Megan van Wyngaardt

https://staging1.creamermedia.com/

Megan van Wyngaardt

Megan van Wyngaardt is Creamer Media Senior Contributing Editor Online for Engineering News and Mining Weekly.

Tel: +2711 622 3744

Email: newsdesk@engineeringnews.co.za

BlueRock starts mining new kimberlite pipe, expects improved results

18th January 2018 South African-focused diamond miner BlueRock Diamonds made a number of planned modifications to the crushing circuit at its Kareevlei diamond mine, near Kimberley, during a three-week Christmas break. The modifications are expected to improve the method of feeding ore to the crushers. →

Shanta expects to produce up to 88 000 oz of gold this year

18th January 2018 East Africa-focused gold developer Shanta Gold’s New Luika mine, in Tanzania, produced 21 288 oz of gold in the three months ended December 31, a quarter-on-quarter increase of 17%. This brought the Aim-listed miner’s full-year production to 79 585 oz, in line with its 80 000 oz guidance, but... →

Eskom challenges need to be addressed urgently, or South Africa will sink – Gigaba

18th January 2018 Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba on Thursday painted a grim picture of the financial challenges facing power utility Eskom, stating that the national fiscus would be unable to bail the State-owned enterprise (SOE) out in the event of a default. Speaking at a pre-World Economic Forum (WEF)... →

Photo by Duane Daws
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba

Volvo aims for climate-neutral automotive manufacturing

17th January 2018 Volvo Cars' engine factory in Skövde, Sweden, has become the company's first climate-neutral manufacturing plant, having switched to renewable heating on January 1. The car manufacturer noted that this marked a significant step towards its vision of having climate-neutral global manufacturing... →

Firestone Diamonds revises Liqhobong mine plan to yield better results

17th January 2018 Aim-listed Firestone Diamonds, which sold 156 942 ct of diamonds recovered at its Liqhobong mine, in Lesotho, in the quarter ended December 31, has adopted a revised mine plan to increase cash flow in the short term, while resolving issues that affect the value of recovered diamonds. Diamonds... →

Lucapa’s Angola mine delivers its second 100-ct diamond for 2018

17th January 2018 Australia-based miner Lucapa Diamond Company is starting the year off on a high note, announcing on Wednesday that it had recovered another 100-ct plus stone at its Lulo project, in Angola. The 116 ct low-quality diamond is the second 100-ct plus stone recovered in the first three weeks of the... →

Acacia completes sale of royalty over Burkina Faso mine

17th January 2018 Embattled gold miner Acacia Mining has completed the sale of an existing 2% net smelter royalty over the Houndé mine, in Burkina Faso, for $45-million. The LSE-listed company in December said it was selling the royalty to Canadian miner Sandstorm Gold after its three producing gold mines in... →

Photo by Sandstorm Gold
Sandstorm Gold CEO Nolan Watson

OZ takes advantage of higher copper price, lifts 2018 guidance

17th January 2018 ASX-listed OZ Minerals has marked 2017 as a year of strong production and financial performance, with the miner reporting on Wednesday that it had achieved its copper production guidance for the third consecutive year, and that it had exceeded its gold guidance. Noting that it had made... →

The Prominent Hill mine, in Southern Australia.

South32 boasts record manganese, aluminium production in December quarter

17th January 2018 Triple-listed diversified miner South32 on Wednesday reported that, while it had achieved its guidance for all its operations during the three months to December 31, its South African manganese operations, in particular, exceeded expectations, owing to strong market demand. Saleable ore... →

Photo by Bloomberg
South32 CEO Graham Kerr

Sarb appoints new MPC adviser

16th January 2018 The South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) has appointed Fundi Tshazibana an adviser to the bank’s governors, effective February 19, making her the seventh member of the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). With 17 years of experience in public policy analysis and formulation, Tshazibana has worked... →

November mining figures impress, but volatility seems to be on the cards

16th January 2018 While the local November mining production statistics showed a relatively solid increase by 6.5% year-on-year, bolstered by platinum group metals (PGMs), iron-ore and coal, the longer-term prospects for the industry remain less certain, owing to a difficult operating environment and policy... →

New indaba seeks to clear logistics, infrastructure challenges

16th January 2018 The Cross-Border Mining Services Africa Indaba, which aims to bring senior-level professionals from mining companies, as well as mining contractors; engineering, procurement and construction management companies; logistics companies; third- and fourth-party logistics providers; and finance and... →

Grindrod facing delays with separate listing of shipping unit, but still positive about H1 completion

