Tag: Iron Ore

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What You Missed in the News This Week

St Barbara Minerals released their December quarterly report this week, with disappointing results.

Consolidated gold production was down from 63,700oz in the September quarter to 60,976oz.

The Leonora operations saw a reduction of gold production from 34,078oz last quarter to 32,175oz. The December quarter from the year before produced 16,462oz more gold than this quarter.

The amount of gold sold was 32,634oz, down 2,712oz from last quarter and 22,966oz less than the same quarter last year.

St Barbara’s share price dropped 21.348% to $0.70 after the report was released on Wednesday.

 

St Barbara

 

Pilbara Minerals has appointed John Stanning as Chief Development Officer.

In the newly created position, stanning will over see Pilbara Mineral’s corporate development, growth and exploration functions.

Managing Director and CEO, Dale Henderson said “John brings an impressive track record of lithium sector experience and relationships across the value chain. We are looking forward to having John join our executive team and working closely with him to further our growth objectives as an emerging leader in the provision of sustainable battery materials products.”

 

 

Pilbara Minerals has awarded Primero Group a $62m contract for construction work at its Pilgangoora project.

The contract is for the construction of a primary rejection facility and preliminary works for a new crushing and ore sorting facility.

Located 120km from Port Hedland, the project is located at one of the world’s largest hard rock lithium deposits.

Pilbara Minerals managing director and CEO, Dale Henderson said “We look forward to working closely with Primero for the safe and successful delivery of this package, which will step-up our production run-rate to the next level with a total of
680 kilo-tonnes per annum of spodumene concentrate across the combined Pilgangoora operation.

“The successful completion of this project will further cement Pilbara Minerals’ position as
an emerging leader in the provision of sustainable battery materials products.”

 

Primero Group

 

Fortescue Metals has released its December quarter report for 2022, announcing record shipments.

Andrew Forrest said “The Fortescue team delivered our highest ever December quarterly shipments of 49.4 million tonnes, our best ever half year, grew the mineral and green energy business globally, strengthened our balance sheet, kept costs low, all while maintaining our excellent safety performance.”

Fortescue’s cash balance increased to $4B USD on 31st December 2022, compared to $3.3B USD for the September quarter.

 

Fortescue Metals

 

The S&P/ASX200 markets finished up on Friday at 7,493.8 points, setting a new 100-day high.

The week started at 7,435 points before gaining 0.56% through the week.

Megaport Limited and Liontown Resources were the top performing stocks, gaining 7.22% and 5.19% respectively.

The All Ordinaries closed up at 7,707.5 points.

The top performing stocks were 88 Energy Limited and Develop Global Limited, gaining 18.18% and 12.68%.

 

 

Gold peaked at $1,951.15USD on Wednesday, continuing a 9-month high, and rounding off the week at $1,928.82USD.

Silver stumbled at the start of the week, falling from $24.18USD to $23.79USD on Tuesday, before it rose again to finish off the week at $24.07USD.

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Today’s Top Story – Does The Corporate World and the Media Treat People Fairly Anymore?

Today I thought I would look at how the media and some corporations treat people and ask; Is that really fair?

For example, the media in the last day or two have been all over the case of Channel Nine News director, Darren Wick, who was charged with a high-level alcohol driving offence that occurred last Friday evening.  Mr Wick has since come out and said that he has realised he has a drinking problem and taking steps to address it.

Prior to this, if you had surveyed all of Australia and asked; “Who is Darren Wick?’ the vast majority would have said, Who?  Yet here he is having his personal life splashed across the media; and of course, it was their competitors doing most of the wailing.  Don’t get me wrong, I in no way condone drink driving and what he did was reckless.  But did he deserve the attention he got? He is not a public figure. He is not a prominent person even if he does influence how news is delivered by Channel Nine.

If the Prime Minister was caught doing the same, I can see the rationale behind it being a story, but the prominence given to Mr. Wick was disproportionate in my opinion. One thing I can say is good on him for being so candid.

I would like to talk about a footballer at AFL level now who has been banned from playing football for about 400 days and still no charges have been laid or an end in sight to when it will be resolved.  West Coast player, Willie Rioli, has been accused of tampering with a urine sample he was asked to provide in August 2018.  He was stood down in September 2019 after he received a second breach for testing positive to cannabis.

