Mining and Exploration

Dubai-based Dragon Oil has announced the signing of a deal through which it will earn a 55 per cent interest in the Bargou Exploration Permit offshore Tunisia.

The farm-in agreement, which has been signed with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Perth, Australia-based Cooper Energy, will also give Dragon Oil operatorship of the permit in any development phase.

The Bargou Exploration Permit is located in the Gulf of Hammamet in the Mediterranean Sea, covering an area of 4,616 square kilometres with predominantly offshore exploration prospects.

Ivanhoe Mines, Rio Tinto and the government of Mongolia have reached an agreement on the stakeholding of the Oyu Tolgoi project in the Asian country.

The government was seeking to raise its stake in the mine, which is expected to go into production during the third quarter of next year, from 34 per cent to 50 per cent.

The government has now agreed for its stake to remain at 34 per cent.

Premier Oil is to acquire EnCore Oil for approximately £221 million, the two companies have announced.

London, UK-based Premier said the acquisition is in line with its strategy of acquiring high quality assets. The deal will increase its interest in UK Licence PL1430, including the Catcher field, by 15 per cent, taking its overall interest to 50 per cent. It will also provide Premier with operatorship of the Catcher area.

Catcher is one of the largest discoveries in the UK North Sea in recent years.

Turkey is something of an unknown and misunderstood place; but as Alan Swaby learns, there is at least one mining entrepreneur who has complete faith in its future.

Considering the amount of exploration that’s taken place in some of the most obscure corners of the world, it’s something of a surprise that Turkey’s mineral resources are so underdeveloped. At least it is to Alan Clegg, founder and CEO of Red Crescent Resources (RCR)—although he’s not complaining too much, as it leaves the field wide open for RCR at the moment.

Platinum producer Lonmin has agreed to sell a controlling stake in its Limpopo Baobab mining division to black empowerment group Shanduka.

Lonmin said the deal will enable it to work with Shanduka to develop Limpopo on a manageable scale, as well as furthering Shanduka’s strategy of operating mining assets in chosen commodities.

London-based engineering and project management company AMEC has been awarded the front-end engineering and design contract for development of the Cygnus field in the southern North Sea.

The £50 million contract, which was awarded by GDF SUEZ E&P UK, is a front-end engineering & design (FEED) contract, which includes the option to proceed into detailed design and procurement services.

BHP Billiton has completed its acquisition of the HWE Mining subsidiaries which provide contract mining services to its Western Australia Iron Ore operations.

The acquisition from Leighton Holdings follows a previously announced Heads of Agreement signed on 9 August 2011, relating to the mining equipment and related assets that service the Area C, Yandi and Orebody 23/25 operations which collectively account for almost 70 per cent of Western Australia Iron Ore’s total material movement.

North Atlantic Potash Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of JSC Acron, today completed the sale of eight of its potash permitted areas to Yancoal Canada Resources Co. Ltd. of China for CAD$110 million.

This sale relates to North Atlantic Potash's potash permit holdings located north of Regina, and allows the company to focus on key areas of interest within its remaining potash permits in Saskatchewan.

Tronox Incorporated and Exxaro Resources Limited today announced a definitive agreement under which Tronox will acquire Exxaro's mineral sands operations in exchange for a 38.5 per cent equity stake in Tronox.

Exxaro is a South African-based resources group with a variety of interests, including iron ore and coal. Its mineral sands operations produce the key titanium bearing ore feedstock used in the production of titanium dioxide pigment - an inorganic white pigment used in paint, coatings, plastics, paper and many other everyday products.