Category: Industry Link Media

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Top Story – Bill Beament Leaves Northern Star In July.

Northern Star Resources Limited has provided an update. In their efforts to initiate a global search for an Independent NonExecutive Chair, Bill Beament will retire from the Northern Star Board, effective July 1, 2021. Mr Beament has agreed to take up an Executive Director role with Venturex Resources from July 1. Mr Beament said he fully appreciated the opportunity to help Northern Star generate exceptional results for all stakeholders. “I share the view that now is the right time for Northern Star to begin the search for an Independent Chair,” he said. “The Company is in an extremely strong position, with an outstanding team and some of the best gold assets in the world.”

Northern Star Non-Executive Director John Fitzgerald thanked Mr Beament for his outstanding contribution. “Bill has guided Northern Star through a period of exceptional growth, building a globally-significant gold company which generates substantial returns for Shareholders,” Mr Fitzgerald said.

The Northern Star Board has decided that Independent Non-Executive Director John Fitzgerald will perform the role of Independent Non-Executive Chair from then until the appointment of the new Chair.

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Diggers & Dealers Keynote Speaker Announced for 2021

 

A former advisor to President Nelson Mandela, a key author of twenty one books and a previous Principal Economist at the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) has been announced as the Diggers and Dealers key note speaker for 2021. Professor Ian Goldin.

Professor Goldin specialises in economics and has numerous credentials on the world economic stage. After a start in Africa, Professor Goldin lectures at Oxford, Harvard and Tsinghua Universities as well as providing advisory and consultancy services to thirty leading companies. His recent speaking engagements include the opening keynote at Google Zeitgeist, the Microsoft CEO Forum and TED. For the past twenty one years he has provided keynotes at the World Economic Forum meetings in Davos. Adding to an impressive list of achievements, Professor Goldin also was a previous Vice President of the World Bank. His address at Diggers and Dealers this year is sure to be thought provoking and insightful.

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What You Missed This Week

There has been plenty on the views of Facebook and news outlets, sadly they can’t post their news… but we can! 

Here are seven things you missed this week 

1 – WesTrac continue to be part of the KCGM Super Pit with a new contract worth over $250 Million!  

2 – Goldfields gold miners, Beacon Minerals and Horizon Minerals had a good week – Beacon announcing a 0.007c Dividend and Horizon announced excellent drill results at Jaques Find near Kalgoorlie. 

3 – Drilling firm Top Drill celebrate their 15 years in operation. The Western Australia driller has a new/late model fleet of 25 Schramm and Sandvik rigs now since beginning in Boulder in 2006 

4 – The First Gold Pour has taken place for Novo Resources at Beaton`s Creek in the WA Pilbara. 

The first gold pour at Beatons Creek – via twitter

5 – Former WMC Exploration Chief Dr Roy Woodall passed away at the age of 90. Dr Woodall is credited with assisting in the discovery of nickel around Kambalda in WA 

6 – Rio Tinto announced $12.4 bn in underlying earnings for the 2020 financial results. While BHP had the best production half at Olympic Dam in five years. 

7 – Northern Star and Saracen’s marriage became official as of this week. Norther Star’s share price closed the week at $10.38. 

  

If you have any news or upcoming events that should feature as part of our wrap of the week, get in touch news@industrylinkmedia.com 

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Caterpillar To Continue Hauling Loads at Super Pit

Cat 793

Northern Star Resources has announced WesTrac CAT as a provider of a new fleet of haul trucks for the KCGM Super Pit. 

The deal is estimated to be worth over $250 million and will not only include the haul trucks but other associated earthmoving equipment. The 793 haul truck is pride of the mining fleet at the KCGM Super Pit, with around 34 793C and 6 793F haul trucks with its 245 tonne capacity listed in operation.

 

Cat 793
A CAT 793 at the Kalgoorlie Super Pit

WesTrac has had a proud history with operating at the Kalgoorlie Super Pit and that is set to continue as the new trucks will commence operating at the Super Pit in September. It’s expected the deal will see a progressive roll out as revealed in The Weekend West.

