Samantha Herbst

https://staging1.creamermedia.com/

Samantha Herbst

Samantha Herbst is a deputy editor for Creamer Media's online department.

Tel: +2711 622 3744

Email: newsdesk@engineeringnews.co.za

Highfield signs first MoUs for Muga mine offtake

30th May 2016 ASX-listed potash developer Highfield Resources has signed its first memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with three large European fertiliser companies for up to 320 000 t/y of K60 muriate of potash (MoP) in offtake from the company’s Muga mine, in Spain’s Navarra province. Highfield MD Anthony... →

Claim against Vedanta, KCM given the green light to proceed in court

27th May 2016 A legal claim on behalf of 1 826 Zambian villagers against global diversified metals and mining company Vedanta Resources and its Zambian subsidiary Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has been given the go-ahead by a High Court judge to proceed in the UK courts. The ruling, handed down on Friday, follows... →

Canadian gold producer invests $11m in embattled Vantage Goldfields

27th May 2016 Canadian gold producer AfroCan Resources Gold will invest $11-million over the next two months into South African gold miner Vantage Goldfields, effective June 1, following an agreement signed Friday, Vantage confirmed to Mining Weekly Online. The companies noted in a join statement that AfroCan,... →

Construction of Paringa’s Buck Creek No 2 mine due to start in 2017

27th May 2016 With the permitting process now under way for Buck Creek No 2 mine, located in the Western Kentucky region of the Illinois basin, owner Paringa Resources expects construction of the mine to begin by the second quarter of 2017, with production due to get under way by mid-2018. “We are very pleased... →

Sphere sees $14m loss after suspending development at Askaf

26th May 2016 Having decided to slow down development at its main Askaf iron-ore project, in Mauritania, in October, Glencore subsidiary Sphere Minerals reported a net loss of $14-million from continuing operations after income tax for the year ended December 31, compared with a loss of $311.9-million for the... →

About 70% of total tonnes mined at Devon, reports GME

26th May 2016 Since starting production at its 100% owned Devon gold mine, in Western Australia, ASX-listed junior developer GME Resources has mined about 70% of the total tonnes, including waste and ore. The company revealed on Thursday that four batches of ore – equating to 26 300 dry tonnes, or 40% of the... →

Lithium Australia joins forces with TSX-listed Alix to develop concession in Mexico

26th May 2016 Following a memorandum of understanding signed Thursday, ASX-listed junior developer Lithium Australia has joined forces with TSX-listed Alix Resources to develop the lithium-extraction technologies needed to advance Alix’s lithium concessions – the Electra project – in Sonora, Mexico, earning... →

Joint panel formed to review Teck Resources oil sands project

25th May 2016 A three-member joint panel of environmental experts has been established to review diversified miner Teck Resources’ proposed Frontier oil sands mine project, in Northern Alberta, announced Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna and Alberta Energy Regulator president and CEO... →

Wildfire-hit Athabasca Oil resumes operations at Hangingstone

25th May 2016 TSX-listed energy company Athabasca Oil Corporation has resumed operations at its Hangingstone facility, 20 km south of Fort McMurray, which has been engulfed by a Canadian wildfire starting in early May, forcing widespread evacuations and a prolonged shutdown of all oil operations in the region.... →

Unionised employees strike at Kinross Gold’s Mauritania mine

24th May 2016 Following a strike notice issued earlier this month, unionised employees at Kinross Gold's Tasiast mine, in Mauritania, on Tuesday embarked on strike action. Kinross said in a statement that it remained open to restarting negotiations on a new collective agreement and to resolve other outstanding... →

Aggressive drilling programme under way at Gascoyne’s Dalgaranga

24th May 2016 Following the completion of a prefeasibility study of its 80%-owned Dalgaranga gold project earlier this year, which proved the project to be a robust development, ASX-listed gold hopeful Gascoyne Resources on Tuesday announced that an aggressive drilling programme was currently under way at... →

APC’s Dartbrook mine has coal resource estimate of 1.2bn tonnes

24th May 2016 ASX-listed junior Australia Pacific Coal (APC) has identified a total coal resource estimate of 1.2-billion tonnes at its New South Wales-based Dartbrook coal mine, confirming the newly acquired mine as one of the largest underdeveloped coal operations in the Hunter Valley. After last week’s move... →

Proposal to extend ‘water trigger’ to shale, tight gas unnecessary, says Appea

24th May 2016 Australia’s Labor government on Tuesday moved to extend the contentious ‘water trigger’ legislation to shale and tight gas projects. Introduced in 2013, the water trigger legislation was an amendment to the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, which sought to protect water... →

