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Photo of Week
'CLEAN' COAL?:
By: Martin Creamer 25th May 2018 Water pours from an excavator bucket as coal is extracted from below the water's surface at an opencast mine in India. Taken four years ago, this picture of drenched coal arising out of a water-filled pit is indicative of the potential environmental mixing and matching that can occur with mining.... →
SPECIAL SPARKLE:
By: Martin Creamer 18th May 2018 Lucara Diamond Corporation president and CEO Eira Thomas sits for a photograph in Vancouver, Canada, where the Southern Africa-focused diamond mining company is headquartered. A geologist with decades of experience, Thomas has held board positions on diamond mining companies over an extended... →
GOING FOR GRACE'S GOLD:
By: Martin Creamer 11th May 2018 Artisanal gold miners go for gold on a farm 40 km north of Harare, owned by former President Robert Mugabe's wife Grace Mugabe, in Mazowe, Zimbabwe. The ironically named Smithfield farm, once guarded by armed police, is now dotted with gold diggings. The illegal miners have stated that they... →
WESTERN CAPE QUARRY:
By: Martin Creamer 4th May 2018 The 60-year-old AfriSam Peninsula Quarry, in Killarney, Cape Farms, uses drill and blast methods to mine greywacke stone, which is processed at the plant using mainly jaw and two cone crushers to produce a range of concrete aggregates for the Western Cape region. The quarry, which exposes the... →
ARTISANAL GOLD MINING:
By: Martin Creamer 27th April 2018 ARTISANAL GOLD MINING: Artisanal mining activity at Makala gold camp near the town of Mongbwalu in Ituri province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). A big part of the community programmes of some major mining companies operating in the DRC is to offer alternative livelihood... →
ARC OF DEPERATION:
By: Martin Creamer 20th April 2018 An underground miner in El Callao, Venezuela's capital of legal and illegal gold mining in the Arco Minero del Orinoco, which concerned observers have dubbed the Arc of Desperation. It is a region where soldiers keep watch behind sandbags or roam with balaclava-covered faces and rifles in hand.... →
PITS AND PASSAGES:
By: Martin Creamer 13th April 2018 Makeshift tents dot this excavation at Kasulo township, Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where artisanal mining under houses, schools and churches is not uncommon. Shovels consistently strike the hard silvery-white veins of cobalt, used in rechargeable batteries to power Apple... →
RUSSIA'S RISE:
By: Martin Creamer 6th April 2018 Iron-ore is piled colourfully at a mine in Russia, where iron-ore production is expected to grow to 115.1-million tonnes a year in the next two years, according to Timetric’s ‘Iron-Ore Mining in Russia to 2020‘, which highlights Russia’s 25-billion-tonne iron-ore reserve. Iron-ore producers in... →
CHARTER BARTER
By: Martin Creamer 30th March 2018 CHARTER BARTER: Newly Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe, in his first media conference last week, emphasised that government would not begin developing the new Mining Charter from scratch, despite criticism from various organisations. He said that Mining Charter 3 would be the basis of... →
SPARKLING SHORELINE:
By: Martin Creamer 23rd March 2018 This diamond mining activity is located very close to the Atlantic shoreline on the Skeleton Coast of Namibia, which is diamondiferous. Diamonds can be found on the beach and diamond mining areas along Namibia's shoreline are thus off limits to the public. →
VALUE-ADDING THRUST:
By: Martin Creamer 16th March 2018 Kazakhstan-focused miner Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) plans to double aluminium output in three years to lessen dependence on lower-value alumina sales to Russia's Rusal. In this picture, a worker oversees molten aluminium being poured at ERG's Kazakhstan Aluminium Smelter JSC factory in... →
REMEMBERING THE DEAD:
By: Martin Creamer 9th March 2018 Mock coffins, symbolising the 65 miners that died in an explosion at Grupo Mexico's Pasta de Conchos coal mine, are displayed at the Angel of the Independence monument during a protest in Mexico City to mark the 12th anniversary of the disaster, which occurred in the early hours of the morning in... →
CHROME CONTENDER:
By: Martin Creamer 2nd March 2018 Johannesburg-listed platinum explorer and chrome-ore miner Bauba last week officially embarked on the underground development phase of its Moeijelijk chrome mine, in Limpopo. Bauba CEO Nick van der Hoven told Mining Weekly that he expected the mine to be close to full production by December,... →
