically been slow. Now artificial intelligence (AI) is making it possible to discover a material entirely computationally and have that verified experimentally. An example of this is AI being used to create a permanent magnet that does not contain any rare earth – and this is just the start, Materials Nexus chief technical officer and co-founder Robert Forrest outlined to Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

US BLM approves follow up drilling at Arizona Lithium’s Big Sandy

Published: 11 Jun 24

The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has issued Arizona Lithium a permit for a drill and bulk sampling programme at the Big Sandy project, in Arizona. The ASX-listed company is now set to start a long-awaited follow up drill programme at Big Sandy, which currently contains a resource of 320 800 lithium-carbon equivalent.

Kamoa-Kakula Phase 3 concentrator achieves first production ahead of schedule

Published: 11 Jun 24

Canada-headquartered miner Ivanhoe Mines has achieved first concentrate production at the Kamoa-Kakula operation’s Phase 3 concentrator, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Phase 3 concentrator was completed nearly two quarters ahead of schedule and is expected to increase Kamoa-Kakula’s output to more than 600 000 t/y of copper once it is fully ramped up.

E25 explores Butcherbird restart amid record high manganese ore prices

Published: 11 Jun 24

Australia’s Element25 is investigating the potential restart of operations at the Butcherbird manganese project in Western Australia to capitalise on the recent surge in manganese ore prices. Prices have escalated following disruptions at South32’s Groote Eylandt (Gemco) operations in the Northern Territory. Typically producing over six-million tonnes a year of high-grade manganese, the Groote Eylandt mine has faced disruptions due to damage to its haul road and ship loading facilities from a tropical cyclone in March. This damage is expected to impact supply for at least a year.