Mining and Exploration

Australia’s Origin Energy has announced the commencement of drilling at the Mbawa prospect offshore Kenya.

Drilling at the prospect is expected to take about 60 days, which will reach a total depth of 3,250 metres subsea in water depths of 864 metres.

The Mbawa joint venture consists of operator Apache Kenya, which holds a 50 per cent interest; Origin Energy, with 20 per cent; Pancontinental Oil and Gas, with 15 per cent; and Tullow Kenya, which holds 15 per cent.

The drilling is being carried out by Apache on behalf of the joint venture.

A group of mining companies has agreed to work with Canadian National Railways (CN) on a feasibility study into the construction of a proposed rail line and terminal handling facility to serve the Quebec/Labrador iron ore range.

CN customers Cliffs Natural Resources Inc, Labrador Iron Mines Holdings Ltd, New Millennium Iron Corp, Cap-Ex Ventures Ltd, and Alderon Iron Ore Corp have committed to help CN and its partner in the venture La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.

Australia’s Bannerman Resources has announced an update on its discussions with Namibian state-owned mining company Epangelo Mining Company.

Bannerman and Epangelo signed a non-binding agreement, or term sheet, in April this year setting out the terms and conditions offered to Epangelo for it to acquire an initial five per cent interest (plus a follow-on option for  an additional five per cent) in Bannerman's 80 per cent-owned Namibian subsidiary, the sole owner of the Etango Uranium Project. 

Silver is popular among investors in today’s turbulent markets. Silver Standard Resources is a pure play company with massive resources and significant revenues from metal sales.

Dust control and road stabilization are major issues in the United States. Twenty years after its invention, PennzSuppress D is finally being made available to a wider marketplace. Bruce Coulthard, president of PZS Stabilization, talks about this revolutionary product.

When it acquired the Cerro Negro property from Andean Resources in 2010 Goldcorp hailed this as its next cornerstone gold mine: now with little more than a year to go before it pours its first doré bars the project is recognized as world class.

Osisko Mining Corporation has reported record monthly gold production of 37,780 ounces in the month of July.

A record monthly mill throughput of 1.3 million tonnes was also achieved, along with record average daily throughput (based on 31 days of operation) of 41,935 tonnes per day.

“We are now beginning to see significant improvement in daily throughput and gold production from the Canadian Malartic mill,” said Sean Roosen, president and chief executive officer.

Italy’s Eni has announced a giant new natural gas discovery offshore Mozambique.

The discovery was made in the eastern part of Area 4 at the Mamba North East 2 exploration prospect, the fifth exploration well successfully drilled in the area.

Mamba North East 2, where Eni will now conduct a production test, was drilled in 1,994 metres of water, reaching a total depth of 5,365 metres. The well is located approximately nine kilometres east of Mamba North East 1 and approximately 23 kilometres from Mamba South 1, 60 kilometres off the Capo Delgado coast.

Ann Marie Hann, president of the Coal Association of Canada, talks about changes in the regulatory environment which could see more coal mines looking to export.