Bacanora raises $11.2m for Sonora lithium project

23rd May 2016 TSX-V- and Aim-listed project developer Bacanora Minerals has raised $11.2-million for its Mexico-based Sonora lithium project, which is considered one of the largest lithium resources worldwide. Bacanora raised the funds through a share placement of 9.75-million shares at 79p a share, with... →

Global steel production down 0.5% y/y in April

23rd May 2016 Despite clawing its way back in recent months from a brief slump in January and February, global crude steel production fell 0.5% year-on-year to 135-million tonnes in April, according to the World Steel Association’s (worldsteel’s) crude steel production report for April. South America was... →

Paringa finalises plans to develop Buck Creek No 2 mine ahead of No 1

23rd May 2016 Coal developer Paringa Resources has successfully amended its coal sales contract with Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities (LG&E and KU), following its recent change in strategy to develop the Buck Creek No 2 mine ahead of the Buck Creek No 1 mine’s proposed 2.8-million-ton-a-year... →

Arafura submits environmental impact statement for Nolans project

23rd May 2016 ASX-listed rare earths company Arafura on Monday submitted the environmental impact statement (EIS) for its Nolans rare earths project to the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority (NTEPA), which the company highlighted as a significant milestone for the Nolans project. The EIS,... →

Oil Search signs MoU to sell down InterOil assets following same-day acquisition

20th May 2016 Following ASX-listed oil and gas major Oil Search’s successful acquisition of Papua New Guinea-focused InterOil Corporation for $2.2-billion, or $40.25 a share, Oil Search reported on Friday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with multinational integrated oil and gas major... →

March air freight volumes drop by 2%

20th May 2016 Global air freight volumes saw a 2% year-on-year drop in March, reflecting subdued growth in world trade, according to demand growth data released by the International Air Transport Association (Iata). This decline was exaggerated by the quarter’s comparison with a particularly strong start in... →

Australia’s GB Energy to acquire lithium project in Namibia

19th May 2016 In line with its strategy of targeting minerals critical for the future of the energy environment, ASX-listed GB Energy has entered into an option agreement with an unnamed South African company which, if exercised, provides the GB Energy with the right to acquire a 70% stake in Namibia’s... →

Red Mountain’s Batangas JV with Bluebird up and running

19th May 2016 ASX-listed junior gold developer Red Mountain Mining’s strategic joint venture (JV) partner Bluebird Merchant Ventures has completed the Stage 1 payments totalling $1.7-million required to cement the JV that will fast-track the initial development of the Batangas gold project, on Luzon Island in... →

APC to acquire 100% interest in Dartbrook JV

18th May 2016 After acquiring an 83.33% stake in the New South Wales-based Dartbrook joint venture (JV) in December last year from diversified miner Anglo American, and in April securing A$5-million in funding from cornerstone investor Trepang Services for the remaining 16.67% interest from Marubeni Coal,... →

Stanmore Coal reopens Isaac Plains mine

18th May 2016 Defying the current downturn in the global coal sector, ASX-listed junior coal miner Stanmore Coal became Australia’s newest coking coal producer on Wednesday, after Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk officiated the reopening of the Isaac Plains mine, in the Bowen basin. Stanmore restarted... →

Australia miners ‘missing in action’ in Colombia

18th May 2016 Australia’s resource houses are “missing in action” in Colombia, Latin America’s third-largest economic powerhouse, and need to move quickly to increase their engagement with the mineral-rich State, said Colombian Mining Association president Santiago Angel Urdinola. Addressing the Paydirt 2016... →

Vodacom lifts FY revenue by 7.5%, despite a lowered dividend

16th May 2016 Despite a 1.2% cut in yearly dividend, and seeing a slight decline in customers to 61.3-million owing to international customer registration requirements, JSE-listed telecommunications group Vodacom continued with its growth trajectory off the back of a difficult 2015 financial year, seeing a... →

Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub

Environmental impact report on KiPower power lines released for public comment

13th May 2016 A draft environmental impact report (EIR) for the proposed construction of two loop-in- loop-out 400 kV power lines to connect the recently approved KiPower independent power producer (IPP) power plant to the Eskom grid was released on Friday for public comment by engineering and environmental... →

Ekurhuleni hopes to stimulate reindustrialisation despite headwinds

13th May 2016 In an attempt to maintain a pro-poor stance on public spending aimed at improving social development, the City of Ekurhuleni will inject R3.5-billion of its 2016 budget for into its community empowerment package, Mintirho Ya Vula Vula. Tabling the budget vote for the city on Thursday, mayoral... →