Neither of the two accusations have been tested at a tribunal or any other forum where he can try and clear his name or accept responsibility for what has happened. The AFL has wiped their hands of it saying that ASADA has responsibility for how and when the case will proceed. I thought the AFL controlled the AFL not ASADA.

Apparently because of the way the AFL is structured, and the agreements clubs and players have with the AFL, there is no legal recourse to make the AFL act quicker.  As for ASADA, they apparently don’t care that a player has literally been left on the sidelines for so long, that it could affect his future, not only with the club, but life after footy.

Surely ASADA isn’t inundated with cases to the point that a back log of such magnitude exits. Surely it doesn’t take 400 plus days to analyse a “B” sample and report back to the AFL. If this is the case, there is a case for AFL to move away from the ASADA regime and start their own testing facility that they can exercise their own timelines on.

On top of all this if the eventual charges are proved he could face a four-year ban that will effectively end his career.  I don’t know if time already banned from the game will be taken into consideration when issuing a ban, but I hope for Mr. Rioli’s sake it will be.

Because Mr. Wick is going through the court system, he will be dealt with quickly, even though it is a serious charge, he has publicly acknowledged the facts and the courts can deal with cases like this quickly. In most cases like this it is the defendant that causes delays, if there are any.

With Mr. Rioli, it is a case of not even been charged with an offence or offences and no prospect in site, as those responsible for carriage of the case drag their feet. No Charges – no play doesn’t sound fair to me.

These are just two examples of people being harshly treated by media and corporations, in my opinion, that have little empathy or sympathy for the people involved. There are countless others who have been in similar situations that have had their lives changed forever.

Written by Gary Brown.

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Tonight’s Top Story – Are We Over-Governed by Politicians and Bureaucrats in Australia and at What Cost?

File:Australian Senate - Parliament of Australia.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

We have a federal government; each state and territory have a government and there is a myriad of councils and shires in each as well.

Each level of government has its own responsibilities however there is a lot of crossover in some areas.  Take for example health and education.  The federal government provides a lot of the funds that each state and territory government need to operate these sectors.  Although the feds provide the bulk of the finances it is the states and territory governments that are responsible for them.

In health you have a bureaucracy at federal level determining what level of funding should be allocated where.  In particular the feds are responsible for funding hospitals, but the states run them.  You then have another bureaucracy at state level allocating the funding to each public hospital and of course another bureaucracy within each hospital allocating funding to the various departments.  That is a lot of money being spent from the allocated budget before one patient receives a benefit.

And for education the process is repeated, again with a lot of money being spent before one student lifts a pencil in a classroom.  Then there is the political argy-bargy that goes on between state and federal counterparts in the sectors.  Each minister in each sector would have a plethora of advisors, media and administrative personnel so the minister can be across their brief and take pot-shots at others over how their administration is better than the others.  More money out the door before it gets to be used on grassroot purposes.

At the recent Hotel Quarantine Inquiry in Victoria a complicated bureaucratic system of decision making has been revealed.  The end result was a disaster that no one is keen on taking responsibility for.  Now I am sure that this level of bureaucracy is not unique to Victoria and there will be other jurisdictions that have the same complexity of administration in various areas.  This again highlights the theme of a lot of money being spent before what is left over gets an outcome.

The public service juggernaut in Australia sailed through the Covid19 restrictions without a scratch.  While other sectors were laying off people, reducing hours or closing down, the fortnightly paycheque for public servants kept on being deposited into their accounts.  All hell broke out in NSW when the government put a freeze on public service wages during Covid19.  Unions threatened industrial action, not satisfied that they didn’t have to take the risks like those in the private sector.  Secure in their jobs and with no pay cuts it riled many that were suffering through no fault of their own.

At the local level the various shires and councils that look after their patches are too many in some states.  In WA there are 138 councils.  Yes, WA is a big area but some of these shires cater for a population of 300 ratepayers or less.  The WA government has flagged that they are amenable to reducing the number of shires to make it more practical.  Peppermint Grove Council in Perth’s leafy western suburbs covers an area of one square kilometre. (That is not a typo).  It has revenue of only $5M and at last count had 24 employees.  Surely it would be a candidate to merge with another council, in fact as part of a merger of a few councils in the area.  The government is also keen to reduce the number of councillors that sit around the table.

