This morning Leonora Police alongside Kalgoorlie Detectives and Canine Unit, seized cannabis as part of regular checks on regional airports, targeting drugs on FIFO flights. The police canine identified several bags from the operation and had Leonora Police spreading the message via social media today “If you are visiting Leonora, don’t risk bringing drugs with you. It will cost your job.” it posted. Similar operations have been conducted at regional and major airports in the past, netting results for illicit and prescription drugs and steroids.
Leonora Police attended the airport this morning with Canine Unit and Kalgoorlie Detectives. The dog identified a number of bags which resulted in the seizure of cannabis. If you are visiting Leonora, don’t risk bringing drugs with you. It will cost your job. #fb#dontbeadopepic.twitter.com/3bNNBZEKea
ASX 100 Miner Northern Star Resources has delivered its March 21 quarterly activities report noting strong progress to a May Reserve resource upgrade – Which Managing Director Raleigh Finlayson mentioned on a conference call to “watch this space”.Whilst reporting that factors such as a 14 day mill shutdown at KCGMmodernising mill control systems, Unplanned maintenance at Thunderbox on the mill motor and lower head grades at Pogo.
Northern Star reported underlying free cash flow of A$97 million at an average realised price of A$2,222 per ounce.
Highlights from operations included
Yandal –Jundee– Development advance was especially strong in March with a new monthly record for jumbo advance of +2,000m.
Yandal – Thunderbox – Investment continues in a large, shallow single-stage cutback adjacent to the mill.
Kalgoorlie – KCGM – The new underground portal was successfully cut in the “Super Pit” with development currently advancing. This is located in the Western Wall and is the first new underground activity on the Golden Mile in decades.
A CAT 793 hauls up a ramp at the KCGM Super Pit
Kalgoorlie – Kanowna – District milling optimisation has commenced, with 24kt of Mt Charlotte ore successfully treated at Kanowna Belle, resulting in a >3% recovery improvement to 87.5%.
Kalgoorlie – Carosue Dam – The mill delivered record quarterly throughput of 887kt.
Pogo – The ongoing focus is accelerated decline advance to enable access to additional stoping horizons and set up diamond drill platforms to further grow the Pogo Resource.
A new strategic road map will be presented in July. ExecutiveChair Bill Beament said “We have overcome a few one-off events to ensure we remain on track to meet our annual guidance This is a huge credit to our team and also reflects the underlying quality of the assets. “
“In addition to this achievement, there has been enormous progress made behind the scenes on several fronts. This includes the extensive exploration campaign, which will feed into the May Reserve and Resource update. This will in turn be a central plank of our Strategy Day in July.” he said
Drilling commenced yesterday at the Medallion Metals Ravensthorpe Gold Project, between Hopetoun and Ravensthorpe in the South East of Western Australia. The 32,000m drill program will include around 26,000m at the Kundip Mining Centre which according to 2012 JORC gold Mineral Estimates entails around 674,000oz. Further targets at Kundipcentre on known deposits of Flag, Harbour View and Kaolin, while also looking at near mine potential sites of Gem Restored and Gift South.
Drilling Commences at Medallion Metals Ravensthorpe Gold Project
The Managing Director Paul Bennett commended the team for the swift approach and earmarked the first results “It’s a credit to the Project team to get up and running safely and within this short timeframe. With drilling now underway, we’re looking forward to reporting the first drill results in May and the pace of that reporting increasing as the second rig to site next week.” he said.
Medallion Metals has opened on the markets at $0.250.
IGO has this morning announced it has entered into a binding agreement with Regis Resources for the sale of its stake in Tropicana Gold Mine. Independence held a 30% stake in the mine with AngloGold Ashanti holding the remaining 70%.
Autonomous Drill Fleet at Tropicana Gold Mine – Pic Macmahon
According to IGO Managing Director and CEO Peter Bradford, the sale allows IGO to concentrate on its focus towards commodities aligned with clean energy. “Since discovery in 2005, Tropicana has been an important part of IGO’s history and a key driver of our sustained growth. While IGO continues to believe that Tropicana is a high-quality tier-1 gold asset with strong upside potential, it is no longer aligned with our focus on commodities critical to clean energy. We are therefore delighted to have entered into an agreement to sell Tropicana to Regis. This transaction, along with the recent investment in Tianqi Lithium assets in Australia, solidifies IGO’s position of becoming a globally relevant pure-play battery minerals producer and developer, uniquely exposed to tier1 nickel, copper, cobalt and lithium”. He said.
The deal is subject to the waiver or non-exercise of a right of last refusal (“ROLR”) of up to 60-days held by AngloGold Ashanti as per same price and same terms as Regis. Mr Bradford also thanked AngloGold Ashanto for the partnership and their part of the process“We are extremely pleased with the outcome of the transaction and the assistance of the AngloGold Ashanti teams throughout the sales process. I take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank AngloGold Ashanti for their partnership and support over the last 18 years.” said Mr Bradford.
