IRJ – February 1 – Director Brad Skelton, of Australian mining and construction equipment freight forwarding giant Skelton Sherborne, tackled Queensland’s 2012 economic outlook last week when he launched a trend-setting index capable of measuring heavy machinery and tyre imports. Skelton pointed out that the mining industry is “the backbone of Queensland and a key reason behind Australia’s growth ...
IRJ – January 31 – France’s Total SA plans to commence oil exploration at the concession held by the energy multinational in Jonglei, South Sudan, according to the nation’s chief negotiator, Tuesday. Speaking to reporters in Juba, Pagan Amum stated that the company has “already committed” to this activity and alluded that the firm may have pledged to go ...
IRJ – January 31 – According to Michel Edzang, an official at the Gabonese Mining Department, the rumoured deal to hand over Belinga—the nation’s biggest iron ore deposit—to BHP Billiton (“BHP”) looks likely to come to light next week, reports stated late on Monday. If his comments prove true, the deal will see Gabon take the Belinga project from ...
IRJ – January 30 – Russian London-listing hopeful Polyus Gold International Ltd (“Polyus”) has reported a 40 per cent core earnings rise for 2011, Monday, just days after the rumours surfaced of a potential merger between the group and London-listed fellow Russian miner Polymetal International Plc (“Polymetal”). Polyus reports that its earnings for the aforementioned year jumped to more ...
IRJ – January 30 – The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) is to provide financing for a 140 megawatt gasification bioenergy project in Finland, totalling €18 million over a seven-year maturity loan term, Monday. The project, planned for construction in Vaasa, aims to reduce coal production for energy by replacing an existing coal plant with biomass and peat output. Press ...
IRJ – January 30 - Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (“Harmony”) is to sell its operating Evander Gold Mine in Mpumalanga, South Africa, to a consortium comprised of joint venture partners Pan African Resources plc (‘Pan African’) and Witwatersrand Consolidated Gold Resources Limited (‘Wits Gold’) for £139 million (R1.7 billion), Monday. The sale, which sees Pan African and Wits ...
IRJ – January 27 – Australian iron ore junior and Pilbara native Brockman Resources Limited has bagged Aquila Resources iron ore head Russell Tipper as its new chief executive, filling the pivotal role at the top of the company which has been rendered vacant for months as the group sources a worthy individual. “Russell is a highly-credentialed mining industry ...
IRJ – January 27 - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych says that the 2009 gas deal for which former President Yulia Tymoshenko was incarcerated over last October remains “the biggest problem in our country today,” according to the Kyiv Post, Friday. Yanukovych made the remark during the eighth Ukrainian lunch in Davos, an event organised by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation. ...
IRJ – January 27 – London-listed multi-project miner Sirius Minerals Plc. (AIM: SXX.L) is to raise funds of approximately £50 million to fast-track its York potash project through to definitive feasibility study (DFS) in the northern U.K. county of Yorkshire, Friday. Sirius’ chairman Russell Scrimshaw—of Perth-based iron ore giant Fortescue Metals Group—will subscribe around £3.4 million. The remaining funds, ...
IRJ – January 26 – Colombia is on course to receive approximately $10 billion in global crude, mining and energy project investments during 2012, says Mines Minister Mauricio Cardenas, speaking from the Davos-held World Economic Forum, Thursday. Concurrently, Cardenas’ Twitter account made headlines when he updated the social networking platform to say that he has taken part in meetings ...
IRJ – January 26 –Chief executive Paul Conibear, of Canadian copper-zinc producer Lundin Mining, says that he plans “to do something significant this year” and reports state that the miner plans to take on a new project acquisition to the value of $100 million to $500 million in 2012, Thursday. “We’re looking at a few things that are non-public,” ...
IRJ – January 25 - Anglo-Australian mining multinational Rio Tinto (“Rio”) has upped its stake in Ivanhoe Mines (“Ivanhoe”) to gain a controlling portion of 51 per cent in the Canadian firm—a move tipped to be well-timed ahead of “a very important phase in the development of the Oyu Tolgoi project” according to Rio’s copper chief executive Andrew Harding, referring ...