I suppose the point I am trying to make is that at all levels we have too many politicians and too many bureaucrats that waste money that could be going towards the myriad of projects that need the money more.

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Today’s Top Story – When Will The WA Bubble Burst?

Who would have thought six months ago that the words “travel bubble” would have been used so prolifically, yet alone anyone even thinking of it?  Yet here we are talking about it, hoping that these bubbles will open up between states and glory be internationally.

Western Australia has lived within its own bubble since almost the beginning of the Covid19 living regime.  Early on in this timeline the state was split into regions with travel restricted to within each region only, unless an exemption was given.  And exemptions weren’t given out easily as the government was determined to contain the virus.  Eventually those travel restrictions were lifted except for some remote communities and people were free to move around the state.

But restrictions still apply for people trying to enter the state and an exemption must be granted.  If, however you have been in Victoria you must have a more valid reason than just wanting to visit.

The travel restrictions in WA have had a significant affect on FIFO operations and workers.  Companies have started to employ people only living in WA and some have encouraged their interstate FIFO workforce to consider relocating to WA to avoid quarantining when returning home.  Decisions like this cannot be taken lightly and peoples’ livelihoods are being affected the longer it goes on.  Some people will be suffering economic losses for years to come – let alone the mental anguish that comes with it.

Conversely, those workers who travel from WA to other states for FIFO work are spending most of their time back home in self isolation, which for most of them means having no social interaction until the restrictions are lifted.  Some people have likened it to house arrest, and it is likely to stay in place until mid-next year if the premier sticks to his guns.

Not mining related, but WA people are now exploring more of their own state rather than taking cheap international holidays or flitting over east for a Gold Coast fix or to watch their favourite football team.

It is this writer’s opinion that some borders should be opened up without the onerous restrictions that are still in place even when coming from the Northern Territory or South Australia.  Their Covid19 transmission rate is the same as WAs, which makes them ideal jurisdictions to have free travel with.  All their recent cases have been from returning overseas travelers, the same reason for all the cases currently in WA.

Speaking of overseas, there is now talk from the federal government to looking at travel bubbles between some international locations.  New Zealand is an obvious location to allow this to happen and obviously places the likes of Brazil, USA and England would not be contemplated at the moment.  Other places that are up for consideration are Singapore, South Korea and Japan who all seem to have their Covid19 response well in hand.

But what the federal government wants and what the state and territory leaders allow could be two different things.  A staged process of opening up Australia to other nations needs to be considered now, otherwise restrictions good last for years if a vaccine is not found.

More businesses will flounder the longer restrictions are kept in place, whether that be interstate or international travel.  NSW, ACT and NT are opening their borders to New Zealand as of today, which is a positive step for those jurisdictions.

Australia is the lucky country, there is no mistaking that, but let’s not turn it into a basket case – let’s look for innovative ways we can open the borders.

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Today’s Top Story – Western Australia continues to be the envy of the world.

The price of iron ore has never been so important to the Western Australian economy as has been evident in the recently announced state budget.  On the back of soaring iron ore prices, the state government collected nearly $8.45B in royalties from the miners who exported millions of tonnes of the ore to overseas markets, in particular China.

The forecast for the next 12 months shows a similar amount of royalties will be collected before prices start coming off their highs in 2022, or earlier.  It has been a huge windfall for the state and has cushioned the impact of Covid19 on the economy.  While other states’ economies have wallowed, Western Australia has powered on and even produced a healthy surplus for the last financial year.

Whether it was good planning or luck, the decision by the state government to keep miners going, at almost any cost, has proven to be a master stroke.  It didn’t matter if they were mining gold, copper or any other mineral or iron ore, miners ploughed ahead as other industries took a hit.  Fortunately, the mining industry kept alive manufacturers and industry related to the sector.

The state government cannot be complacent though, as it would not take much for the price of iron ore to come off the boil or buyers to disappear.  If Brazil can get Covid19 under control and exports crank up from them, China could well look away from Western Australia as their main source of the ore.  With the sometimes-delicate relationship we have with China it could mean they hit us in the wallet – just because they can.

