Latest News

21 December

Antofagasta proceeds with $4.4bn Centinela mine expansion in Chile

The new 95,000 tonnes-per-day (tpd) concentrator will feature high-pressure grinding rolls (HPGRs) for reduced energy usage. Credit: Jose Luis Stephens/Shutterstock.com.

Mining company Antofagasta has approved the construction of a second concentrator plant at its Centinela copper mine in Chile. It plans to immediately start critical path works. Full construction will begin after finalisation of definitive project finance documents in Q1 2024.

This project will be backed by direct financing from Centinela’s shareholders, Antofagasta and Marubeni, which will contribute around 40% of the overall costs, and funds from lenders.

The second concentrator will be built in two phases. It will add capacity to produce an additional 170,000 copper equivalent tonnes per annum (tpa).

The production will include 144,000 tonnes (t) of copper, 130,000oz of gold and 3,500t of molybdenum. With an ore reserve of around two billion tonnes, the mine life of Centinela is expected to be around 36 years.

The project’s current cost estimate is around $4.4bn, up from the previous $3.7bn announced in August 2022.

The company will also invest in expanding the existing raw seawater pumping and transport system, and a new facility for tailings storage.

13 December

GM, Komatsu to build hydrogen fuel cell for trucks

US automaker General Motors (GM) and Japanese equipment manufacturer Komatsu are set to jointly develop a hydrogen fuel cell power module for the latter’s 930E electric drive mining truck.

The two companies will co-design and validate the technology. Hydrogen fuel cells are suitable for electrifying applications conventionally powered by diesel engines as they are both lightweight and easy to refuel with zero emissions.

The companies plan to trial their first prototype, a HYDROTEC-powered mining vehicle, at Komatsu’s Arizona Proving Grounds research and development facility by the mid-2020s.

The vehicle will be powered by more than 2MW of HYDROTEC power cubes.

19 December

Atomionics steps up gravity ambitions

Singapore-based technology start-up Atomionics has entered agreements with three mining companies for the adoption of its Gravio technology, which taps gravity variations to detect minerals, Reuters reported.

Atomionics CEO Sahil Tapiawala told the news agency that the companies will deploy its technology early next year. The names of the mining companies were not disclosed due to commercial confidentiality.

Gravio is based on highly sensitive ‘gravimeters’ developed by Atomionics. These sensors are used for detecting the unique gravitational variations caused by different minerals, stated Artrocker.

The sensors, coupled with AI algorithms, help pinpoint tiny variations in gravity and measure the potential mineral resources.

15 December

ASCU, Nuton to establish JV for Arizona copper project

Canadian copper developer Arizona Sonoran Copper (ASCU) has signed an option agreement to set up a joint venture (JV) with Rio Tinto subsidiary Nuton for the Cactus project in Arizona, US.

As part of the JV, Nuton’s copper leach-related technologies will be deployed at the project, which comprises the Cactus mine and Parks/Salyer project.

Under the agreement, two of ASCU’s subsidiaries, Arizona Sonoran Copper Company (USA) (AUSA) and Cactus 110, will form the JV with Nuton.

AUSA has granted Nuton an exclusive right and option to acquire between a 35% and 40% interest in its Cactus project.

The JV agreement provides for total funding of up to $33m (C$44.15m) in cash. It will include $10m, which is payable by Nuton to ASUSA.

In April 2022, Rio Tinto agreed to invest $23.7m in ASCU and acquire a 7.4% stake in the company.

19 December

Panama rejects three mining concessions

The Government of Panama has rejected Canadian mining company Orla Mining’s requests for three mining concessions, including the Cerro Quema project.

The Panamanian Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MICI) cancelled the concessions and declared the area falling under the project a reserve area.

Located in Azuero Peninsula, in Los Santos province, the Cerro Quema project occupies 15,000ha of land with a copper-gold zone discovery. A pre-feasibility study on the project was completed in July 2021.