 

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BREAKING: KCGM Owners Make Joint Announcement

KCGM Super Pit Owners Northern Star Resources and Saracen Minerals have released information to the market this morning about their respective operations based on the lockdown imposed in Western Australia.
Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited and Northern Star Resources advises that it does not expect production and exploration at its West Australian operations to be impacted by the five-day lockdown measures announced yesterday by WA Premier Mark McGowan. All the Company’s operations are located outside the lockdown boundaries set by the Government. The Company will advise the market should these circumstances change. Saracen’s top priority at all times is the health and safety of its staff, business partners and the communities in which we operate and this is the basis of all its strategies for managing COVID-19.
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Todays Top Story – Warnings of Health Related Risks at Work This Summer

We are almost right in the middle of summer here in Australia. As this season is welcomed by some with open arms, it comes as no surprise that we are now being warned of some of the dangers associated with this time of year, in particular heat dangers in the workplace.  

Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) has just issued a warning to guard against heat stress at work. WorkSafe WA Commissioner Darren Kavanagh sent a timely reminder to employers in recent days to take extra care during these coming days and months to avoid exposure to serious risks. “The increased sweating caused by heat depletes the body’s fluids and can lead to the symptoms of heat stress – tiredness, irritability, inattention and muscular cramps. These symptoms don’t just cause physical discomfort, they may also increase the risk of workplace injuries by taking a worker’s attention away from the task at hand, and this is a major concern.” Some of the simple steps that can be taken to avoid or mitigate such risks include; drinking cool clean water regularly, pause work to rest in a cool environment and reorganising work-related tasks to take place during the cooler periods of the day such as early morning and late afternoon.  

When it comes to recreational activities, we have been reminded for decades now to slip, slop, slap and wear a hat. As more importance is placed on workplace safety, messages such as these from Mr Kavanagh should also become part of the common dialogue during the summer months. “Guarding against heat stress and heat stroke is part of providing a safe and healthy workplace, and I urge employers to ensure that preventative measures are in place.”

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Morning News Bites – November 5

Wiluna Mining Increase Mineral Resource.

Wiluna Mining Corporation (ASX: WMX)has reported an increase to the Mineral Resource for the Wiluna Mining Centre, as part of the Company’s ongoing Sulphide Development plan.

Wiluna reported a 4.24Moz @ 4.89 g/t High Grafe Mineral Resource at the Wiluna Mining Centre, which is 11% more than reported in September, and 8.04Moz @ 1.63 g/t total mineral resource for the company.

Mining studies will be conducted to assess various mining options ranging from selective high-grade underground mining to bulk open pit and underground mining, or a combination of methods.

Wiluna Mining Executive Chair, Milan Jerkovic, commented:  “Our ongoing $30 million drilling campaign has focused on high-grade areas with the potential to be mined at the start of our Sulphide Development schedule. Drilling has successfully added tonnes, improved the grade and improved the portion within Measured and Indicated confidence categories. We are delighted by these results because they build upon our strategy to enhance the very large, high-grade Wiluna Mineral Resource. Drilling has been supported by our team’s diligent efforts to extract maximum value from the large amount of existing historical drilling and mining data, including assaying of intervals of mineralisation from the historical core library which comprises over 800km of core. These efforts have contributed to the impressive growth in our Mineral Resource base.

Investigator’s Paris Silver Project Yields High Grades.

Investigator Resources (ASX: IVR) announced that the Paris Silver Project is the highest-grade undeveloped primary silver project in Australia. With a JORC 2012 resource of 9.3 Mt @ 139g/t Ag and 0.6% Pb for 42 Moz contained silver and 55 kt contained lead, Paris is a shallow, high-grade silver deposit amenable to open pit mining.

Investigator’s Managing Director, Andrew McIlwain said: “We believe these initial and preliminary results support our objective with this infill campaign of improving both the grade and confidence in the estimated resource.

“Drilling started on Line 8, at the northern edge of the “200m Zone” Indicated Resource block, and results from the 9 holes drilled in Lines 8 and 8.25, are expected to extend the Indicated Resource to the north. With some eyewatering grades seen in these early results, it bodes well for an increase in the average resource grade in this area”.