The price per tonne of iron ore reached a low of $37USD in 2015 and has since soared to be currently sitting at $122USD.  Miners are making the most of it as well as the government and mine expansions are on the increase to cash in on the bonanza.

The miners are also tackling the issue of staffing as the FIFO experience has shown that having workers self-isolate when they travel from interstate is proving costly and is in no way practical.  It isn’t good for workers either who are spending more time away from family, if they are able to travel from interstate.  This is making the companies rethink their strategy of employing someone no matter where they live in Australia and encouraging workers to pack up and move west.

This is creating problems in the housing market across the board as rental vacancies have reached extremely low levels in Perth and major regional centres.  Real estate agencies are experiencing the best sales figures in a long time but unfortunately for sellers the needle is yet to move on house prices.  This will change as supply starts to dry up.  It will probably mean a boon for the state government as stamp duty revenue is sure to increase for them.

During the last mining boom thousands of people flocked to WA to make the most of the circumstances.  When mining went off the boil many returned to the east coast.  Will we see the same happen again and will it be a short term hit or can it be sustained?

Already the unemployment rate in WA has fallen below the expected rate of 8% and likely to fall further if circumstances don’t change because of Covid19.  With changes to Jobkeeper and Jobseeker being phased-in, unemployed people are more likely to seek out employment which will bring the rate down even further.

WA must surely be the envy of the other states, even if the borders are shut to the east coast.  A healthy economy, tourism experiencing healthy numbers from WA locals and mining powering on it all looks rosy for the near future.  Can the government make the most of it and plan wisely for that future?

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Morning News Bites – August 28

Morning News Bites – August 28

Specialised pilots not being allowed to fly in to WA due to the hard border closure could affect iron ore exports out of Port Hedland, Tesla hit a new high overnight and according to one leading analyst we need to rethink where our stocks are with banks not the best option according to Jefferies’ Brian Johnson

Late yesterday Caeneus Minerals has announced that it will commence detailed Aeromagnetic survey to commence first week of September on Mallina Tenements. These tenements are located in close proximity to the northern tenement boundaries of the De Grey Mining Limited’s Shaggy, Mt Berghaus, Scooby and Hemi gold discoveries. According to Caeneus there was a 10 day field orientation visit to Roberts Hill and Mt Berghaus with the aim for making vehicular access for future drilling programs and to review flight survey specifications for the Company’s upcoming airborne magnetic survey, which is as per above.

Essential Metals have identified numerous targets at its Juglah Dome gold project, situated near Silver Lake Resources Daisy complex around 60km south-east of Kalgoorlie. Recent rock chip sampling and compilation of historic exploration has confirmed that numerous drill targets are present within the Project. Managing Director Tim Spencer, said: “We are keen to commence a drill program at Juglah Dome. Multiple exciting gold and VHMS targets have been identified, some of which are considered drill-ready. The Gards Prospect is one such target, where previous drilling by Placer Dome in the late 1990s and early 2000s intersected gold mineralisation, however it was not followed up”.

GWR Group has secured approvals for its C4 Stage 1 iron ore project from DMIRS and the Federal Government Department of Agriculture, Environment and Water. GWR Chairman Gary Lyons said this represents a significant milestone and the strong prices of iron ore give a unique opportunity to GWR.  “These approvals represent a significant milestone for the Company and pave the way for the commencement of commercial iron ore production at the Wiluna West Iron Ore Project. Current strong iron ore prices provide a unique opportunity for the Company and the Wiluna West Iron Ore Project, an exceptional, DSO iron ore development project, which will produce a high grade, low impurity iron ore.” he said. C4 Stage 1 project is west of Wiluna in the northern Goldfields of WA.

Announcing their FY details, Boral has reported sales revenue of $5,728 million down 2% on FY2019 and sales revenue from continuing operations of $5,671 million down 1%. EDITDA was down 30% to $710 million and NPAT before significant items of $181 million, down 57% on the prior year. Boral’s new CEO & Managing Director, Zlatko Todorcevski, said: “Boral’s FY2020 results reflect a particularly challenging year. Following the lower than expected first half result from Boral North America, Boral had a difficult start to the second half of FY2020. Boral Australia was impacted by bushfire and flood-related events in Australia, resulting in significantly lower volumes and higher costs. This was quickly followed by COVID-19 disruptions, resulting in higher costs and production curtailments, which substantially reduced earnings for all divisions. “Overall, second half margins were substantially down, as flagged in the Company’s market update in May, due to lower sales and even lower production volumes together with an unfavourable shift in the sales mix and costs”.

