Simandou mega iron-ore project, Guinea

The current plan for the Simandou project, in south-east Guinea, includes the construction of a mine with a capacity of 95-million tons a year of high-grade iron-ore.

Rio says Simandou JV formed, Chalco makes $1.35bn payment

Diversified mining group Rio Tinto and a consortium led by Chalco, a subsidiary of State-owned Aluminium Corporation of China, have completed the Simandou joint venture (JV), after receiving Chinese regulatory approval. The Chinese approval...

Smitspan development halted as Firestone brings in new investor

Coal development company Firestone Energy on Thursday said it had stopped all exploration and development work at its Smitspan farm coal project until the new parameters of the project had been finalised, following a multinational cornerstone...

Morocco office to enable ground-level support

International legal practice Norton Rose Group is confident that its fifth African office opened in Casablanca, Morocco in October last year, will strengthen its African footprint.

Govt already in dazzling position as effective 50% mining shareholder – Louw

If the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) were sitting in the Cabinet and one of its members advocated mine nationalisation in order to get more State revenue, hopefully someone there would point out that the government already gets...

Motaung replaces Kotze as Anooraq CEO

TSX- and JSE-listed platinum company Anooraq Resources on Wednesday said that Harold Motaung would replace Philip Kotze as CEO. Motaung had been serving as executive director of Anooraq since 2004 and previously held the position of deputy Chief...

State mining company in coal offtake talks with Eskom

South Africa’s State mining company, which the Cabinet has freed-up as an autonomous enterprise, is negotiating a coal offtake agreement with State-owned electricity utility Eskom, and studying rare earths opportunities in neighbouring Zimbabwe...

Russians buy into South African minnow's iron innovation

Large Russian mining and steel company OAO Severstal has bought into new South African technology that converts abundant waste fines into iron feedstock for steelmaking. The process does not require the use of expensively priced coking coal and...

South Africa awards BHP Billiton petroleum exploration rights

Mining giant BHP Billiton has been awarded petroleum exploration rights offshore of South Africa's West Coast. Petroleum Agency SA CEO Mthozami Xiphu told Mining Weekly Online on Tuesday that the agency had issued the long-awaited permit on...

Mintek’s Mngomezulu joins Merafe board

JSE-listed ferrochrome producer Merafe Resources has appointed the CEO of State-owned mineral research organisation Mintek, Abiel Mngomezulu, as an independent nonexecutive director. Mngomezulu previously served in various roles at South...

Village gets thumbs up to absorb Lesego Platinum, raise capital

Shareholders on Tuesday gave the JSE-listed Village Main Reef the thumbs up to acquire an anchor asset in Lesego Platinum and to raise capital for further acquisitions as needed. Shareholders at Village's annual general meeting approved the...

Crystallex finds Chinese partner to 'unblock', fund Venezuela project

Beleaguered Canadian junior Crystallex has agreed to sell two-thirds of its flagship gold project in Venezuela to a powerful new Chinese partner, and has secured the initial blessing of the Venezuelan government for the deal, the company announced...