Bluescope is conducting a strategic review of its New Zealand Operations, FMG hits record high and Westpac has been served with class action.
Magmatic Resources has commenced drilling at Boda North. There is the mobilisation of a second rig and commencement of RC drilling activity at Boda North as RC drilling continues at Lady Ilse, with four holes completed. Drilling at Lady Ilse has been delayed due to wet conditions and some mechanical issues. There has been a replacement rig on site to increase production rates. While the maiden drilling program at Boda North will comprise of approximately six RC holes and is designed to assess the geochemical ‘fertility’ of the anomalies (gold + pathfinder elements) prior to potential deeper drill testing. Boda North is north of Cadia Valley in Central New South Wales.
National Tyres and Wheel limited has entered a conditional Agreement to acquire Tyres 4 U’s importing, wholesale and retailing business assets in Australia and New Zealand. This will create a prescence in the truck & bus, industrial and agricultural tyre segments where NTD currently has little or no presence. The synergy between the two entities commenced some years ago. Tyres for U CEO Les de Celis said: “Some years ago, I met with Peter Ludemann and others from NTD to discuss the prospects of a merged T4U and NTD business. We were very enthusiastic back then about the benefits we could deliver to suppliers and customers with an abundance of complementary skills in our teams and no significant overlap of products or suppliers. Changes in the industry since then have only made the case for getting together more compelling and we are extremely excited to join forces with NTD”. While Peter Ludemann NTD CEO said “The purchase of T4U is testament to the power of belief and persistence. When we first met, we were struck by the fact that, despite each being tyre wholesalers for more than 25 years, we did not bump into each other in the marketplace. Different business models, different products and different routes to market made it immediately obvious that everyone could benefit from getting together, without disturbing our core businesses or values.” The aquistion makes NTD one of the largest tyre wholesalers in Australia and New Zealand.
Rio Tinto has released its second quarter results with iron ore and bauxite the stronger performers. Rio Tinto Chief Executive J-S Jacques said “We delivered a strong performance, particularly in iron ore and bauxite, demonstrating the underlying resilience of our business and ability to adapt in difficult conditions. Our iron ore assets are performing well in a strong pricing environment and we are on track to meet our 2020 iron ore guidance. Despite various COVID-19 related challenges, all our assets have continued to operate, with our first priority to protect the health and safety of all our employees and communities. “Our focus is to maintain a business as usual approach with many safeguards at a very unusual time. Our operational teams are continuing to run our assets safely so we can continue to contribute to local and national economies and serve our customers.” Mr Jacques also remained committed to the Rio Tinto relationships with local communities. “We remain even more committed to our relationship with communities, following the Juukan Gorge events in the Pilbara, and we are engaging extensively with Traditional Owners around our operations and across Australia.” He said. Rio Pilbara iron ore shipments of 86.7 million tonnes (100% basis) were 1% higher than the second quarter of 2019 despite the impact of COVID-19 related operational controls. This is a 3% increase for the same time 2019.
A desktop analysis by Torian Resources has uncovered a large area of interest at the Mt Monger – Wombola Gold Projects, with significant discovery potential. Up to 50,000m of historical drilling results to be reviewed and reinterpreted. Torian Chairman Mr Louie Simens said, “As previously announced we have had fresh eyes digging into the extensive datasets across TNR’s projects and early indications from desktop analysis have yielded significant indicators of potential for further discoveries at the Mt Monger – Wombola projects. We are embarking on a property-wide systematic exploration effort at the Mt Monger – Wombola Project which enfolds much of Silver Lake Resources (ASX: SLR) flagship Mt Monger Mine.” Torian’s Joint Venture partner Dampier have announced a major drilling program at the jointly held Zuleika Gold Project with an aim of rapidly defining JORC compliant resources.
The first milling campaign has commenced at Lakewood Mill with the first gold pour due next week for Horizon Minerals. According to Managing Director Jon Price “We are extremely pleased with progress at Boorara and now commencing the first milling campaign at Lakewood producing first gold next week and revenue shortly thereafter. Along with capitalising on the strong current gold price, the Stage One development of Boorara will provide mine to mill reconciliation outcomes to de-risk the larger scale development plan.” Total material movement to date of 357,000 BCM, 30% above plan with ore mined to date of 80,000t at a fully diluted grade of 1.5g/t Au, in line with reserve model estimates.
Northern Star Resources has announced its June quarter update. The KCGM Joint Venture holder has announced its postponed FY20 interim dividend of A7.5¢ to be paid on July 16, 2020 – fully franked. Northern Star also drew down an additional A$200 million in debt in the March quarter but advised the market today it has repaid that A$200 million on July 6 2020. The Jundee Operation produced 80,666oz for the June quarter and 300,150oz for FY20 while Pogo produced 49,353oz for quarter and 174,307 for FY20. The Kalgoorlie operations produced 83,945oz for June quarter and 318,759oz for FY20 which saw overall milled tonnes increasing by 10%, head grade increasing by 4% and gold production increasing by 13% compared to the March quarter. And as reported the KCGM Super Pit focus turned to expanding the available open pit mining front 53,397oz per June quarter and 111,961oz for the FY 20. According to Bill Beament, Executive Chairman Northern Star Resources “The results at our Pogo mine in Alaska were particularly pleasing given the challenging circumstances emanating from COVID-19 where we effectively managed safe operations with 36 confirmed cases through the quarter. Despite the considerable impacts of COVID-19 at Pogo, the underlying trend of rising production and productivity continued. This further demonstrates the huge potential of this asset in more conventional circumstances. The teams at our Jundee and Kalgoorlie Operations excelled and we made strong progress towards our goal of unlocking the significant upside at KCGM.”