Mining, Gas and Oil services provider Civmec has reported Net Profit margin of 4.5%, up from 1.4% in FY19 and also recommends a full year dividend of 1.0 Australian cents, increased by 43% . Revenue was down around 20% but EBITDA was up for the FY around $14m and NPAT was up 149% to $17.5m. According to Chairman James Fitzgerald the year was of consolidation and the order book strengthened “Following a year of consolidation in FY19, Civmec’s order book continued to strengthen in FY20, enabling the Group to grow revenue and profits throughout the year. Strong cashflow from operations allowed the Group to fund the completion of the new Assembly and Sustainment Hall in Henderson Western Australia while also reducing borrowings by $35.7 million during the year. This places the Group in a strong financial position as we enter FY21, with a A$900 million  strong order book, an extensively improved balance sheet and a significantly reduced capital investment requirement in FY21. This disciplined approach has allowed us to recommend an increased final dividend payout to 1.0 Australian cents.” he said.

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Morning News Bites – August 24

In Today’s Morning News Bites for August 24. Fortescue Metals report 49% increase in net profit to a record $US4.7bn. QLD reports one new COVID-19 case overnight. Liberal call for branch clean-out. 

Fortescue Metals report strong results from FY20, exceeding production guidance with 178.2 million shipments of iron ore for the full year. Costs remain low: C1 costs came in at US$12.94 per wet metric tonne in FY20. The company achieved average revenue of US$79 per dry metric tonne in fiscal 2020, up 21% YoY and has guided for FY21 iron ore shipments of between 175-180 million tonnes. Former CEO, and current non-executive chairman Andrew Forrest said, ”Fortescue’s success allows Minderoo Foundation the capacity and the flexibility to continue its work and tackle new challenges as they arise for many years to come.”

Saturn Metals announce further results from ongoing RC drilling at the Apollo Hill deposit within its Apollo Hill Gold Project, 60km southeast of Leonora in the Western Australian goldfields. This drilling at Apollo Hill is a key part of the Company’s strategy to grow the Project’s 781,000oz Mineral Resource. A further resource upgrade is targeted for late 2020, incorporating results from drilling conducted since November 2019. All 13 holes reported intercepts above the Apollo Hill resource cut-off grade and all but one intersected mineralisation above the average resource grade. Other strong intersections include: 21m @ 0.94g/t Au from 184m – , 9m @ 1.0g/t Au from 179m and 14m @ 0.84g/t Au from 329m.

Kin Mining NL significant new assay results received from recent air-core drilling at the East Lynne prospect, located 3km north east of the proposed plant site at its Cardinia Gold Project near Leonora in Western Australia. The drilling commenced at East Lynne in early July as part of the extensive and ongoing Phase 3 Exploration Program. Significant widths and grades encountered in 400m line spaced AC drilling, with in-fill drilling to 200m line spacing underway. Results include 20m at 1.36g/t from 20m and 4m at 1.29g/t from 32m.

St Barbara reports its Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves positions for FY20. Group Ore Reserves increased year on year from 4.1 Moz of contained gold to 6.0 Moz, and Group Mineral Resources increased from 9.6 Moz of contained gold to 11.6 Moz. The increase in Resources and Reserves is due to the Atlantic Gold acquisition concluded in July 2019 and Simberi sulphide drilling completed in December 2019.

Zenith Minerals Wide mineralised gold zone confirmed at the Red Mountain Gold Project for Zenith Minerals. New gold assay results from the first 7 follow up RC holes of an ongoing drill program, confirm near surface, wide, mineralised gold zone at Red Mountain Gold Project in Queensland. This includes highlights of 12m @ 2.2 g/t Au from surface, including 8m @ 3.1 g/t Au and 5m @ 1.7 g/t Au from 25m, including 3m @ 2.6 g/t Au

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Morning News Bites – August 21

In the Morning News Bites for August 21 2020.

