Mining and Exploration

The global economic downturn has meant opportunity for AMEC Minproc to expand its activities in Africa, as Ruari McCallion learns from Colin Kubank.

UK oil and gas explorer EnCore Oil has announced a new North Sea oil find at its Cladhan field.

Cladhan is located 225 miles north-east of Aberdeen, in 536 feet water depth. It is thought that the field may hold reserves of between 100 million and 200 million barrels.

The Cladhan announcement follows the discovery of the 300 million barrel Catcher field, which was identified in June and in which EnCore also has a stake.

EnCore, which started drilling at the Cladhan site in August, will now drill horizontally to determine the size of the field.

Dynasty Metals & Mining Inc. has delivered its first shipment of gold dore from its Zaruma Gold Project in Ecuador to a refinery in Canada.

Dynasty Metals & Mining Inc. is a Canadian based mining company involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties in Ecuador.

The delivery contains approximately 2,400 troy ounces ("ounces") of fine gold, with an approximate value of US$3 million.

Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy has said it may have found oil in the untapped waters of western Greenland.

Cairn, which is the only firm so far to have been allowed to drill for oil off Greenland, said that it has found gas in thin sands in the Baffin Bay basin, which could be a sign of oil. The area lies around 400 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle.

The company said it is still too early to gauge the significance of the find, as the well has not yet been drilled to its total depth.

Mining giant Xstrata has agreed to acquire Australian iron ore developer Sphere Minerals for A$428 million (approx. €300 million), it has been announced.

Buying Sphere will increase Xstrata’s iron ore presence in Africa through the Australian company’s three iron ore projects in Mauritania. These include the $1.65 billion Guelb el Aouj development, operated asa 50/50 joint venture with Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière (SNIM), Mauritania’s state-owned iron ore producer.

Wagenborg Offshore is a Netherlands based company whose parent group Royal Wagenborg has more than a century of experience in providing maritime services in the Baltic Sea. Operations director Johan Adriaanse explains to John O’Hanlon why its expertise is in demand to support oilfield operations in Kazakhstan.

Moves by Namibia to capitalise on its extensive diamond resources have stepped up a gear since the creation of the Namibia Diamond Trading Company. Andrew Pelis talks to CEO Shihaleni Ndjaba to find out more.

Mozambique is on the brink of a transformation driven by its mineral resources; and Riversdale Mining is bringing some much needed expertise and capital to the party, as chief operating officer Andries Engelbrecht tells John O’Hanlon.

Riversdale Mining, a resource company with its headquarters in Sydney, Australia, was set up in late 2004 by a group of experienced coal mining professionals interested in exploration, mining and development projects.

Deputy director of Boskalis Offshore Bas van Bemmelen talks to Jane Bordenave about the company’s cradle to cradle approach to projects and how it has come to be a world leader in subsea soil intervention.

Founded in 1995, Boskalis Offshore is the specialised oil and gas organisation within the Royal Boskalis Westminster Group. It is based in the Netherlands, but operates globally and has realised projects on every continent. It works to excavate trenches and provide coarse gravel cover for subsea cables and pipelines.