Mining and Exploration

BHP Billiton Energy Coal South Africa (BECSA) has entered into an empowerment transaction with a black-owned consortium led by Pembani Group, it announced today.

The consortium will effectively hold an eight per cent equity interest in BECSA, and also includes a Broad-Based Empowerment grouping. BECSA shareholders have also approved the implementation of an Employee Share Ownership Plan in which participating employees will hold a beneficial interest of two per cent equity in BECSA.

Afferro Mining has agreed to sell its 38.5 per cent interest in its Putu iron ore project in Liberia to Russia’s second biggest steelmaker.

Severstal, one of the world’s leading vertically integrated steel and steel-related mining companies, already owns the remaining 61.5 per cent of Putu through its subsidiary, Lybica Holdings.

Afferro will receive a cash payment of $65 million on completion of the deal. It said it would use the funds from the sale to accelerate its development strategy for its 100 per cent owned Nkout iron ore project in Cameroon.

Norwegian oil company Det norske has awarded Denmark-based Maersk Drilling with a three-year contract at its Draupne project.

Maersk Drilling is to supply the CJ-70 ultra harsh environment jack-up rig, XL Enhanced 2, presently under construction in Singapore, for development drilling on the Draupne field in the Norwegian North Sea.

The contract, awarded by Det norske on behalf of the Draupne licence, is for three years with options to extend up to seven years.

The total contract value for the three-year period is approximately $413 million.

Tel Aviv is not only Israel’s second city by population and its business capital, it is also globally recognized as one of the world’s most innovative startup hubs. In addition, according to one 2018 report, more than 300 large multinational firms have set up research and development centers in Israel – mostly in Tel Aviv – to take advantage of its young, tech-savvy population.

Uranium Energy Corp has announced the completion of its acquisition of the Workman Creek uranium project, previously announced on 8 November, 2011, from Cooper Minerals, Inc.

"The Workman Creek Project represents the company's fourth project in pro-business and mining-friendly Arizona,” said President and CEO Amir Adnani. “This acquisition further demonstrates management's commitment to expanding and diversifying our project portfolio at a viable cost for long-term growth."

The government of Afghanistan has launched tenders for the exploration and exploitation of four project areas containing gold and copper deposits.

The deposits lie in the provinces of Badakhshan, Ghazni, Sar-I-Pul and Balkh, and Herat, and contain gold, copper-gold, copper and copper respectively.

The tender process for each project is expected to culminate in the granting of a mining agreement with associated exploration licences and, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, will lead to the granting of the requisite exploitation licences.

Extract Resources has announced that Namibia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy has issued it with a mining licence for the Husab Uranium Project.

Extract Resources is a uranium exploration and development company with a primary focus on Namibia. The company’s 100 per cent-owned Husab Uranium Projecthosts the largest and highest grade granite-hosted uranium deposit in the country.

Alberta is basking in its oilsands boom, but it is about to wake up to an equivalent minerals bonanza as Toronto-based DNI Metals unveils its massive minerals and rare earths deposits.

As global financial markets stagger, the metal that used to underpin them all is becoming very attractive. Toronto based and listed Continental Gold is focused on Colombia and is just two years away from large scale production.

As nations run out of money, gold returns to underpin global economics: it’s a good time to be producing it and Detour Gold has got its timing just right in its bid to exploit Canada’s largest gold deposit.