Global news and projects
Río Loa basin sedimentary infill in northern Chile,” says
Harwood.
Reconnaissance channel sampling by the founders of the
evaporite lacustrine sequences found in the Avispa Project area
revealed anomalous values of lithium and iodine, as well as
potassium, sodium, and calcium as nitrates and sulphates that
are generally encountered in the caliche deposits of the Chile
nitrate fields.
“Lithium values of up 517 parts per million (ppm) and iodine
values of more than 852ppm are reported from reconnaissance
sampling in the license area, with anomalous values of
potassium and sodium nitrates. Montero has undertaken
confirmatory and reconnaissance sampling over the license area
and will provide further updates as results are obtained. The
project adds to our portfolio of lithium projects in good mining
jurisdictions. Chile is one of the foremost mining jurisdictions
and a major source of global lithium supply,” says Harwood.
Australia
Rio tests autonomous transport
Diversified mining company Rio Tinto is working with Scania
to make the Dampier Salt operation in Western Australia a
safer environment by testing an autonomous transport system.
The first phase of the trial, which started in August, has
involved a Scania XT 8×4 autonomous tipper truck that has
worked separately from active operations at Dampier. During
the initial stage, a safety driver has been riding in the vehicle to
observe the truck’s performance and intervenes if necessary.
Rio Tinto will add more autonomous Scania trucks in
subsequent phases to develop vehicle-to-vehicle awareness and
intelligent fleet supervisory controls.
According to Rob Atkinson, head of productivity and
technical support at Rio Tinto, the trial has the potential to
give the company more flexibility in the way it operates across a
number of areas.
“We have seen automation create safer and more efficient
operations in our business and this is a next step in evaluating
options for delivering further improvements through the use of
technology,” says Atkinson.
Argentina
Patagonia consolidates
Patagonia Gold has entered
into an agreement to purchase four
property blocks, located in the province
of Santa Cruz, Argentina, from Oroplata,
a 100% subsidiary of Goldcorp, one of the
largest gold producers in the region.
According to the terms of the
agreement, Oroplata will transfer
ownership of the four property blocks,
comprising 20 mineral tenements to
Minera Minamalu, a subsidiary of Patagonia
Gold. In exchange, Minera Minamalu has
committed to provide Oroplata SA with a one per
cent net smelter royalty of future production, if and
when the properties are put into production.
According to Christopher van Tienhoven, CEO at
Patagonia, the company will consolidate the properties
adjacent or near to its El Tranquilo block, thereby
expanding its potential mineral resources in the highly
prospective El Deseado Massif region. Future detailed
exploration activities will be carried out in the acquired areas in
order to seek to increase its inventory of resources.
www.miningmirror.co.za
MARCH 2019 MINING MIRROR [13]
MARCH 2019 MINING MIRROR [13]