Industry news : November 2007

Transcription

1 Industry news : November 2007 Progress at Sout Crofty tin mine Cina clay quarry saved from closure Approval for Scottis opencast coal site extension BHPB proposes takeover of Rio Tinto Good results for te UK aggregates industry Mixed mont for wind farm development Delays for Sellafield decommissioning Miner killed in Nottingamsire colliery Developments at Galantas Gold Mine Progress at Sout Crofty tin mine Sout Crofty mine Production of tin at te Sout Crofty Mine, Cornwall, is one step closer wit te formation of a new company to develop and operate te mine. Te new company, Western United Mines Limited (WUM), as been created by te owner of te mine, Baseresult Holdings Ltd, wic is te majority sare older, along wit various oter smaller companies backed by te Neterlands-based commodities trader Trafigura Beeer. WUM ave stated tey will ave invested in excess of 3.5 million by June 2008 towards mine development including new tunnelling and drilling. An estimated 50 million is needed to bring te mine back into production wic could be as soon as te end of Cristoper Hall, WUM's cairman, as said te money is needed to complete a 1.6 km decline to access previously unexploited areas. WUM's managing director, Kevin Williams, as said experience tells us tat we sould be able to resume full tin production and tat tere is potential for a mining life of 80 years. Te new decline will mean new areas can be accessed and te flooded istorical workings can be avoided, so no dewatering will be necessary.

2 Te mine was closed in 1998 following a collapse in te tin price. Due to te current commodities boom metal prices, including tin, are ig making Sout Crofty Mine once again potentially economic. It is oped tat te mine development will bring economic benefits and jobs to te area. Te mine currently employs 26 people but tis is predicted to rise to 35 in te next seven monts. Te new development of te mine as already caused problems wit te local Kerrier District Council wic ad planned to make a compulsory purcase of muc of te surface area of te site for leisure, ousing and industry. Te council as recently dropped tese plans after being callenged by te mine owners in te Hig Court. Te council say tey will ave to write off it as spent developing a regeneration plan for te area. Sources : ttp:// ttp:// ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/i/england/cornwall/ stm, ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/i/england/cornwall/ stm and Mining Journal 9/11/07 page 11. Cina clay quarry saved from closure Cina Clay Quarry Te cina clay quarry at Lee Moor, Devon, is to remain open after WBB Minerals asmade a deal wit te existing owners, Imerys, wo are pulling out next year wit te loss of about 90 jobs. Te planned closure is part of te ongoing scaling back of Imerys' operations in te UK, making about 600 of its 2000 workforce redundant. WBB Minerals, wic already owns several neigbouring quarries, as announced tat it will invest 6 million into te quarry and surrounding areas to safeguard te future of its operations in te area. However te company will make 10 staff redundant from te current 65-strong workforce by WBB will also take over Hemerdon Quarry wic is being leased to tem by Imerys. Te waste products from te Lee Moor quarry will go to backfilling and restoring te nearby Saug Quarry, also owned by WBB Minerals, wic is due to close in 5 years. Imerys will retain 50 staff at te Lee Moor site to operate a calcining eat treatment plant. Sources : ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/i/england/devon/ stm and ttp:// displaycontent&sourcenode=229968&ome=yes&more_nodeid1=133174&contentpk=

3 Approval for Scottis opencast coal site extension Open cast coal site A local autority in East Ayrsire as given approval for te extension for te existing Grievill opencast coal site, New Cumnock. Te approval will safeguard 84 jobs at te site owned by At Resources wic plans to recover tonnes of coal over te next two years, wit production rates continuing at around tonnes a week. Te ead of planning and economic development at East Ayrsire Council, Alan Neis, stated tat approval was given to protect jobs and said te environmental impact would be minimal. Local RSPB officials ave expressed serious concerns about te expansion, worried tat SSSI's wic lie witin te extension could be damaged. Source : ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/i/scotland/glasgow_and_west/ stm BHPB proposes takeover of Rio Tinto BHP Billiton as confirmed tis mont tat tey ave made a merger proposal to UK-based mining company Rio Tinto. BHPB offered to excange tree of teir sares for one Rio Tinto sare. Rio Tinto subsequently announced tat tis offer significantly undervalues Rio Tinto wit Tom Albanese, te company's CEO, saying we believe tat te value in Rio Tinto is yet to be fully reflected by te market. Te Rio Tinto board unanimously rejected te proposal. If suc a merger were to occur between two of te world's tree largest mining companies it would create a group wort about 170 billion and te world's largest producer of bauxite, coal, copper, diamond, lead, silver, titanium and uranium. Tis could well cause competition problems and market analysts say tis migt lead to forced sales of parts of te business. Bot Cina and Japan ave voiced concerns tat a merger would drive up te price of iron ore. Te announcement led to Rio Tinto sares rising by 2.7% and BHPB sares falling by 1.3%. In an effort to fend off te bid Rio Tinto as announced tey are spending 1.2 billion on new mines and increase sareolder value in te company. Rio also plan a possible sell off of assets wort at least $15 billion to reduce te debt built up from teir recent acquisition of Alcan. Tese assets include several non-operational uranium projects in Australia and te US, Rio Tinto Minerals Talc, Rio Tinto Alcan Engineered Products, Cortez gold operation, Greens Creek zinc-lead and silver operation and Nortparkes copper-gold operation. BHPB as stated tey are still seeking talks. Sources : ttp:// otinto.pdf, ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/i/business/ stm, ttp:// and Mining Journal 9/11/07 page 1.