16th January 2018 Owing to the cross jurisdictional nature of a proposed international listing by Grindrod, through which it is aiming to launch a separate listing of its shipping business, the various processes required by regulators in the different relevant jurisdictions are taking longer than initially... →

ABB supplies motor for world’s steepest funicular railway

16th January 2018 A 1.7 km funicular railway in the Swiss Alps, said to be the steepest in the world, has been brought into operation this week. The railway cable car, which can carry 36 passengers, is being powered by a 1.2 MW low-voltage electric motor designed and built by automation company ABB. →

Alt Resources buys gold tenements from Latitude

16th January 2018 ASX-listed Alt Resources has entered into a binding heads of agreement (HoA) with fellow-listed Latitude Consolidated to acquire a significant exploration tenement in the Mt Ida district, Western Australia. The landholding encompasses the historical Quinns and Mt Ida South mining centres, as well... →

Avanco takes option on Vale’s Pantera copper project

16th January 2018 ASX-listed Avanco has agreed terms for an option to acquire 100% of the Pantera copper project from Brazilian major Vale, with a payment of $500 000 paid upon signing. Located near Avanco’s existing operations in the Carajás mineral province, in Brazil, the 9 7000 ha Pantera licence has the... →

Montezuma moves to scoping study as manganese test results exceed expectations

16th January 2018 Test work carried out last year on the hydrometallurgical processing of ores from the ASX-listed Montezuma’s 100%-owned Butcherbird manganese project, in Western Australia, has triggered the decision to immediately start a scoping study, the company said on Tuesday. In a statement, Montezuma... →

Australian LNG exports surge on strong Chinese demand

16th January 2018 Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports hit 56.8-million tonnes last year, jumping 26.3% from 44.9-million in 2016, owing to a watershed year of exports to China. Combined with higher oil prices, the increase in volumes pushed up Australia’s 2017 LNG export revenue by 44.1% to... →

The Pluto LNG plant, in Western Australia.

Acwa Power buys into blockchain currency

15th January 2018 Power generation technology developer Acwa Power has adopted SolarCoin – the global reward programme for solar electricity generation – marking the first time a utility-scale generator joins the SolarCoin ecosystem. SolarCoin will provide digital tokens to Acwa Power for every MWh of solar energy... →

GMEL looking to simplify refining at Kvanefjeld rare earths project

15th January 2018 A technical optimisation programme, currently being undertaken at the Kvanefjeld project, in Greenland, has identified significant improvements at the project, Greenland Minerals and Energy (GMEL) reported on Monday. The optimisation programme, which is being carried out in collaboration with... →

Bernard Olivier appointed as Mustang MD

15th January 2018 ASX-listed Mustang Resources has appointed' Dr Bernard Olivier to its board as MD, and has created a new position of COO, which is filled by Cobus van Wyk. Olivier has stepped into the position that Christiaan Jordaan vacated in November. →

DTI invites black industrialists on Mozambique trade mission

12th January 2018 The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has invited black industrialists to apply for participation in a trade mission to Mozambique from March 5 to 9. The mission forms part of the implementation of government’s Black Industrialists Programme (BIP), which is aimed at promoting... →

Aggreko 28 MW HFO plant comes online in Madagascar

12th January 2018 Electricity solutions provider Aggreko has started to supply stable power in Madagascar, using 28 MW of its heavy fuel oil- (HFO-) generated energy from its Noor 2 turbine, running alongside its joint venture partner Jovena’s Noor 1 turbines. This forms part of an extension to a 50 MW agreement... →

Enviro Loo lauded for contribution to water saving in South Africa

12th January 2018 With South Africans facing uncertainty around future water supply, particularly in the drought-stricken Western Cape, a local toilet manufacturer has received the 2017 Southern African Company of the Year award from research firm Frost & Sullivan for its efforts to save water. Enviro Loo has... →

Seifsa warns US antidumping duties could hurt local steel industry

12th January 2018 The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) is worried about the potential impact on the local steel industry of the US Department of Commerce’s (DoC’s) affirmative final determinations in an antidumping duty investigation into imports of carbon and alloy steel... →

Avocet defers sale of Burkina Faso operations at buyer’s request

12th January 2018 Aim-listed Avocet has deferred the completion of the $5-million sale of its Resolute operations in Burkina Faso, to Ghana-based Balaji Group, to January 25. The struggling miner set the sale in motion last year to stave off potential bankruptcy for its units in the West African country, with the... →

