Content about Mining and Exploration

Tailings are waste rock from mining operations that, depending on the extraction methods of each project, may contain arsenic and other substances that are poisonous to humans and animals, as well as harmful to the local environment.

In mining vocabulary, water bodies selected to become underwater storage for their waste rock are called “ponds,” hence, tailings ponds.

SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company; and in West Africa, demand for its services is as high as ever, as Alan Swaby discovers.

Anyone working or simply taking an interest in gold mining will know full well that nothing can be said to potential investors about the value of a prospect that isn’t backed up by independent verification. In fact, as service providers go, there can’t be many that are as busy as those involved with testing and certification.

Osisko Mining Corporation has updated its assessment of fire damage incurred last week at the Canadian Malartic Mill and the preliminary time estimates for the recommencement of production.

Civil engineering inspections have been conducted on the mill floor and roof areas affected by the fire, and safety concerns in the area of the Number 4 cyclone bank have been addressed. Clean-up and repair work has commenced.

Osisko Mining Corporation reported record production in its Q1 2012 results today, but also issued a warning after a fire at its Canadian Malartic Mill in Quebec, Canada.

A fire occurred in the cyclone separator portion of the mill just before midnight on Wednesday 9 May, most likely started by welding near to the number four cyclone area, and then spread to the mill roof of that sector.

The Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) seeks to transform global gold production by integrating and formalizing the position of countless artisanal and small-scale miners. Executive director Lina Villa Córdoba talks to Jayne Flannery about ARM’s vision for the human face of the industry.

Multinational construction group Lend Lease today announced the award of a A$210 million contract for the Caval Ridge Mine project in central Queensland owned by the BHP Billiton-Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA).

The contract will be delivered by Abigroup, a member of Lend Lease's Australian construction business.

After exciting exploration results from the fluorspar veins at St Lawrence, Newfoundland, CEO Lindsay Gorrill and chairman Richard Carl talk to Gay Sutton about financing the first mines through the Newspar Partnership with Arkema, and using this as a springboard for developing a much larger mining complex.

Fluorspar must be one of the world’s best kept secrets. Few outside of specific manufacturing sectors are aware of its importance, but for those who are, the race is on to find new supplies.

Jack Liebenberg,managing director of Tranter Rock Drills, talks to Jayne Alverca about leading the company through the latest phase of its evolution.

Tranter Rock Drills may be a relatively new commercial entity, but it has an industrial legacy that stretches back more than half a century. The Rock Drills division of Boart Longyear, known throughout the South African mining industry by the acronym SECO, was originally founded in 1934 and has honed its expertise in rock drills and airlegs since the 1950s.

Anglo American has announced the sale of Scaw South Africa, completing its divestment of the Scaw Metals Group.

The company has sold Scaw South Africa to an investment consortium led by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) of South Africa, Izingwe Holdings, Shanduka Resources and the Southern Palace Group of Companies.

After a significant gold discovery at Hope Brook in Newfoundland, Castillian Resources is forging ahead with an aggressive drilling programme to extend the resource and take the project forward to the preliminary economic assessment stage. CEO Dr Bill Pearson talks to Gay Sutton about the project’s prospects.

In minerals exploration, some people seem to have a knack for spotting huge potential where others see nothing. Dr Bill Pearson, CEO and president of junior exploration company Castillian Resources, has the knack.

Adansi Gold Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of PMI Gold Corporation, is one of the most exciting gold mining companies in Ghana. With resources that are causing investors’ hearts to race, it is set to become a very important mid-tier producer in just a couple of years, as Thomas Amoah explains to Jane McCallion.