Global projects and exploration
Finland
Non-core divestment continues
Gold Fields recently announced the sale of its
palladium-rich, polymetallic Arctic Platinum
Project (APP) in northern Finland. The buyer
is a Finnish subsidiary of private equity fund
CD Capital Natural Resources Fund III (CD
Capital), headquartered in London.
Gold Fields sold APP for USD40-million
cash and royalty (2% NSR, or net smelter
return) on all metals, with 1% capped at
USD20-million and 1% uncapped. The sale
includes all of the project assets for APP,
including the Suhanko mining licence (and
associated real estate), all other mining and
exploration properties, project permits, and
all other project-related assets.
“The divestment of APP is consistent with
our strategy of divesting non-core assets,
and reinforces the focus that Gold Fields
continues to show in relation to its asset
portfolio. We are pleased to have balanced
the purchase price between upfront cash
and continued long-term exposure through
the royalty, and believe this to be a positive
outcome for both parties,” says Nick Holland,
CEO of Gold Fields.
Australia
The next explosive step
South African blasting specialists BME
has completed the acquisition of Australia-
based Advanced Initiating Systems (AIS), a
company it was instrumental in establishing
five years ago. The move signals a rebranding
and expansion of BME’s technical services
and products in Australia.
According to Brad Bulow, BME’s general
manager Australia Asia and a director of
AIS, the rebranding process will begin in the
second quarter of 2018, and will take forward
the considerable progress that AIS has made
in the Australian market.
“As AIS, we have become well known as
the distributor of BME’s AXXIS digital
detonation system,” says Bulow. “Our
technical capability has also been well
proven with the record blasts at a large central
Queensland coal mine,” adds Bulow.
Turkey
Coping with inclines
The Cerattepe underground copper mine of
the Turkish Eti Bakır A. Ş. mining company
(a member of Cengiz Holding) is situated in
very mountainous terrain 3.5km south-west
of Artvin, a city in the Black Sea region in
north-eastern Turkey. The mined copper ore
is transported to the river with a 4.5km long
ropeway, which covers a difference in elevation
of more than 1 500m on its way there.
The mouth of the Cerattepe copper mine is at
1 700m above sea level. From there, the ropeway
transports the ore into a valley over a distance
of 4.5km across steep, wooded terrain. The
incline is more than 43 degrees at the steepest
point. The ropeway can also be used to transport
backfill material from the valley to the mouth of
the mine.
The system consists of a continuously moving
steel wire rope to which the 51-degree material
buckets are attached by means of a grip. The
rope loop is driven by bullwheels in the loading
station and tensioned via a return bullwheel
in the unloading station in the valley. A
mechanism in the stations opens the detachable
grip of the material buckets and slows down
each bucket. The buckets can thus be stopped
for the loading and unloading procedures in the
stations but can still travel along the track at
full speed. They are re-attached to the rope as
they leave the station.
Furthermore, the Cerattepe ropeway allows
for the combined transport of material and
people. Apart from the material buckets in
which the ore is transported, the system will
also be equipped with some passenger cabins.
In these cabins, the mineworkers can travel to
their workplace comfortably and in safety. A
trip in any of the cabins takes about 20 minutes.
Two different types of guides are installed in
the stations: one for the material buckets, and
one for the passenger cabins. Material flow and
passenger transport can thus be kept separated.