“These initial and incomplete results from only 9 holes, of a program total of 276, along with the geological logging of the drilling to date, augurs well for the success of this program. This has provided the confidence for the Board to approve an additional 5,500m of drilling to further improve the Paris resource.

“We will have assays coming through on a regular basis over the next few months and look forward to providing further updates on results”.

AusQuest Completes Initial Reconnaissance Results

AusQuest Limited (ASX: AQD) advised the market that the initial reconnaissance drilling program has been completed at the Gunanya Project in the Paterson Province of Western Australia under its Strategic Alliance Agreement with South32.

A total of seven Reverse Circulation drill holes (totalling 1,916m) spaced 200m apart across each anomaly were completed to test three magnetic targets in order to determine their potential to host gold and copper mineralisation similar to that found at Winu (by Rio Tinto) and Havieron (by Newcrest), located in the northern half of the Paterson Province.

Drill samples were collected at two metre intervals from each drill-hole and sent to Perth for analysis. Assay results are expected within three to four weeks, at which time an assessment of the drilling results will be undertaken.

AusQuest Managing Director Graeme Drew said the Company was pleased to have successfully completed initial reconnaissance drilling of the Gunanya targets even though not all the magnetic targets had been properly tested.

“We have seen signs of alteration and sulphide mineralisation, albeit pyrite, in both the basement lithologies and the overlying sediments,” he said. “but assays are required before any proper assessment of the drilling results can be made.”

“Final assay data should be available over the next 3-4 weeks and we look forward to reporting on the final results once we have had time to analyse the data” he continued.

Yandal Resource Estimate for Flushing Meadows.

Yandal Resources Ltd (ASX: YRL) released an updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Flushing Meadows gold deposit, part of its 100% owned Ironstone Well gold project near Wiluna in the Yandal Greenstone Belt of Western Australia.

The prospect is located 60km south- west of the mining town of Wiluna in close proximity to a number of gold development projects and operating mines.  The estimate contains a total 7.4Mt @ 1.13g/t Au for 268,000oz and utilised sample data from 420 RC drill holes and four diamond drill holes.

Yandal Resources’ Managing Director; Mr Lorry Hughes commented:

“Compared to the 2019 Mineral Resource Estimate the new estimate has a 60% increase in tonnage and a 12% reduction in grade for an overall 40% increase in total contained ounces. Importantly the new estimate has a 109% increase in material reporting to the higher confidence Indicated Resource category and the bulk of the mineralisation is located above 100m vertical depth.

The mineralisation remains open at depth and there are high priority exploration targets along strike and in adjacent positions that are being drilled currently. The Company plans to aggressively pursue Resource growth over the next two years with a large proportion of the exploration budget directed within a 10km radius of Flushing Meadows including the Oblique and Quarter Moon prospects where significant historic mineralisation occurs.

The Company has a dual strategy to prepare our most advanced prospects ready for mining whilst pursuing exploration targets capable of hosting multi-million ounce gold deposits known to occur in areas close to our projects”.

US Election and Gold.

It would seem the price of gold is fluctuating slightly as the fortunes of both candidates change throughout the vote count.  Some analysts believe that a Biden win will be good for the gold price and conversely Trump winning would see downward pressure on the metal price.

At the moment, with Biden looking set to win the election we could see gold remain above the US$1,900 and move toward the $US$2,000 mark again.

Gold has remained fairly stable compared to the last US election when it became obvious that Trump would win and gold soared by about US$150 , but only briefly.

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This Afternoons Top Story – Is Age Just a Number In This US Election?

With the US elections in full swing it got me around to thinking about the age of both candidates and the obvious question for me was, are they both too old? I don’t intend to talk about their politics or policies and who would be better for the US and the world. As far as the US is concerned it is up to them for who they vote for and up to the rest of the world to deal with whoever they offer up. Also, I have no formal qualifications so what I express below comes from a personal view and nothing else.