Coventry Group recorded Group sales growth for FY20 including acquisitions of 22.3%. Suncorp has recorded an earnings slide and A2 Milk look to baby formula.

A detailed airborne magnetic survey has been completed for Sabre Resources near the Penny West Gold Mine. According to Sabre they will identify the highest priority drilling targets and will then immediately take steps to commence planning for a drilling program.

FE limited are set to acquire a 50% interest in the Yarram Iron Ore project in the Northern Territory and will operate the resulting JV. Highlights at the site include 108m @ 65.6% Fe, 2.3% SiO2, 1.8% Al2O3, 0.037% P and 65m @ 66.4% Fe, 2.0% SiO2, 1.5% Al2O3, 0.022% P from 13m. Chairman of FE Limited Tony Sage said “With iron ore prices at six year highs, mature iron ore assets such as we have identified at Yarram are highly sought after. It is even more difficult to find one that hosts high grade iron ore mineralisation, that’s located just over 100km from a major port, and is in close proximity to existing mining infrastructure.” Consideration of A$1.5 m in cash and shares payable with a further $1.5m in cash and shares payable on achieving a JORC indicated resource. FEL to cover certain historical and future costs.

FMG Autonomous Truck

Elizabeth Gaines has given an indication on Mineral Reserves for Fortescue Metals Group this morning “We are pleased to report over 2.2 billion tonnes of Hematite Ore Reserves and 5.8 billion tonnes of Mineral Resources at our operating properties, supporting the sustainability of our core iron ore assets across our Solomon and Chichester Hubs, as well as our developing Western Hub. Our investment in significant growth projects including the Eliwana Mine and Rail Project in the Western Hub is now well advanced with first ore on train scheduled in December 2020. Our Iron Bridge Magnetite Project is developing Australia’s largest publicly disclosed magnetite Mineral Resource, with first ore on ship planned in the first half of calendar year 2022.”

Mineralisation at De Grey Mining‘s Brolga Zone has identified trends to the north.  De Grey Managing Director, Glenn Jardine, gave a further insight to the recent drilling “We continue to test for extensions to known mineralisation around Hemi using aircore and RC drilling. Aircore drilling has intersected new mineralisation approximately 320 metres north east of Brolga. This is along the structural corridor heading toward Scooby. RC drilling has succeeded in identifying extensions to the north of Brolga, heading toward Aquila. Specific diamond drilling has been conducted to provide samples for metallurgical variability and optimization test work. The assay results from metallurgical drilling will provide additional information on internal continuity of the gold mineralisation within Brolga.”

Perth based mineral explorer, Cullen Resources has re- prioritised drilling for its operations due to rain.Its Wongan Hills Rupert project was due for RC Drilling for August but has since been postponed, this will commence as soon as possible however. The Wongan prospect is showed an intersection of up to 1m @ 3.7% Cu, 1.5 g/t Au, hole with DHEM survey taking place. While at the North Tuckabianna project during September Cullen intends to RC drill test two DHEM targets for gold and base metals.

 

 

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Morning News Bites – August 20

In Today’s Morning News Bites for August 20. Qantas profits fall 91% as 6000 jobs are axed. Wesfarmers slashes the value of Target by $525 million. Pantoro reports Scotia Mining Centre has been expanded once again due to new zone discovery. 

The Scotia Mining Centre has once again been expanded with the discovery a new zone of near surface mineralisation at Green Lantern, south east of the existing Scotia open pit, located approximately 25 km south of Norseman in Western Australia. Commenting on the results Pantoro Managing Director Paul Cmrlec said, “We are excited about the long-term potential of the area, and continue to test additional surface targets while we commence the drill out of depth extensions to the existing high grade orebodies.”

Impact Minerals Limited announces that drilling has now commenced at the Platinum Springs Prospect at the company’s Broken Hill nickel-copper-platinum group metal (PGM) project in New South Wales. Three prospects to be drill tested to follow up previous drill intercepts such as: 2.75 metres at 3.5 g/t platinum, 7 g/t palladium, 0.4 g/t gold, 2% copper, 1.9% nickel and 11.6 g/t silver from 55 metres down hole; and 1.5. metres at 1.7% nickel, 1.3% copper, 4.3 g/t palladium, 3.05 g/t platinum and 1.08 g/t gold.

