Mining and Exploration

Alan Swaby looks at a now thriving business that was once rejected as having no marketing potential.

Like evolution and survival of the fittest, the beauty of the free market is that it encourages new life forms. Take the case of Andalusite Resources in South Africa as an example. It is now sitting on a successful and potentially very valuable business because the once dominant life force became complacent and relaxed its guard, enabling a new life form to gain a toe-hold.

With the collective appetite of the world’s steel makers likely only to increase, there has never been a better time to be the hand that feeds them, as Becky Done finds out in discussion with Michael Jones and Victoria Sherwood of African Minerals.

Vale, the world’s second largest mining company, is about to open a new coal mine in Mozambique. Ben Sansom lifts the veil on corporate social responsibility and discovers the efforts Vale is making to ensure the benefits percolate through to the local community.

ELB Engineering Services has an entrenched position in the South African mining industry thanks to over a century of experience and the alliances it has formed with the best local and international technology partners.

Caterpillar is in the clear to acquire mining equipment manufacturer Bucyrus International, after approval Friday from the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China (MOFCOM).

The United States Department of Justice cleared the transaction in May, and the MOFCOM clearance is the last major regulatory requirement needed for the acquisition to be completed. The deal, valued at approximately $8.8 billion (including net debt), is expected to close shortly.

Australia’s Equatorial Resources Limited has acquired a 19.9 per cent interest in African Iron Limited, it has been announced.

African Iron owns an 80 per cent stake in the Mayoko-Lekoumou iron project, which is situated next to Equatorial’s 100 per cent owned Mayoko-Moussondji iron project in the Republic of Congo.

Nordic Mines has already sold some of the gold from its mine in Finland: Laiva will make Nordic one of Europe’s leading gold producers—and the timing couldn’t be better.

Total Namibia is shaping up to leverage its international experience and reputation to establish a foothold in the country’s booming mining sector.

Alan Swaby looks at a FTSE 100 oil company that didn’t have a barrel of oil to its name 25 years ago—but now has billions.

Tullow Oil is sitting on vast reserves of oil, so much so that the share price has gone from 400p in 2006 to 1400p today. Its biggest find to date—the Jubilee offshore field in Ghana—came on stream in 2010, just three years after the discovery was made. Other global sites saw an average of 58,100 boepd in 2010 from fields as far apart as the North Sea and Pakistan. 

Karelian Diamond Resources has announced the resumption of drilling on its Seitaperä diamondiferous kimberlite pipe in Finland.

The 6.9 hectare Seitaperä pipe, in the Kuhmo region of Finland, is the largest known kimberlite pipe in the country.

Drilling at Seitaperä will consist of five or more drill holes with an objective to further test the extent of the diamond-bearing kimberlite facies and the shape of the kimberlite pipe to a depth of approximately 100 metres.