The incumbent, Donald Trump, was born in 1946 and the person who is wanting to knock him out of office, Joe Biden, was born four years earlier in 1942. With age we are told comes experience, knowledge and wisdom. Also, with age comes health issues, which can detract from the performance of a person, and in some cases senility and other mental health issues can manifest.

With both candidates well into their 70s are they capable of dealing with this ever-changing world that, from my point of view, younger people are more adept at dealing with? Trump is renowned for his avid use of Twitter, a modern-day communication medium that young people love, but I don’t think he has grasped that Twitter rants at 3am are doing him more harm than good. Biden on the other hand seems to use social media discretely and probably leaves it up to one of his many media advisers to handle it all. As I have a dislike for social media, I score the eldest of the two more highly here.

Do these old candidates understand the world we live in and can they relate to the younger people and can the younger people relate to them? If there is no connection between these parties, or worse, animosity, then there is bound to be unrest for the next four years.

Both candidates have shown bouts of forgetfulness during the campaign. None more apparent than when Biden seemingly referred to Trump as George. Most pundits observed this as Biden referring to George W Bush who hasn’t been in the Whitehouse for 12 years. He later said he was mentioning some obscure person who works in the background, but it came over as a hollow excuse. Glory be to any politician who owns up to a mistake, which Biden should have done. They get far more respect from the hoi polloi than someone who tries on a lame excuse that everyone sees through.

I could go on about things that both candidates have done that question their suitability for the top job, but I will leave it at that. My opinion is that Americans are faced with a poor choice when they cast their vote that could determine where America fits in the political maelstrom that the world is faced with.

The argument for younger leaders can be best illustrated here at home where for the last 13 years our Prime Ministers have mostly been under the age of 60. I can hear you say we have had some duds, and I couldn’t agree more with you. Both sides have produced good and bad leaders in this time, but on the whole, we have been well served by energetic people that are capable of meeting the rigours of high office.

Prime Minister, Scott Morrison is only 52 years old, didn’t join a political office out of university but worked in marketing before becoming a politician. He was first elected in 2007 at the age of 39 and was promoted early to the front bench. He currently seems to be doing the job well and I think his life experience before entering politics bodes well for him. The other side of politics also has members that fall into the same category as Morrison and would do an equally good job if ever given the opportunity.

In conclusion, and at the age of 63, I believe we are better served by people who can withstand the physical and mental rigours of the job. These are people in their 50s who have experienced life and

should be mature, yet young enough to relate to the younger generation. We have had exceptions in Hawke and Howard and their mentorship would have been appreciated by following leaders.

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Morning News Bites – November 4

Neometals Completes Mini-Pilot Test Work.

On top of Neometals (ASX: NMT) yesterday announcing its venture into battery recycling it has released details of the successful completion of its mini-pilot test work campaign on the Company’s Vanadium Recovery Project. Results confirmed excellent vanadium chemical product purity (>99.5% V2O5), strong recoveries (>75%) and reduced residence time for Neometals’ patent pending hydrometallurgical process for recovering vanadium from Slag.

Neometals executed a collaboration agreement with Critical Metals, to jointly evaluate the feasibility of constructing a facility to recover and process high-grade vanadium products from vanadium-bearing steel by-product in Scandinavia.

The Mini-Pilot was constructed, commissioned and operated continuously through the campaign without any safety incidents or process challenges. Of particular significance was the achievement of chemical-grade vanadium pentoxide at high recovery rates and low residence times. Passing this major technical milestone is important and gives Neometals the strong confidence to continue its project development by commencing the PFS.

Neometals Managing Director Chris Reed commented: “We are very pleased with the results of the Mini-Pilot campaign. This substantially de-risks our patent-pending processing flow sheet and gives us the confidence to commence the PFS. We now shift our attention to the design phase of the larger proposed pilot plant which will leach material from three of SSAB’s steel operations in a mild carbonate solution at moderate temperatures and atmospheric pressure. The beauty of our process is that the main reagent is carbon dioxide, which we plan to capture from third-party emission to sequester some 65,000 tonnes in our leach Residue rendering it inert and available for secondary use.”