It is an open-pit heap leach mine, copper-gold sulphide project with various exploration targets.

The company’s subsidiary had recently received resolutions from the ministry that sought to cancel the concessions after they have expired and classify them as an under reserve area.

The ministry has also been prohibited from granting mining concessions for exploration or extraction in reserve areas.

02/18/2024 09:05:12

Latest Deals

Hydro's Alunorte alumina refinery in Brazil. Credit: Norsk Hydro ASA.

Glencore closes stake acquisition in Norsk Hydro’s Brazil assets

Glencore has completed the acquisition of a 30% stake in Norsk Hydro’s Hydro Alunorte alumina refinery in Brazil and its 5% stake in bauxite producer Mineracão Rio do Norte (MRN). The deal also included Vale’s 40% interest in MRN, which was acquired by Hydro and immediately sold to Glencore. Glencore is now the largest shareholder in MRN (45%). The remaining 55% interest is owned by South 32, Rio Tinto and CBA. Hydro remains the largest shareholder in Alunorte, with a 62% stake.

Cobalt One to makes C$80m Canadian acquisition

Cobalt One Energy, which is owned by Blackstone Minerals, is to acquire the Bucko Lake nickel mine in Manitoba, Canada, from CaNickel Mining for approximately C$80m ($59.1m). Bucko Lake is a past-producing class 1 nickel sulfide mine located in Manitoba, which began production in 2009 and was operational until 2012. Under the agreement, Cobalt One has an exclusive right and option for a one year period to purchase the Bucko Lake project by making payments in tranches.

IsoEnergy closes merger with Consolidated Uranium

Canadian uranium exploration company IsoEnergy has concluded the acquisition of Consolidated Uranium. Under the merger agreement, IsoEnergy acquired all the issued and outstanding shares of Consolidated Uranium that it did not own earlier. The deal valued Consolidated Uranium at almost $669.4m (C$903.5m). IsoEnergy is now expected to have the scale to boost its commercial participation in the nuclear fuel market.

Source: Pharmaceutical Technology

Denarius Metals to acquire stake in Rio Narcea Recursos

Denarius Metals has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 50% stake in Rio Narcea Recursos (RNR) for a cash consideration of €25m ($27m). RNR holds rights to exploit the past-producing Aguablanca nickel-copper mine in Monesterio, Extremadura, Spain. Denarius Metals’ wholly owned subsidiary, Alto Minerals will acquire 50% of all of the issued and outstanding shares of RNR. Of the total consideration, Alto Minerals paid €2.5m to RNR Shareholder Group.

02/17/2024 21:58:43

Project Updates

Cabinda Phosphate Project

Credit: Minbos Resources

Location: Angola
Project type: Open pit
Reserves: 4.72t
Life of mine: 20 years

The Cabinda phosphate project is an open-pit mining and fertiliser production development located in Cabinda Province, Angola, Central Africa. It is being developed by a joint venture between Minbos Resources (85%) and local partners (15%) at an estimated initial capital cost of $54.17m.

Baptiste Nickel Project

Credit: Shutterstock

Location: British Columbia
Project type: Open-pit
Reserves: 1.48t
Life of mine: 29 years

The Baptiste nickel project is a greenfield, open-pit mining project in the Nechako region of British Columbia, Canada. It is being developed by Vancouver-based nickel mining company FPX Nickel at an estimated initial capital cost of $2.18bn.

Turnagain Nickel Project

Credit: Giga Metals

Location: British Columbia
Project type: Open pit
Reserves: 950.5 million tonnes
Life of mine: 30 years

Turnagain is one of the world’s largest undeveloped nickel sulphide deposits, located in northern British Columbia, Canada. Hard Creek Nickel, a joint venture of Giga Metals (85%) and Mitsubishi (15%), is developing the project with an estimated initial capital cost of $1.9bn.

02/17/2024 01:19:20