Orion Minerals plans share placement to advance SA copper projects

Orion Minerals plans to raise A$25m ($19.5m) through share placement to advance the development of the Prieska Copper-Zinc Project and the Okiep Copper Complex project in South Africa.

It intends to raise the capital through a two-tranche placement to sophisticated and professional investors.

Subject to shareholder approval, the placement will comprise nearly 694.4 million shares to be issued at A$0.036 ($0.028) per fully paid ordinary share.

While the first tranche of about 490 million shares will raise A$17.6m ($13.99m) under Orion’s existing placement capacity, the second tranche comprises 204 million shares, raising a further A$7.4m ($5.88m).

Orion managing director Errol Smart said: “This is a transformational capital raising for Orion which marks the culmination of many years of hard work, firstly to bring the Prieska project to the point where it is now one of the very few fully permitted and development-ready base metal projects anywhere in the world.

“Our more recent Okiep copper complex transaction is also a game changer for the company, bringing an outstanding asset in a premier copper mining district into our portfolio, which we believe can be brought into production relatively quickly.”

The new capital will be used by Orion Minerals to advance the development-ready Prieska Copper-Zinc Project to a final investment decision scheduled in the latter half of this year.

The company also plans to undertake early-works and get a comprehensive project funding package.

Canada’s Lundin to commission Josemaria mine in Argentina in 2026

Canadian mining group Lundin is reportedly planning to commence operations of the $3.09bn Josemaria silver-gold-copper project in the San Juan Province of Argentina in 2026.

A company spokesman told Reuters that the construction of the project will commence next year.

The move, however, is subject to the approval of the project’s environmental study by San Juan province, which is expected this year.

Josemaría Project institutional relations head Ivan Grgic said: “In 2021, the approval of the environmental impact report is expected.

“The approvals will allow the start in 2022. The projection is to operate the mine commercially from 2026.”

The Josemaria copper-gold project is being developed by Josemaria Resources, a Lundin Group company.

Josemaria Resources recently announced the completion of the environmental social impact assessment (ESIA) for the Josemaria project, which is expected to create over 4,000 construction jobs and more than 1,000 jobs once in operational.

Commenting on the move, Lundin CEO Adam said: “The ESIA brings us a step closer to achieving our goal of developing Josemaria into a large-scale copper producer in time to meet rising worldwide demand and ensuring the surrounding communities and stakeholders receive direct and indirect benefits from the project.”

Anglo American closes Moranbah North coal mine over safety concerns

Anglo American has evacuated its personnel from the Moranbah North coal mine in Queensland, Australia, amid rising gas levels underground.

The Moranbah North mine is an underground longwall that produces hard coking coal. It is located in the northern part of the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland, 16km north of Moranbah.

The company removed its workforce at the underground coal mine on 20 February 2021 as a safety precaution.

Anglo American said the rise in gas levels was observed in the goaf, an area behind the longwall area that caves in behind the face post-mining.

The increased gas levels indicated an issue with coal heating and an overpressure event, which is a change in ventilation on the face.

Anglo American said that there is no evidence that an explosion occurred.

A spokesperson for the company said: “At the time of the incident, we had been mining through some particularly challenging geology and every precaution was being taken.

“The conclusions from the expert review of the incident will inform a comprehensive risk assessment prior to re-entry, which will require regulatory approval.

Hastings to raise $79m for rare earths project in Australia

Hastings Technology Metals has received commitments to raise more than A$100m ($78.6m) through a two-tranche placement to fast-track the construction of Yangibana rare earths project in Western Australia.

The project involves the development of five open-pit mines, groundwater abstraction, on-site processing of ore, tailings storage facilities, access and haul roads, and supporting infrastructures such as accommodation facilities, administration buildings and an airstrip.

Recently, the company raised A$57.2m ($45m) through tranche one of the placement. It was fully underwritten by Canaccord Genuity and supported by institutional investors.

The first tranche placement comprises 301.1 million shares at a price of 19c each.

Hastings intends to expand the second tranche placement’s size from the previous cap of A$15m ($11.8m) to A$43.5m ($34.2m) worth of shares, which are also priced at 19c each.

The second tranche placement is due to receive shareholder approval.

Hastings executive chairperson Charles Lew said: “Hastings has been overwhelmed with the strong support from Australian and international investors for our Yangibana rare earths project. Their support in the placement underscores the market’s belief that Yangibana will become Australia’s next rare earths producer.”

Rio Tinto to ship iron ore from Pilbara to Singapore

Mining major Rio Tinto has secured a new commercial freight shipping service to ship its iron ore directly from the Pilbara region in Western Australia to Singapore.

The company said the new service will be a quicker, cheaper, and cleaner alternative to the existing freight delivery route that goes via Perth.

Rio Tinto said that the new service started with the arrival of the general cargo ship MCP Graz from Singapore to deliver essential maintenance supplies at the Port of Dampier for the company’s iron ore operations.

Some of the supplies received by the miner include rail wagon wheels, wagon parts, oil, and lubricants for the iron ore’s operations in the Pilbara.

Rio Tinto expects to receive supplies such as tyres for heavy earth moving equipment, mining consumables, conveyor belts, rail wagon, and locomotive parts in the future.

Rio Tinto iron ore port, rail and core services managing director Richard Cohen said: “This is an important new service that connects the Pilbara to the rest of the world via the major international shipping hub of Singapore. It will provide a number of benefits by delivering cheaper, cleaner and faster freight to the region.

“It is an important breakthrough not only for our business, but it will also provide a great opportunity for the local Pilbara economy by helping to unlock small business growth and supporting job creation.”

When compared to freight through Fremantle in Perth, the new freight shipping service is expected to cut down the lead-time for goods into the Pilbara region by six to 10 days.

Fire at Caojiawa gold mine in China kills six people

A fire at the Caojiawa gold mine located in the city of Zhaoyuan in eastern China’s Shandong province has reportedly killed six people.

Local authorities were cited by news agency Xinhua as saying that the fire occurred at around 6am local time during maintenance at the mine on 16 February 2021.

Following the fire, ten miners were trapped under the mine shaft. However, four people have been rescued.

Sources with the municipal government of Zhaoyuan were quoted by ANI news agency as saying that to undertake rescue at the mine, nearly 200 people were deployed.

The fire was the second such incident in Shandong province, where an explosion occurred at the Hushan mine on 10 January 2021 trapping a total of 22 workers.

Rescue teams succeeded in pulling 11 gold miners to safety after 14 days of the accident. At least 10 miners were killed in the accident.

Reuters cited a state media report as saying that the recent accidents trigged the launch of a new campaign by the local government to close facilities that are considered unsafe.

Shandong province emergency bureau said it plans to start a comprehensive and thorough inspection programme by the end of March. The programme aims to assess the safety risks at all its non-coal mines.