Marmota Strikes it Rich.

Marmota (ASX:MEU) has announced that the drilling program completed in September 2020 at Aurora Tank has achieved multiple successes.

Marmota Chairman, Dr Colin Rose, said: “ This has primarily been an extensional program, testing out new ground. It is also Marmota’s eighth drilling program at Aurora Tank. We are very fortunate that every one of those programs so far has been a success.

This program has yielded new high-grade extensions to the North, West and at depth, significantly extended the NW flank, and yielded our current highest 4m intersection. I am delighted that Aurora Tank keeps on growing, that underlying fundamentals are strong, and so too the potential rewards to shareholders.

Aurora Tank is fortunate to combine high-grade intersections that are close to surface, with excellent metallurgy, making Aurora Tank potentially amenable to low-cost low capex open-pittable heap leach methods, which are our clear focus. ”

Drilling yielded outstanding high-grade gold intersections including: 4m @ 70 g/t gold (from 64m downhole) and 4m @ 25 g/t gold (from 52m downhole).

Marmota has intersected very high grades close to surface [typically just 20m to 50m from surface], this program is also the first time that Marmota has also intersected high grade gold at depths below 80m. In particular, a reconnaissance hole designed to test for an extension to the west of the NW flank intersected 4m at 7.3 g/t at a depth of 120m downhole with follow up drilling required to prove it up.

Strandline to Power Up with Contract Power.

Strandline Resources (ASX: STA) has released details of its development of its Coburn mineral sands project in Western Australia by appointing Contract Power Australia as preferred contractor to build, own and operate the power generation facilities for the project.

Coburn’s purpose-designed power facility is based on a low-cost, low-emission solution integrating natural gas fuelled generation with state-of-the-art solar and battery storage technology. The proposed power solution will enable Strandline to capture energy supply cost savings relative to the DFS published in June 2020.

The power station is designed for a maximum demand capacity of 16 MW and average consumed power of ~10 MW. Natural gas will be supplied by others under an industry standard long-term LNG supply agreement and trucked to an on-site storage and re-vapourisation facility supplied by Contract Power. The LNG then feeds a set of efficient engine generators on an N+1 basis and has ~30% solar (renewable) penetration for the major stable loads.

Generation is at 11kV with step up to 22kV for power transmission to the project loads across the mine site.

Strandline Managing Director Luke Graham said the appointment marked another key step in its strategy to bring Coburn into production and establishes an important relationship with Contract Power, a leader in sustainable clean energy generation in Western Australia.

Pantoro Confirms Two High-Grade Lodes.

Pantoro (ASX:PNR) advised that further drilling and initial level development have confirmed the presence and continuity of two additional high grade lodes at the Wagtail Underground Mine at their Halls Creek Project. Both lodes extend the mineralisation at the Wagtail Underground Mine and are located in the hanging wall of the current Rowdies ore system.

Development and drilling defined a North East oriented splay lode (REV Lode) developing off of the current Rowdies lodes. The new REV Lode currently has a strike length of 50 metres and vertical extent of 100 metres. The lode remains open at depth and drilling is ongoing.

The REV Lode interacts with the newly discovered high grade North Striking Lode in the hanging wall.  The sulphide rich REV Lode appears to be a direct analogue to the Mother/Darcy lodes at Nicolsons, where significant upside was realised in the early stages of the projects development.

Managing Director, Paul Cmrlec said: “The discovery of these new lodes is great news for the Wagtail mine, and for the Halls Creek Project as a whole. The splay lodes at Nicolsons provided significant value to Nicolsons mine, and this discovery has the potential to provide the same upside at Wagtail.

The deepest drilling in the lode has returned some of the most exciting results to date, and the team at Halls Creek eagerly awaits the development of additional drilling platforms to enable the full drill out of this lode.

In addition to REV Lode extensions, we continue to test the existing lodes outside of the current Mineral Resource envelope and look forward to reporting extensions to mineralisation which may further increase the mines life.”

Horizon Cracks Good Grades at Crake Project.

