Mining and Exploration

Simcoa Operations is one of the world’s leading producers of silicon. Vice president Jim Brosnan tells Jane Bordenave how a dedication to efficiency and zero waste has helped it get there.

South African phosphate mining and processing group Foskor gave its name to foskorite—but ironically, it is no longer mining that ore as it refocuses its strategy and resources. John O’Hanlon speaks to the VP of Mining, Johan Horn.

Timberline Resources is an emerging gold producer and a junior gold exploration company with a business model that includes a predictable cash flow, David Hendricks reports.

Seahawk Drilling plans to soar to international status within a few years. COO Kurt Hoffman talks with April Terreri about the shallow-water drilling company.

Sage Gold is in transition from an exploration company to a production company. President and CEO Nigel Lees explains the significance of the change to April Terreri.

By positioning itself in a region already rich in mineral assets and infrastructure, Labrador Iron Mines is reviving a historic mining operation within the heart of Canada’s prolific Labrador Trough iron range. Keith Regan learns how this first mover of high-quality DSO product envisions a growing production profile at its deposits along the Quebec-Labrador border.

Abacus Mining & Exploration holds the rights to mine copper and gold from the former producing Afton-Ajax property in British Columbia. Keith Regan learns how a recent joint venture agreement will enable Abacus to bring the mine back into production without diluting shareholder value, with global implications well into the future.

Exploration firm EnCore Oil has announced that its Catcher prospect, off the east coast of Scotland, may hold up to 300 million barrels of oil—about 150 million of which is extractable.

EnCore is the operator of the Catcher joint venture and holds a 15 per cent stake. Premier Oil holds 35 per cent; Wintershall (UK North Sea) holds 20 per cent; Nautical Petroleum has 15 per cent; and Agora Oil & Gas holds a 15 per cent stake.

Sixty-five kilometres south of Örebro, in sparsely populated forest land, lies one of Sweden’s oldest mining operations. For 152 years, Zinkgruvan has extracted zinc, lead and silver from this central Swedish location. These days, the business is 100 per cent owned by the Canadian company Lundin Mining, which controls mining operations in a number of European countries as well as a partnership in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Like many an African mining operation, Zimplats’ Ngezi mine lies in splendid isolation, 150 kilometres south-west of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare and is surrounded by...bush! Even though there is no expat workforce to push costs up, this remote location means that Zimplats has had to put in place competitive conditions of service in order to retain the full gamut of mining, engineering, geology and metallurgical skills it needs to keep the largest platinum resource in the country running effectively.