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Ranger mine. Credit: ChameleonsEye / Shutterstock.com

Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) has chosen Rio Tinto to carry out rehabilitation at the Ranger uranium mine in Australia’s Northern Territory after several delays and cost overruns. Rio Tinto holds an 86.3% stake in ERA. 

ERA ceased mining operations at the Ranger site in 2021, aiming to complete the site’s clean-up and restoration by 2026 at an estimated cost of around A$800m ($527.7m). However, the company encountered several setbacks, leading to a revised cost projection of more than A$2.2bn and an extended completion timeline beyond 2028. 

Under the new management services agreement, Rio Tinto will oversee all aspects of the rehabilitation process including design, scoping and execution of closure projects. The transition to Rio Tinto’s management is set to begin immediately and is expected to be completed within three months. 

ERA CEO Brad Welsh said: “The ERA team has worked incredibly hard and made good progress rehabilitating Ranger. However, as the project moves into a new phase it will benefit from Rio Tinto’s global expertise in mine closure.”

Ionic Rare Earths (IonicRE) and Viridis Mining and Minerals have announced a JV to establish a rare earth separation refinery and a magnet recycling facility in Brazil. The facility will leverage IonicRE subsidiary Ionic Technologies’ separation technology.  

Demonstrated at its Belfast magnet recycling plant in the UK, the technology enabled the production of 11.5kg of high-purity 99.8%-grade didymium oxide, a blend of neodymium and praseodymium in a continuous production setting. 

The new 50:50 JV aims to capitalise on growing demand for rare earth elements, which are crucial for various high-tech applications including electric vehicles and renewable energy systems.  

The parties will co-fund the JV as well as the planned Brazilian facility on a 50:50 basis, with a scoping study for the refinery and recycling project scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024.

Toro Energy, an Australian uranium company, has announced plans to demerge non-core assets including nickel, gold and base metal projects in Western Australia (WA). This decision awaits necessary approvals and follows a comprehensive review of the company’s asset portfolio, particularly in light of findings from the Lake Maitland scoping study. 

The company noted that Lake Maitland, a key component of Toro’s Wiluna uranium project in WA, has shown promising potential. The scoping study for Lake Maitland revealed a stand-alone project with a pre-tax net present value of $610m (A$926.6m) and an impressive internal rate of return of 41%, assuming a triuranium octoxide (U3O8) price of $70 per pound. 

The projects earmarked for the spin-out include the wholly owned Dusty nickel project located 50km east of Wiluna, and the Yandal gold and base metal project.

Australia-based uranium company Paladin Energy has initiated producing and drumming uranium concentrate at its Langer Heinrich mine (LHM) in Namibia. 

The company noted that it will focus on increasing production levels as well as accumulating a stockpile of finished product in preparation for future shipments to its customers. 

As Paladin Energy transitions into this new phase of production, the company’s chief operating officer, Paul Hemburrow, will take on full responsibility for all activities at LHM. 

In July 2022, Paladin decided to relaunch production at LHM, which was shuttered in 2018 due to low uranium prices. Before its closure, the mine produced more than 43 million pounds of natural uranium ore concentrate.

True North Copper has announced a A$5m ($3.2m) share placement to meet its working capital needs.  

The Australian miner entered a binding documentation with Millinium Capital Managers, acting as the trustee for MP Materials and Mining Group Fund. A specialist mining investment fund, MP Materials and Mining Group Fund is supported by high-net-worth individuals as well as family office investors. 

This placement involves the issuance of 41,666,667 fully paid ordinary shares at A$0.12 each. The issue price of A$0.12 per share is a 66.67% premium over the last stock close of A$0.072. According to True North Copper, this reflects robust investor confidence in its growth prospects. The company intends to fund exploration programmes using the capital raised.