Minotaur Exploration and Avira Resources Ltd have signed a binding Terms Sheet under which, subject to it satisfying its due diligence requirements, Minotaur may acquire 100% ownership of the Pyramid tenement group located 180km south of Townsville. The project, covering 150km2, embraces two main areas prospective for gold, being the West Pyramid Range and East Pyramid Range. Historic high-grade gold drill intercepts, such as 35m @ 6.1g/t and 15m @ 5.65g/t, with ground electrical geophysics to refine mineralised trends.

Field work activities are underway at its 1,050km2 Kurnalpi project 50km east of Kalgoorlie, according to Riversgold Limited. Field crew have mobilised to site and commenced work, with Simon Bolster coordinating sampling activities on site and validating remote sensing regolith interpretation. Initial work will focus on the infill and extension of Farr-Jones and Cutler geochemical surveys where historical gold intercepts include highlights of; 10 metres at 11 g/t Au (Cutler) and 3 metres at 17.8 g/t Au (Farr-Jones).

Mandrake Resources Limited provides a progress update on drilling currently underway targeting gold mineralisation at the Berinka Pine Creek Gold Project in the Northern Territory. The reverse circulation (RC) drilling programme is focused on strong gold anomalies derived from historic soil, rock chip and trench sampling across four separate prospects – Vegetation Anomaly, Terry’s Gap, Cross and Sandy Creek.

 

 

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Morning News Bites – August 18

In Today’s Morning News Bites for August 18. KCGM release their reserves, resources and guidance update for FY21. 

KCGM have set an FY21 guidance of 440,000 – 480,000oz at AISC of A$1,470 – 1,570/oz3, growth capital budget at A$198m (A$12m on exploration), and an expectation of production to rise to +675,000ozpa.  Further growth is supported by a large quantity of significant drill results across the KCGM portfolio that sit outside of current Reserves, including at Fimiston South open pit, OBH open pit, Fimiston South underground and Mt Charlotte underground.

Saracen Mineral Holdings report a new 7 year group production outlook. It was underwritten by 8.6Moz in Reserves and resources of 320Mt @ 1.7g/t for 17.0Moz as of FY20. Group production guidance for FY21 of 600 – 640,000oz at an AISC of A$1,300 – A$1,400/oz. Saracen Managing Director Raleigh Finlayson said Saracen was on track to continue the Company’s long record of growing its production and expanding its inventory, saying “Saracen’s strategy of making opportunistic acquisitions and then unlocking their full value through exploration and development has created substantial value for shareholders for many years.”

Northern Star Resources report further increases in forecast production and more growth in reserves and resources as a result of the review conducted at its half-owned KCGM joint venture in WA. Production is forecast to rise to 1.15Moz in FY22 and 1.25Moz in FY23. The increased production is expected to drive down AISC by 10 per cent over the next two to three years. Following the inclusion of KCGM, Northern Star’s total Reserves have risen 102 per cent, or 5.5Moz, to 10.8Moz. Resources are up 67 per cent, or 12.7Moz, to 31.8Moz.

FY20 results are in for BHP. US$8.0 billion and Underlying attributable profit of US$9.1 billion broadly in line with the prior year. Net operating cash flow of US$15.7 billion, above US$15 billion for the fourth consecutive year, and free cash flow of US$8.1 billion. Capital and exploration expenditure within guidance at US$7.6 billion. Chief Executive Officer, Mike Henry: “BHP delivered a strong set of results for the 2020 financial year that reflect the strength, resilience and quality of our people and our portfolio. In a year marked by the challenges of the global COVID-19 pandemic, social unrest in Chile and commodity price volatility, we were safer, more reliable and lower cost.”

Golden Swan assays confirm exceptional drill intersection, with assays received returning: 9.0m (4.5m true width) @ 10.46% Ni on basal contact including 4.6m (2.3m true width) @ 13.8% Ni. Managing Director and CEO Peter Harold said, “The latest assay and drill results confirm the significance of the Golden Swan discovery. The thick, high grade nickel intersections in combination with favourable geological setting is pointing to something very exciting. Should Golden Swan continue to evolve and prove to be economically viable, the close proximity to the existing Silver Swan decline would allow mining operations be commence in a very short time-frame.”