Monty copper/gold development on time, below budget

12th January 2018 The Monty copper/gold deposit in Western Australia, which forms part of ASX-listed Talisman’s Springfield joint venture (JV) project with Sandfire Resources, has since the start of ground-breaking activities in July 2017, seen site activities having been ramped-up considerably; on time and under... →

WISP, Sarebi embark on Western Cape waste recycling programme

12th January 2018 The Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Programme (WISP) is recruiting candidates for an enterprise development programme that will result in the establishment of businesses in the province to make use of certain waste streams to create new products. Through the programme, WISP aims to divert waste... →

Stavely signs earn-in, JV deal for copper tenement

12th January 2018 ASX-listed Stavely Minerals has agreed terms for an earn-in and joint venture (JV) agreement with Black Range Metals – a wholly-owned subsidiary of ASX-listed Navarre Minerals for Black Range’s exploration licence EL5425. The licence is adjacent to Stavely’s Yarram Park project and surrounds the... →

Environmental dept aims to boost recycling, waste management through enterprise support

12th January 2018 The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) has opened a request for proposals to receive comprehensive business plans and project proposals from start-up or emerging waste management and recycling companies requiring development or support from the department’s recycling enterprises support... →

DSV ByBox hits the 20 000 parcel mark

11th January 2018 A partnership between South African oil and gas company Engen and logistics group DSV Global Transport and Logistics, which has seen the placement of automated parcel lockers known as DSV ByBoxes at Engen service stations since 2014, has reached its 20 000 parcel mark. There are currently 65 DSV... →

Gold set to gain from retail, geopolitical risks, hedging

11th January 2018 The gold price is expected to increase in the year ahead, driven by stronger interest from Asian retail investors and consistent interest in global gold exchange-traded funds, according to research firm Thomson Reuters GFMS. The firm highlighted on Thursday that the efficient frontier theory... →

Protestor killed during community uprising at RBPlat’s North shaft

11th January 2018 Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) on Thursday said a person was killed after a group of more than 100 protestors – including former employees and unknown persons – attempted to gain unlawful access to the shaft premises at its North Shaft, near Rustenburg, on Wednesday evening. The premises were... →

Dell to recycle gold from e-waste for use in new motherboards, jewellery

11th January 2018 Technology company Dell is piloting a project to recover gold from used electronics for use in new computer motherboards and jewellery. Dell has partnered with Wistron GreenTech, which uses an environmentally responsible extraction process to break the used electronics down into individual... →

Cora Gold to continue drilling at Mali projects

11th January 2018 West Africa-focused gold exploration company Cora Gold has completed Stage 1 of its reconnaissance drilling programme at the company’s flagship Sanankoro gold discovery, in southern Mali. CEO Dr Jonathan Forster noted that the programme was encouraging, with initial assay results targeted for... →

Dragon updates mineral resources for Nordic mines

11th January 2018 ASX-listed Dragon Mining has updated its mineral resources for its Nordic projects, returning a combined total mineral resource of 13.6-million tonnes, grading 3. 3 g/t gold for 1.43-million ounces. This represented a 2.28% decrease in tonnes and a 0.35% decrease in ounces after depletion for... →

Troy delivers highest production since March 2016 quarter

11th January 2018 ASX-listed Troy Resources produced 6 224 oz of gold during December 2017, bringing the company’s quarterly production to 16 109 oz, Not only was this a 17% month-on-month increase, but it was also 25%, or 3 224 oz, higher than the three months ended September and marked the highest quarterly... →

Pantoro reports 44% y/y production increase

11th January 2018 During the three months ended December, ASX-listed gold miner Pantoro produced a record 13 841 oz, compared with 13 282 oz in the previous quarter and 9 598 oz in the same period in the prior year. This represents a 44% year-on-year production increase. →

Potash sampling confirms Carnegie potential

11th January 2018 Brine analysis results for an initial auger sampling programme completed at the Carnegie Potash Project (CPP), owned by Kalium Lakes Limited (KLL) and BCI Minerals (BCI), through their Carnegie joint venture (CJV), has returned potassium grades of up to 4 790 mg/L, which is equivalent to a... →

Industry heavyweights praise State capture inquiry head appointment

10th January 2018 South African business and industry on Wednesday lauded the appointment of Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to head the commission of inquiry into State capture. This followed President Jacob Zuma's decision on Tuesday to appoint a commission of inquiry following an order issued by the North... →

Deputy Chief Justice Ray Zondo

Business seems more confident as political developments change landscape

10th January 2018 Business sentiment in South Africa showed yet another month-on-month improvement, with the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) reporting a 1.3 index point uptick in its Business Confidence Index (BCI) for December. The index now stood at 96.4, following on the improved business... →

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