Mining and Exploration

Canadian resource company Copper Mountain Mining Corporation announced today that construction of its processing plant is now complete and production has commenced.

Mining has been proceeding as planned and has been delivering ore to the primary crusher since mid April. The company has been stock piling ore as part of preproduction mining activities.

UK-based Cairn Energy has commenced drilling operations on two wells offshore West Greenland, it was announced today.

Operations will commence on the AT-7 well in the Atammik Block and the LF-7 well in the Lady Franklin Block, approximately 160 and 300 kilometres offshore Nuuk respectively.

The AT-7 prospect lies at a depth of 905 metres and the LF-7 prospect at 989 metres.

Drilling will be carried out by a fifth generation semi-submersible, the Leiv Eiriksson, and the Ocean Rig Corcovado, a sixth generation drillship.

Texas-based Treaty Energy Corp. has acquired its own drilling rig ahead of commencing operations in Belize, it has been announced.

The Schramm Rig, purchased in Alabama, has been shipped to a service center for inspection and upgrades as needed, prior to its shipment to Belize in June.

The rig is capable of drilling with either air or mud, and is thus able to drill with either method if on-site conditions change, the company said.

Noble Energy has announced the discovery of oil at its Santiago exploration prospect in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

Around 60 feet of oil pay was identified in the well, which was located in 6,500 feet of water on Mississippi Canyon Block 519 and drilled to a total depth of approximately 18,920 feet.

Noble Energy is the operator at Santiago, with a 23.25 percent working interest. Houston Energy holds 10 percent, Red Willow Offshore has 20.25 percent, and BP Exploration & Production holds the remaining 46.5 percent.  

Desire Petroleum has announced that new data on its acreage offshore the Falklands has pointed to potential new prospects for oil.

The London-based company, which is wholly focused on the North Falkland Basin, said that initial indications for two new prospects—Beverley and Shona—were encouraging, based on preliminary raw data.

Desire said that the Shona lead is at the same stratigraphic level as the Sea Lion discovery made in May last year by rival exploration company Rockhopper, which was the first oil discovery in the North Falkland Basin.

Several years ago, Arafura Resources identified the imminent shortage of rare earth oxides. Now, it is about to become an alternative supplier for users worldwide to China’s monopoly.

Under new and gifted management, Carrick Gold is undergoing a renaissance—and is currently poised to develop a major gold discovery within the Kalgoorlie West Project. Chairman Laurence Freedman talks to Jayne Flannery.

Mining is never an easy life but as Alan Swaby learns, not even the harshness of the Arctic Circle can faze some operators.

You might be forgiven for thinking that developing a brand new iron ore mine, well inside the Arctic Circle, might throw up the odd problem or two. But Karl-Axel Waplan, CEO of Northland Resources, is remarkably matter-of-fact about a project that will have consumed at least US$700 million by the time it gets off the ground.

The United States Department of Justice has given the go-ahead for Caterpillar to acquire mining equipment manufacturer Bucyrus International, concluding the antitrust review process in the US.

The clearance by the DOJ will allow the acquisition, valued at approximately $8.6 billion (including net debt), to proceed as soon as all other conditions to closing have been satisfied. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2011.

The acquisition is based on Caterpillar's key strategic imperative to expand its leadership in the mining equipment industry.

South African miner Exxaro has made a takeover bid for Australian miner Territory Resources for A$123 million in cash.

Territory has an iron ore operation in Australia’s Northern Territory, with an operating mine at Frances Creek positioned close to rail and port infrastructure serving the port of Darwin. The mine produces approximately 1.6 million tonnes per annum of lump and fine direct shipping ore.

Territory also owns rights to iron ore tenements in the vicinity of Frances Creek.