M&A opportunities still available in South Africa, despite economic challenges

13th May 2016 Despite a decrease in appetite for emerging-market assets in recent months – owing to the current drought, commodity exposure and the global economy’s risk aversion – there remains a fair amount of activity within the local mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market, as well as a compelling... →

Jubilee exceeds design capacity at Dilokong chrome recovery plant

12th May 2016 Dual-listed mine-to-metals specialist Jubilee Platinum subsidiary Jubilee Tailings Treatment Company (JTTC) says its chrome recovery plant, which is part of its platinum-group metals-bearing tailings processing project on Dilokong chrome mine, is outperforming original design numbers, with the... →

Vedanta pegs capex at $1bn in hope of offsetting 17% drop in 2016 revenue

12th May 2016 In the face of “exceptionally challenging” global commodity markets experienced in the 2015/16 financial year, global diversified metals and mining company Vedanta Resources aims to focus its efforts on reducing net debt in the 2016/17 financial year. To do so, the miner has pegged its 2017... →

Vedanta Resources CEO Tom Albanese

South East Asia venture 'part and parcel' of Denel’s growth strategy

11th May 2016 Continuing to defend its joint venture (JV) with steel manufacturing group VR Laser Services to establish Denel Asia, State-owned defence industrial group Denel told the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises in Parliament on Wednesday that its decision to extend its business footprint in... →

BHP Billiton not waiting on price recovery, outlines value-add strategy

10th May 2016 Though diversified mining major BHP Billiton remains confident in the long-term outlook for commodities, it is not waiting for prices to recover. Instead, it is looking to increase value by improving productivity, investing in projects and increasing exploration activity to take advantage of... →

BHP Billiton chief executive Andrew Mackenzie

CompComm publishes preliminary LPG market inquiry findings

10th May 2016 The Competition Commission has published the preliminary findings and proposed recommendations of the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market inquiry for public comment. Among the findings is the commission’s concern about structural impediments to competition, which could hinder the growth of the... →

Pipes manufacturers take on SABS over unfulfilled mandate

6th May 2016 The Southern African Plastic Pipe Manufacturers Association (Sappma) has taken legal action against the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) to address the standards body’s alleged failure to perform in terms of its mandate and to meet its obligations, as prescribed in the Standards Act.... →

Durban water conference to home in on shortages

6th May 2016 With parts of KwaZulu-Natal suffering some of the worst effects of the severe drought plaguing the region, Durban will play host to this year’s Water Institute of Southern Africa Conference and Exhibition (Wisa 2016) in May. The five-day-long conference, taking place at the Durban International... →

Survey reveals 40% of South Africans would justify unethical behaviour to meet targets

6th May 2016 Recognising the threat that bribery and corruption pose to a financial system already under stress, an overwhelming 86% of South African executives agree that the effective prosecution of individuals would help deter fraud. However, 40% of these respondents admit that they could justify unethical... →

In big logistical effort, turbine components begin Loeriesfontein journey

6th May 2016 The first of 1 098 wind turbine components are en route from the deepwater Port of Ngqura, 20 km north-east of Port Elizabeth, to Loeriesfontein, in the Northern Cape, which will soon become home to the largest expanse of wind turbines on the African continent, announced Khobab and Loeriesfontein... →

March air freight volumes drop by 2%

5th May 2016 Global air freight volumes saw a 2% year-on-year drop in March, reflecting subdued growth in world trade, according to demand growth data released by the International Air Transport Association (Iata). This decline was exaggerated by the quarter’s comparison with a particularly strong start in... →

CoJ, Wits select top ten finalists for 2016 Hack.Jozi Challenge

3rd May 2016 Having sifted through more than 400 entries, organisers of the 2016 Hack.Jozi Challenge have whittled the hopeful teams down to a shortlist of this year’s top ten finalists, who were selected for their innovative ideas in the digital arena. Facilitated by the City of Johannesburg and Wits... →

The top ten finalists for the 2016 Hack.Jozi Challenge

Ekurhuleni budget maintains ‘pro-poor' stance

28th April 2016 In an attempt to maintain a pro-poor stance on public spending aimed at improving social development, the City of Ekurhuleni will inject R3.5-billion of its 2016 budget for into its community empowerment package, Mintirho Ya Vula Vula. Tabling the budget vote for the city on Thursday, mayoral... →

Sylvania Q3 results benefit from basket price recovery

26th April 2016 Owing to a 10% recovery in the platinum-group metals (PGMs) basket prices in the third quarter ended March 31, low-cost platinum-group metals (PGMs) producer Sylvania Platinum’s revenue increased again, off the back of a double-digit rise in revenue in the previous quarter. With the recovery of... →

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