HAPPY HOUSING
By: Martin Creamer 23rd February 2018 Northam Platinum independent nonexecutive director Emily Kgosi plants a tree at one of the wonderful houses that Northam Platinum has built in the town of Northam. Looking on is Northam Platinum CEO Paul Dunne, who last week hosted a media visit, that included Mining Weekly, to this happy housing... →
FOREIGN EXCHANGE GUSHER:
By: Martin Creamer 16th February 2018 The Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT), shown above, has five tandem tipplers that offloaded 5 500 t of South African-mined coal an hour from 27 trains that called at the private-sector terminal daily in 2017. Seven stacker reclaimers, two stackers and one reclaimer piled up and recovered 42... →
MARIKANA MINING
By: Martin Creamer 9th February 2018 Platinum-group metals (PGMs) and chrome coproducer Tharisa Minerals last week hosted a media briefing at the Tharisa Mine, a large shallow 17-year-life open pit and a future 40-year underground mine at Marikana, in North West. The first mining rights were granted in 2008, the year of the global... →
KEEPING MINING AT BAY:
By: Martin Creamer 2nd February 2018 Colombia president Juan Manuel Santos is seen waving his way to the signing of an environmental land protection order at the Loma Seca Military Base in Codazzi, Colombia. The order protects the lands inside the region's northern Andean ecosystem from mining and agriculture. The area serves as a... →
LEADERSHIP DETERMINATION:
By: Martin Creamer 26th January 2018 LEADERSHIP DETERMINATION: The message that South Africa’s Deputy President and newly-elected African National Congress (ANC) president Cyril Ramaphosa has for the world is that South Africa should be viewed in a “new way”. He is intent on leading South Africa away from low economic growth towards... →
COAL DEATHS:
By: Martin Creamer 19th January 2018 People shout slogans during a protest over two brothers dying while working clandestinely 80 m below surface in an abandoned underground coal-mine in Jerada, a Moroccan city that has been dependent on coal mining since the 1920s. State coal mines employed thousands until rising operational costs... →
NEW RIO CHAIR
By: Martin Creamer 15th December 2017 Former Anglo American executive director Simon Thompson, 58, has been appointed chairperson of diversified mining company Rio Tinto, where he has served as a director since 2014. Thompson will from March 5 succeed South African-born Jan du Plessis, who held the post since 2009. The outgoing... →
LIQUID LITHIUM
By: Martin Creamer 8th December 2017 Australian mining company Orocobre extracts lithium needed in electric car batteries from this giant pool of turquoise-coloured brine at a salt pan in Argentina. The Australian company is one of several lithium producers stepping up investment in Argentina amid expectations that President... →
BROKEN HEARTED PEOPLE
By: Martin Creamer 1st December 2017 BHP Billiton has come under pressure from activist shareholders, including fund manager Elliot, which has demanded strategic changes to set the company on a more rewarding course. Other critical shareholders have denigrated the first three letters of the acronym for Broken Hill Proprietary, the... →
RUSSIAN POTASH MINING:
By: Martin Creamer 24th November 2017 A mineworker measures the concentration of harmful gases in the Usolskiy underground potash mine at Verkhnekamskoe in Russia. The mine is operated by EuroChem, which is owned by Russian commodities tycoon Andrey Melnichenko, who is spending $6-billion on the extraction of the reddish mineral that... →
COAL DEADLOCK
By: Martin Creamer 17th November 2017 Riot police are seen blocking protesters during a rally against opencast brown coal mining at the Garzweiler mine, is a large surface lignite mine north-west of Cologne, in Germany. The German city of Bonn is hosting United Nations-led climate talks that end today, November 17. Thousands of... →
NICKEL UPTURN:
By: Martin Creamer 10th November 2017 Russian mineworkers stand in a skip that is about to descend the mine shaft at the Taymyrsky mine, operated by MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC, in Norilsk, Russia, which competes with Vale of Brazil as the world’s top nickel producer. Norilsk Nickel, which mines the rich deposits of nickel, copper and... →
SPARKLING RESEARCH:
By: Martin Creamer 3rd November 2017 Former De Beers head Nicky Oppenheimer (right) and Mining Weekly editor Martin Creamer (left) at the 8th Oppenheimer De Beers Group Research Conference at the De Beers corporate headquarters in Ormonde. The conference dealt with a host of important environmental issues including the impact on... →