Gold miner St Barbara Mines has acquired a 70% interest in the tenements comprising of Australia Potash Limited’s Lake Wells Gold Project in the Northern Goldfields of Western Australia.
Lake Wells – Australia Potash
As released to the market today, St Barbara and Australia Potash have now formed an unincorporated Joint Venture to continue the exploration, development and mining of mineral resources on the project. Under the terms of the Agreement, Australia Potash shall not be obliged to make any contribution to project expenditure until such time as St Barbara has completed a bankable feasibility study into the development of any non-potash orebody within the project tenements.
A new high grade nickel discovery has occurred at Karora Resources Beta Hunt Mine at Kambalda in Western Australia. Named the 50C Nickel Trough, the discovery is the second new nickel discovery at the mine in the last six months and compliments an increasing gold system at the mine.
An underground truck heads out of the Beta Hunt Portal
With a key nickel intersection of 11.6% Ni over 4.6 metres, including 18.4% Ni over 2.2 metres, the 50C Nickel Trough has the potential to repeat the Beta zone which has delivered over 32,000 tonnes of nickel to date. While the results for nickel have been quite promising, the drilling for nickel also intersected gold. In the key nickel intersection above, a gold intersection included 5.2 g/t Au over 3.2 metres. However the highlight of gold intersects included 2.7g/t Au over 12.0 meters, including 10.1g/t Au over 1.4 metre. The recent gold drilling has also indicated extensions to the known gold mineralised system at Beta Hunt to be over 3.5km along strike.
Paul Huet, Chairman and CEO of Karora said, “I am very excited with the latest set of drill results from Beta Hunt, which continues to return outstanding intersections and now a second new nickel discovery, all within close proximity to existing mine development. While we are focused on gold production as our core strategy, the potential by-product credits from these nickel grades, as high as 18%, are undoubtedly substantial. While our drilling in the 50C discovery area was aimed at nickel targets, our efforts also returned some meaningful gold assays including 5.2 g/t over 3.2 metres in hole G50-22-005E. These gold results demonstrate yet another potential area to add to the growing gold resource at Beta Hunt in the near term and have extended the strike extent of Beta Hunt gold mineralisation to 3.5 kilometres from 3.1 kilometres previously.”
Hot on the heels of the Cassini mine opening near Kambaldarecently, another Western Australian nickel project is making the move this morning – Panoramic Resources Savannah Nickel Project in the East Kimberley. Panoramic ispreparing with the restart of mining from August 2021 and the first shipment of concentrate earmarked for December. A 12-year mine life with an average annual production target of 9,072t nickel, 4,683t copper, and 676t cobalt in concentrate is earmarked.
Savannah Nickel Mine – Pic Supplied
The Savannah Nickel Project has had quite a busy 12 months since April 2020 and has resulted in a more optimised project moving forward. Panoramic Managing Director and CEO Victor Rajasooriar said
“It is pleasing to see that Savannah, one of the most advanced nickel sulphide development assets in Australia, is forecast to come into production as the battery thematic continues to grow worldwide. We learnt many lessons in the lead up to the temporary suspension of operations at Savannah in April 2020, amid the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since that time, we have recapitalised the business and undertaken a range of planning and site-based initiatives to put the operation in a much stronger position for the restart. This process of optimisation combined with the improved outlook for Savannah’s high-quality nickel, copper and cobalt products, has given the Board confidence in approving the restart with a target of the first shipment from Wyndham Port by the end of 2021. I would like to thank our staff, contractors, local stakeholders, and shareholders for being patient as we de-risked the project over the past 12 months, enabling Savannah to now be well-positioned for future success.”
As part of the announcement this morning, Panoramic also has announced it has engaged with Letter of Intents with two contractors – Perenti’s Barminco for underground mining and NRW subsidiary Primero,for its operations and maintenance contracts.
Under the contract with Barminco, it is intended that Barminco will provide all underground mine development and production works with mobilisation expected in July 2021. While Primero will operate and maintain the processing and surface infrastructure facilities at the Savannah nickel mine for an initial term of three years, with an option to extend an additional two years.
Perenti Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mark Norwell said: “We are very pleased Panoramic has elected to restart the Savannah Nickel Project and we look forward to finalising the contract details for Perenti to support the recommencement of operations at this long-life project.” while NRW CEO Jules Pemberton said, “This agreement further strengthens the annuity revenue stream that our Minerals, Energy and Technology division has been building through its various businesses. RCR and its product support and maintenance business, DIAB through its shutdown and maintenance activities and now this significant award to Primero for a three year plus two-year option delivering operations and maintenance services to the Savannah Nickel Project”.