4 Good results for te UK aggregates industry Sand and gravel processing Te tird quarter of 2007 as been positive for te UK aggregates industry wit sales of aggregates, aspalt and ready-mixed concrete all iger tan in te same period of One of te igest increases was in crused rock aggregate were sales grew by 8% altoug sand and gravel sales declined by 1%. Growt in ready-mixed concrete was steady at 3%, maintaining an upward trend trougout Total aggregate sales in te UK ave risen by 3% since te start of te year, corresponding wit te growt in construction output of about 2-3%. Source : ttp:// Mixed mont for wind farm development Wind turbine Suffolk 's first onsore wind farm as been granted planning permission at Param Airfield. Te development, operated by Your Energy, will consist of six turbines providing enoug energy to power omes. Te original permission was granted in October 2005 but local campaigners, concerned tat te turbines were too close to omes, ave delayed te development until now. Several wind farm development proposals ave been rejected tis mont: a 22-turbine wind farm in Berwicksire and a 15 turbine wind farm near Moffat ave bot been rejected by local councils mainly over concerns about visual impact and te effect on tourism. A 12 turbine 2.5 megawatt development in Conway, by Dutc company Nuon, as also been

5 rejected. Council officials refused planning permission wit concerns tat te development would ave an adverse affect on te local ecology. Sources : ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/i/england/suffolk/ stm, ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/i/wales/ stm, ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/i/scotland/sout_of_scotland/ stm and ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/i/scotland/sout_of_scotland/ stm Delays for Sellafield decommissioning Dounreay nuclear power station Te Nuclear Decommissioning Autority (NDA) as announced tat more time and money will be needed to complete te dismantling of te Sellafield nuclear reprocessing complex in Cumbria. Te NDA cites operational difficulties as te reason for delays and is to spend 8.5 billion in te next tree years, mainly working on te Sellafield and Dounreay reactors. Te management at Sellafield ave stated tat te increased levels of funding will allow tem to focus on reducing ig-level azards. Tis was not te only bad news for te Britis nuclear industry tis mont. Britis Energy, wic operates eigt nuclear power stations, as announced a drop in its sare price due to tecnical problems. Reactors at Hartlepool and Heysam are out of service and output from te Hinkley Point B and Hunterston B power stations as been reduced after cracks in te boilers were discovered. Sources : ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/i/england/cumbria/ stm and ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/i/business/ stm Miner killed in Nottingamsire colliery Colliery eadworks

6 A rock fall in te Welbeck Colliery near Mansfield as resulted in te deat of a 44-year-old man. Te man, named as Paul Milner, was killed as e removed equipment from te coalface. Te colliery owner, UK Coal, said it could not comment on te incident wile an inquiry was underway. Welbeck Colliery employs around 550 people and is due to close in two years time wen current reserves run out. However an extension may be possible as te colliery as recently signed a deal wort to supply coal to EDF Energy. Sources : ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/i/england/nottingamsire/ stm and ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/i/england/nottingamsire/ stm Developments at Galantas Gold Mine Gold mineralisation Te UK 's only operating gold mine, operated by Galantas Gold Corp, Omag, as announced significant developments in its crusing and milling operations. Te mill now operates a 24-our day, 7-day week, and te milling capacity as been increased by 10-40% (depending on ore type) by installation of a larger secondary cruser. Tis increase as partially offset te milling of lower grade ore tan was anticipated by original plans. Te ore grade is between 5 g/t and 10 g/t gold, te low value due to mining complex braided vein systems. A new regrind circuit is also nearly complete. Tis will enance te metal grade of concentrates. Unfortunately mine production is aving difficulty keeping up wit demand by te milling operation. Pit ore production as not been increased to matc te increase in milling capacity. Tis is blamed on a back-log of pit development required to expose mine ore altoug mining of country rock and surface till as been accelerated over te last two monts. Te operators ope to rectify tis by temporarily increasing mining to a 24-our day 7-day week operation from te previous 4-day week. Source : ttp://