PAVING THE WAY
By: Martin Creamer 27th October 2017 Emerging tin miner Alphamin Resources is steadily progressing the development of the first large commercial tin mine in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The 10 000 t/y tin mine, located in the North Kivu province, is expected to set precedent in a region that is plagued by significant... →
AUSTRALIAN ANGST
By: Martin Creamer 20th October 2017 Indian multinational conglomerate company Adani has the backing of Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s Liberal Party to build a coal mine in northeast Australia, but thousands of protestors, including those in this picture, have expressed their opposition to the $3.3-billion, 25-million... →
EXXARO INVESTS IN WATERBERG COAL POTENTIAL:
By: Martin Creamer 13th October 2017 South African diversified resources company Exxaro Resources will invest 50% of its R20-billion coal capital expenditure programme over the next five years in the Waterberg area. The R10-million investment is a milestone, as it comes at a time when the mining sector is not investing in projects.... →
WILDCAT MINING IN THE AMAZON RAINFOREST:
By: Martin Creamer 6th October 2017 Illegal mining in Brazil is seen by many as a scourge that pollutes the Amazon rainforest, poisons indigenous tribes and robs the nation of legitimate tax collection for the benefit of the country as a whole. But for garimpeiros, or wildcat gold miners, it is a way of life. Garimpos, or wildcat... →
BASE METALS REVIVAL
By: Martin Creamer 29th September 2017 Orion Minerals CEO Errol Smart, above, took Mining Weekly on a guided tour of the company’s Prieska zinc and copper project in the Northern Cape, where the company is leading a revival of the historic former workings of South Africa’s now defunct Anglovaal group. The Sydney-listed company’s... →
ENERGY STAND-OFF
By: Martin Creamer 22nd September 2017 Rio Tinto chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques, above, is seen during the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) conference at Parliament House in Canberra, where he chided the Australian government for allowing the country to become one of the most expensively priced energy countries. He warned... →
SPARKLING EXCELLENCE
By: Martin Creamer 15th September 2017 The Dynasty, above, cut from a 179 ct rough diamond discovered in Russia by State diamond company Alrosa, is a 51.38 ct traditional round brilliant-cut diamond, with 57 facets. It has the potential to be most expensive diamond ever sold in Russian history when it is auctioned online in November.... →
FIFTY NOT OUT
By: Ilan Solomons 8th September 2017 This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first 22 ct gold bullion Krugerrand, which was produced on July 3, 1967. Since its launch, more than 53-million ounces of gold, or over 60-million pieces, have been sold in the form of Krugerrands, more than its closest competitors, the Canadian... →
ACCOMODATION ACCOMPLISHMENT
By: Anine Kilian 1st September 2017 Platinum producer Lonmin last month showcased the first two phases of infill apartments at the company’s Wonderkop and Eastern sites, close to the converted hostel family units, in North West province. The R410-million development currently comprises 493 completed units, of which 403 have been... →
ZEST FOR ZINC
By: Martin Creamer 25th August 2017 Vedanta Resources’ Zinc International subsidiary has committed more than 80% of the $400-million capital expenditure for the first phase of the Gamsberg zinc project, in the Northern Cape. To date, more than 25-million tonnes of waste rock have been excavated as part of the prestart activities... →
FLUORSPAR RESURGE
By: Mia Breytenbach 18th August 2017 Nokeng Fluorspar Mine earlier this month broke ground at the site of its R1.7-billion fluorspar mine near Rust de Winter, in Gauteng. This is the first new fluorspar mine to be built in Gauteng in 12 years and is one of three new fluorspar mines in the world. The mine has an estimated 19-year... →
ASTONISHINGLY HIGH TAX BILL
By: Martin Creamer 11th August 2017 The Buzwagi mine of Pangea Minerals in Tanzania, shown above, has been hit, along with its Bulyanhulu stablemate, by an astonishingly high adjusted tax assessments of $190-billion in alleged unpaid taxes, penalties and interest owed. The tax blow followed Tanzania’s earlier ban on the export of... →
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