6 minute read
Yale Cordage
Outback Goldfields’ Ballarat West exploration licence granted
The Goldfields of Victoria, Australia are home to some of the highest grade and lowest cost mining in the world. Outback Goldfields Corp holds a package of four highly prospective gold projects located proximate and adjacent to the Fosterville Gold Mine. The initial Phase 1 exploration program is now underway on two of the four company tenements, since the exploration licence application for its Ballarat West tenement has been granted.
Advertisement
“Ballarat West is one of four key assets Outback has in the Victorian
Goldfields,” said Craig Parry, Chairman. “It’s a large package that is completely underexplored due to shallow cover, despite the fact that over 17 million ounces of gold has been produced within 10km of the property. I believe Ballarat West represents an incredibly significant opportunity on our quest to find a multi-million ounce discovery.” The technical team has begun compiling and reviewing all regional and property-scale geological, geochemical and geophysical data to better define areas of focus for exploration. They will then focus on procuring land holder access agreements followed by a Phase 1 exploration program.
news RCT to transform Evolution Mining’s Canadian fleet
Evolution Mining has selected global smart technology specialist RCT to deliver its market-leading autonomous technology to transform its new Red Lake mine in Ontario, Canada.
A comprehensive three-year investment strategy will restore the newly acquired former Goldcorp mine to a safe, highly efficient, long life and low-cost operation providing strong
value for shareholders. To assist in the turnaround strategy, RCT will commission its proven interoperable and scalable ControlMaster Guidance Automation technology to the underground loader fleet. The technology will ensure optimal machine performance, higher speed autonomous tramming and reduced machine damage, while delivering faster production cycle times and reduced unplanned downtime across the loader fleet. The loaders will be controlled from either the surface-based ControlMaster Automation Centre or the customised underground Automation Centres designed specifically for easier transfer via the mine shaft hoist system. This solution safeguards machine operators by relocating them away from hazards commonly found at the
mine face and significantly reduces shift handover times, lowering overhead costs and resulting in greater site efficiencies. “We are very pleased to be partnering with RCT to introduce modern technologies to Red Lake as part of our transformation process,” said Kirsty Liddicoat, Red Lake General Manager. “RCT equipment will enable higher productivity and efficiencies from our underground scoop fleet, while improving safety for our people.”
Thor Mining exploration work helps US energy security
Mick Billing Nicole Galloway Warland
“Energy security has been a top priority for the American government for the past decade,” says Mick Billing, Executive Chairman of Thor Mining, an exploration and development company based in South Australia, with
extensive interests in the United States. “Fortifying domestic supply chains while reducing dependence on foreign entities is America’s primary goal. While the US has seen some success in its energy ambitions, becoming the leader in oil production globally in 2013, it remains heavily reliant on imports of uranium to fuel its nuclear reactors.” With clean energy becoming a growing priority, nuclear offers low-cost base-load electricity with virtually zero carbon emissions. Almost 20 per cent of US electricity is generated through nuclear power. The United States has the fourthlargest uranium resource in the world, behind Australia, Canada,
and Kazakhstan, but production has declined as US uranium reserves are strongly dependent on price. Thor Mining has significant uranium assets in the US. “Thor Mining holds 100% interest in two private companies which hold vanadium and uranium interests in Colorado and Utah,” says Nicole Galloway Warland, Managing Director at Thor Mining in Australia. “Our Colorado project includes 199 mineral claims in areas of historical high-grade uranium and vanadium production in southwest Colorado in the Uravan Mineral Belt. Our Utah project includes 100 mineral claims in southeast Utah, near the town of Moab.” The Uravan mineral belt is a historic uranium-vanadium mining jurisdiction,
close to well-developed infrastructure. A processing plant which has historically taken ore from the region on a toll treatment basis is located near Blanding, Utah, within relatively close proximity to Thor’s claims. While there is no historical mining at the Utah project, Hunt Oil’s mineral division reported significant uranium and vanadium mineralized bodies in 1980 and 1981 per Terra Ventures. Thor Mining is currently completing
news feature
environmental surveys and government permitting in preparation for drill testing three shallow uranium and vanadium targets in Colorado at Rimrock, Ground Hog and Area 23 Prospects.
Tungsten
Thor Mining also has two tungsten projects under development, one in the Northern Territory of Australia and another at Pilot Mountain near Reno, Nevada, the largest tungsten source in America. The company acquired the project in 2014 and a scoping study completed in September 2018 indicated potential for a profitable 12-year mine life. The Molyhil Project in the Northern Territory was awarded Major Project status in July 2020. Permitting is currently in progress with drilling anticipated in third quarter of 2021. Thor was awarded A$110,000 from the Northern Territory Government as part of the Resourcing the Territory, Geophysics and Drilling Collaborations (GDC) program, which will go towards drill testing of the magnetic target adjacent to the Molyhil resource. Tungsten is one of the toughest materials found in nature. It is resistant to corrosion and has the highest melting point and highest tensile strength of any element. Tungsten is used in electrodes, heating elements and field emitters, and as filaments in light bulbs and cathode ray tubes. It is commonly used in heavy metal alloys such as high-speed steel, from which cutting tools are manufactured. It is also used in superalloys to form wearresistant coatings. Tungsten is used in a wide-variety of industries including automotive, mobile technology/ telecommunications, aerospace, defence, electronics, oil & gas, mining, etc. Tungsten is classified as a strategic metal, one which is critical to a nation’s economy or defence industry, but is not available in that country in commercially viable quantities. China controls the market for nearly 35 precious minerals and metals that are important to the United States for production and manufacturing, and tungsten is among them. The United States is seeking to decrease China’s dominance in rare-earths and strategic metals.
Copper
Thor Mining also holds a direct and indirect interest in over 400,000 tonnes of copper metal over three projects in the development friendly jurisdiction of South Australia. Each of these project resources has exciting gold credits and very substantial exploration upside potential. “We have an aspiration to more than double this resource inventory over the next two to three years,” says Warland. “At Kapunda, through partner EnviroCopper Ltd, we are in the final stages of technical feasibility, and expect to proceed to full commercial feasibility by end 2021. A production commencement date of 2023 is achievable. At Alford East, we are conducting technical test work, concurrently with drilling to increase the size of the resource. We have a target for production commencement of 2024.” Each of the projects is focused upon production of copper through insitu recovery methods, similar to developments at Gunnison and Florence in Arizona, USA.
