Mines are running at full-bore in a modern-day gold rush fueled by never-before-seen prices that make Nevada, if it were its own country, No. 5 in the world for gold production.
The Clean Mining Alliance (CMA), a Canadian a non-profit industry association based in Vancouver, BC, unveiled today its new association aimed at supporting and advocating technological advancements to make the mining industry cleaner and more environmentally responsible.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, today launched the new Thermo Scientific Laser TX optical thickness gauge, the latest addition to its established line of online, non-contact thickness measurement and coating weight gauges.
Mines are often located in very remote areas with indifferent, or no, access to modern communications systems which are taken for granted in most places nowadays. This new microsite details the options available.
Tailings are materials produced from mining such as milled rock and effluents. In many cases, massive quantities of these materials, regarded as waste, are left from previous operations. Given the potential health and environmental risks associated with tailings, they could be viewed as problems or project deterrents, but then again, they could be viewed as a source of cash.
BBC News reports on new technology used for mining copper in Chile. Biosigma, a joint venture between Codelco and Nippon Metals and Mining, is experimenting with microbes that break down copper at higher recovery rates and reduce operating costs:
Alexander Mining has received notification from the Commissioner of Patents in Australia that its MetaLeach subsidiary has been granted a Standard Patent for a Method for Leaching of a Copper-containing Ore, patent number 2011200703 (this is derived from the Australian national phase entry from the corresponding PCT/AU2008/001027 application).
Outotec has developed a two-stage partial roasting process to remove impurities – such as arsenic, antimony and carbon – from copper and gold concentrates as a pre-treatment to actual extraction processes.
Pele Mountain Resources Inc. (TSX Venture: GEM; OTCQX: GOLDF) (“Pele” or the “Company”) today announced that processing design improvements have resulted in sharply higher recoveries of critical rare earth oxides (“REO”), including neodymium, dysprosium and yttrium oxides, (Pele’s “Big 3 REO”) at its Eco Ridge Mine Rare Earths and Uranium Project (“Eco Ridge” or the “Project”) in Elliot Lake,Ontario.
World #2 iron ore miner Rio Tinto has reached a deal with Komatsu to buy 150 driverless truck over the next four years.
The new trucks, which will start arriving in 2012, will be used in Rio Tinto's Pilbara iron ore mines in Western Australia and can be controlled from its Operations Centre in Perth more than 1500 km away.
Rio says the vehicles will increase productivity by hauling more material quicker. The Komatsu Autonomous Haulage System, a world first, has been tested in the Pilbara since December 2008.
The company currently operates a fleet of 203 standard haul trucks and 10 driverless vehicles.
An innovative approach to design options for tailings thickening at Karara Iron Ore Project in Western Australia has resulted in lower overall cost, reduced thickener sizes and minimized site construction time as the project moves into production. The initial 8 Mt/y project – with Karara's known resources sufficient to support eventual production of +30 Mt/y for more than 30 years – is benefitting from a partnership between the Karara development team and Outotec staff extending from early process design stage to fabrication.
Researchers have discovered a new way to separate gold, silver, copper and other valuable metals from ore using the flotation processing method, reports MEI Online.
Fin24 is reporting that a huge tailings dam being built in Kuma township could get kyboshed due to opposition from environmental groups, pressure groups and demands from landowners.
The Kareerand tailings dam being built by First Uranium TSX:FIU, JSE:FUM 15km outside Stilfontein is a R400 million project motivated by a need to solve the ubiquitous dust cloud that currently envelops Kuma residents from 15 old tailings dams — relics from the Buffelsfontein and Hartbeesfontein gold mines — says Fin24, which describes the dam in some detail:
Anvil Mining is scheduled to commence production of copper from its new Kinsevere Stage II Solvent Extraction Electrowinning (SX-EW) plant in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the current quarter.
Outotec has signed a contract with Chilean Codelco, the leading copper producer in the world, for the design and delivery of concentrator technology to Codelco's new Mina Ministro Hales mine in northern Chile.
Banro Corporation reports that construction of its wholly-owned Twangiza Phase 1 gold project in South Kivu Province, DRC, is proceeding on schedule with gold production expected to begin in Q4 2011.
Mining pumps not only have to pump the liquids of varying quality and quantity, but also have to meet the expectations of investors. The life and performance of mining pumps will have the direct effect on the profitability of the company.
Rio Tinto has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) to take the next step in global commercialisation of the HIsmelt technology to be used in a fully integrated steel making facility.
Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) today announced a new licensing agreement with Yanzhou Coal Mining Company for the installation of its Longwall Top Coal Caving (LTCC) technology to enhance recovery of metallurgical coal at Peabody's North Goonyella Mine in the Bowen Basin, Queensland, Australia. Yanzhou is a subsidiary of Yankuang Group Co. Ltd.
Green Car Congress reports Rio Tinto has signed a deal with with the India's Jindal Steel and Power, part of the $15 billion Jindal group, to develop and commercialize the HIsmelt direct smelting technology. The existing plant in Australia, shuttered by Rio Tinto in 2009 because of depressed pig iron prices, will be relocated to India.
HIsmelt, short for high-intensity smelting, is the first commercial direct smelting process for making iron straight from ore. The technology smelts iron ore fines directly using non-coking coals, and provides environmental benefits over traditional ironmaking as it removes the need for coke ovens and sinter plants.
With attendance now approaching 100 representing 11 different countries at the last count, the industry’s first ever dedicated IPCC conference in Belo Horizonte, Brazil from 21-23 September continues to garner interest in the industry where it really matters.
Regal Resources, via its 50% owned entity UCTL Pty, has retained Stanford University in California, one of the world’s leading research universities, to conduct Phase Two Proof of Concept Testing of its UCTL technology.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the University of Chile, and the Chile International Centre of Excellence in Mining and Minerals Processing have created a new mining research centre based in Santiago, Chile, reports Australian Mining.
Great Western Minerals Group (“GWMG”) is pleased to announce that it has contracted DRA Mineral Projects (Pty) Ltd. (“DRA”) of South Africa, a company with a strong track record of utilizing world class standards, for the detailed design of the Steenkampskraal processing plant.
DRA is a multi-disciplinary, multi-national organization that specializes in the mining, infrastructure and mineral processing industries. As one of the largest project management enterprises in Africa, the South African-founded group of companies has constructed plants on five continents.
Risk management and insurance broking firm Aon South Africa principal broker Russell Davis warns mining companies that, although the threat of acid mine drainage (AMD) has quietened down, it still has not gone away and the implications of this threat could have a significant impact on the responsible companies’ coffers.
What, pray, is a nickel-iron alloy ore? That’s a question that holds no mystery to the management and shareholders of First Point Minerals, which has just identified its first drill-ready nickel-iron alloy target on the Klow project in central British Columbia.
Orezone Gold Corporation (ORE:TSX) is pleased to announce that it has completed the sale of its Sega Gold Project ("Sega") in Burkina Faso to Cluff Gold plc (Cluff) for total consideration of approximately US$26.5M.