Horizon Minerals (ASX: HRZ) announced further excellent high-grade drilling results from the 100% owned Binduli gold project area located 9km west of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in the heart of the Western Australian goldfields.

The announcement comes off the back of a 29-hole, 2,460 metre drilling program that drilled to a depth of 144 metres at their Crake and Coote projects.  In particular the Crake project showed encouraging results with grades nearing 20g/t in some holes. The current Mineral Resource Estimate for Crake stands at 1.27Mt @ 1.82g/t Au for 73,820oz at a 1g/t Au lower grade cut-off and remains open to the north, west and at depth.

Commenting on the latest drilling results, Horizon Minerals Managing Director Mr Jon Price said: “Binduli has become an outstanding emerging gold camp with Crake continuing to grow in scale and quality and the adjoining Coote deposit now firming up to have similar potential. Both projects remain open with extensional RC drilling underway and we look forward to further drilling results this quarter from multiple rigs currently operating across the wider project area.”

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This Afternoons Top Story – Is Our ABC, Our ABC?

33 years ago, there was an ABC campaign that proudly told us that “Our ABC” only cost each Australian eight cents a day to operate.  Not bad value back then when you think of the services they provided.  It was only radio and TV as online services had not even been thought of then, but even so it was still great value.

The ABC provides a great service to the nation as a government owned entity. This service has increased with the addition of online services that gives us a lot of information at our fingertips. ABC rural services have been of great benefit to farmers and regional listeners and viewers; it has been part of the bush telegraph that many people rely on during the good times and when emergencies threaten communities.

The radio service first started in 1932 with TV being introduced in 1956.

Programs that have become iconic in Australians’ minds in past generations have also stood the test of time and are enjoyed by toddlers.  Play School is one such program that every Australian would have seen at some time and the show has followed the same format for decades.  The show has endured, and many Australian actors and wannabes have participated in its production.

Some iconic programs are now a thing of the past.  Blue Hills first ran on radio in 1949 and continued until 1976 and was a popular series that often-brought social issues into the program. The Argonauts Club that eventually evolved into the Children’s hour was also much loved and ran from 1933 to 1972.

Their news service has been second to none over the years and you can set your clock to the hour from when the Majestic Fanfare starts, to indicate a news bulletin is about to commence.  There was a huge backlash recently when the ABC announced it was going to drop its 7.45am, 15-minute radio news bulletin.  A lot of people thought it was a cynical exercise to try and embarrass the government over its decision to not increase the corporation’s budget by CPI.

And this brings me to my question of “is it still our ABC?”  Firstly, all other media organisations in this country a private companies or companies listed on the ASX.  Very few rely on any government funding and those that do receive some funds, receive it on the proviso of delivering a particular service.  These companies are responsible to their owners, including shareholders, and the commentary generally side with one side of the political spectrum.  For Instance, Sky News and the Australian newspaper are predominantly to the right of that spectrum and they do not shy away from that.

There has been increasing concern that the ABC has shifted too far left in its reporting of the news when it comes to politics and also that instead of reporting news it editorialises by journalists giving opinion. I have always believed that journalists should report the facts and allow the people consuming it to make up their own mind on any political implications.  Alas, across all media, it happens all to often these days that a report is spiked with an opinion.

And social media is becoming a trap for journalists who use this media to express their personal views on a government decision or to make a point about a politician.  With ABC journalists and producers, the target is often the right of politics and sometimes it can be seen in their reporting of politics.

I used to watch Sky Channel news and then switch over to watch the ABC News at 7pm.  I have cancelled my Foxtel subscription so no longer get to see Sky.  However, the reason I watched both bulletins was so I could get to see both slants on an issue and make up my own mind of what I thought of it.  I shouldn’t have to do that, especially with the ABC.

For a wholly government funded news service I don’t think we are getting balanced reporting at the moment.  I would much rather see just the facts and the viewer allowed to form their own opinion.  So, at the moment I think my eight cents has been devalued and I am not getting the same value I did 33 years ago.  This is a pity for me, as I still appreciate the ABC and all it has done for Australia over the many years it has been operating.

Written by Gary Brown.