Global projects and exploration
“ While drilling initially focused on the East Zone, drilling is now being conducted concurrently in both the East and West zones, and results continue to be regularly received,” says Rovira.
Australia Trek joins the hunt for lithium
Six of the seven tenements that Trek Metals applied for in the Northern Territory of Australia have been granted. According to Bradley Drabsch, MD at Trek, the licence areas, together known as the Arunta Li-Co Project, are highly prospective for lithium and cobalt.
Drabsch says that an ongoing process of historical data compilation is underway, with the first on-ground fieldwork anticipated during quarter two of 2018.
Trek undertook a reconnaissance field trip late last year that confirmed the presence of widespread granites mapped as Wangala Suite, which is considered highly prospective sources for lithium mineralisation in the Northern Territory. Outcropping copper mineralisation was also present at one location visited during the excursion.
“ The grant of these tenements happened sooner than expected and now presents Trek with an excellent opportunity to push ahead with Australian-based exploration in concert with our African work. Both these projects are at the frontier of exploration, with Trek set to take advantage of continued strength in metal prices across the board,” says Drabsch.
Chile Spillage contained at copper mine
Canadian diversified mining company Teck Resources recently contracted South Africa-based Weba Chute Systems to install a new transfer point on an underperforming chute at its Carmen de Andacollo copper mine in the Coquimbo region of Central Chile. The mine is located 350km north of the capital Santiago, near the southern limit of the Atacama Desert, at an elevation of about 1 000m above sea level. Teck owns 90 % of the mine and the other 10 % is held by
Weba Chute Systems
The design of Weba Chute Systems has been configured to force a concentrated stream from the screen decks onto the conveyor.
government-owned Empresa Nacional de Minería.
Carmen de Andacollo is an opencast mine, producing copper in concentrates from the hypogene portion of the ore body.
According to Alwin Nienaber, technical director at Weba Chute Systems, the new system transfers material from a double-deck screen that feeds oversize material from both decks to a conveyor. Material throughput is 2 000 tonnes per hour( tph), with a lump size of minus 85mm.
Nienaber says in the previous installation, the way that material was being presented onto the conveyor was causing impact damage and excessive spillage.“ The spillage had to be controlled using extremely hard skirtings under such tension that this had been causing extreme damage to the conveyor, resulting in frequent belt replacement,” says Nienaber.
Brazil Avanco goes shopping
ASX-listed Avanco Resources announced that the company has bought the Pantera Copper Project in Brazil from local company Vale. Pantera is close to Avanco’ s existing operations in the Carajás Mineral Province and has the potential to significantly add resources, reserves, and a longer-term production profile for Avanco.
The Pantera1 license extends to 9 700 hectares( about 100km ²), 110km west of Avanco’ s Pedra Branca Project. The project site is close to good public infrastructure and only 20km from Vale’ s operating Onça Puma Nickel Mine.
Pantera is of typical Carajás IOCG style, comprising predominately chalcopyrite mineralisation in tabular ore zones hosted within a steeply dipping shear zone.
According to Tony Polglase, MD at Avanco, an initial 5 000m drilling programme is currently being assessed and will begin during the first quarter of 2018, with a maiden JORC Mineral Resource to be defined.
“ Substantial potential exists within the underexplored eastern side of Pantera, where massive sulphides( not seen in drilling to the west) are being mined from a small artisanal shaft. Any additional resources discovered in this area will not increase the acquisition price,” says Polglase.
MARCH 2018 MINING MIRROR [ 11 ]