Ivanhoe Mines -- ehemals Ivanplats - Mining-Legende Robert Friedland auf Rohstoffjagd in Afrika (Seite 36)

[Popeye82]

Anglo gives fresh signs it wants to offload platinum mines
www.mining.com/anglo-gives-fresh-signs-of-looking-to-offload…
www.bdlive.co.za/business/mining/2014/04/14/anglo-seeks-buye…

[sebaldo]

Ivanhoe Mines' Drilling Program Extends Depths of Rich Zinc and Copper Zones at the Kipushi Mine in D.R. Congo

Review of previous drill holes indicates that tonnage and grade of the Big Zinc Discovery were understated in historical estimate
LUBUMBASHI, THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO--(Marketwired - April 15, 2014) - Robert Friedland, Executive Chairman of Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN), and Lars-Eric Johansson, Chief Executive Officer, announced today that early results from the company's underground diamond-drilling program at the Kipushi copper-zinc-germanium-lead and precious-metals mine have established significant down-dip extensions of the unmined high-grade Big Zinc Discovery.
Ivanhoe's drilling has extended the Big Zinc mineralization to a depth of approximately 1,700 metres below surface, which is an additional 200 metres deeper than the previous lowest level of the Big Zinc Discovery's historical Measured and Indicated Resources as they were recorded 20 years ago, before the Kipushi Mine was placed on care and maintenance by its former owner in 1993.
"Based on the initial indications we have seen to date, this has been a very encouraging start to our long anticipated exploration of the principal, known mineralized assets at Kipushi," said Mr. Friedland.
The drilling has been designed to confirm and update Kipushi's estimated historical Resources and to further expand the mineralization on strike and at depth.
Highlights from the first holes of Ivanhoe's current drilling program
Drilling to date has been conducted from 1,220-metre level and from a drill station at the 1,252-metre level. Three holes have been drilled on the southern end of the Big Zinc, testing down-plunge continuity and extensions to the south. Details of holes KPU001, KPU002 and KPU003 are shown in the accompanying cross-section diagrams.
Hole KPU001, drilled at -67 degrees on a bearing of 298 degrees, drilled through massive sphalerite and dolomite from 46.4 metres to 399.36 metres. This approximately 353-metre intersection extends to a depth below surface of 1,550 metres.
Hole KPU002, drilled on the same azimuth as KPU001 but at an inclination of -61 degrees, also intersected the Big Zinc from 32.05 metres to 372.4 metres (total intersection length of approximately 340 metres) to a depth of 1,590 metres below surface.
Hole KPU003, drilled on a bearing of 273 degrees, aimed to test the southern plunge of the Big Zinc. This hole successfully intersected massive sphalerite and dolomite from 31 metres to a drilled depth of 550 metres down-hole, or 1,700 metres below surface. Importantly, the hole also intersected significant copper mineralization (chalcopyrite and bornite) from 194.4 metres to 225 metres down hole and a breccia-hosted zone of copper mineralization (chalcopyrite) from 439 metres to 461.6 metres.
Drill testing of the Serie Recurrente copper-mineralized zone on the northern limb of the Kipushi mineralized system also is ongoing. The first hole, KPU004, drilled at an angle of -45 degrees on a bearing of 005 degrees, successfully intersected a copper-rich mineralized zone from 56.5 metres to 71.5 metres down-hole, including zones of massive chalcopyrite from 58.4 to 59.4 metres and from 60.0 to 62.1 metres.
Ivanhoe cautions that the presence of mineralization observed in the drilling to date at Kipushi is not presented to confirm historical assay results. It confirms only the presence of mineralization similar in style to that observed in historical holes drilled by state-owned mining company Gécamines (La Générale des Carrières et des Mines). Assays for copper, zinc, lead, germanium and precious metals are pending for the four initial Ivanhoe Mines drill holes reviewed in this release.
Two drill rigs are in operation; a third rig has arrived at the site and soon will start drilling. Dewatering at the mine in ongoing and access to the important 1,272-metre-level hanging wall drift is expected this month, which will allow Ivanhoe to begin the drill program's phase of twinning the historical drilling.
"Drilling at Kipushi continues to identify thick intersections of strong sphalerite and chalcopyrite mineralization" said Mr. Johansson.
"We will continue to carry out more extensional drilling to enable us to identify potential high-grade material down-plunge below the 1,500-metre level. Given the close proximity of Kipushi to several copper smelters in neighboring Zambia, the intersections of copper-rich chalcopyrite and bornite mineralization encountered in the drill holes below the former mine workings are highly encouraging."
Crews have been upgrading underground and surface infrastructure to support the start of the drilling program since access was restored to the mine's principal working level at 1,150 metres below the surface in December 2013.
The Kipushi Mine is on the Central African Copperbelt in southern Katanga Province, approximately 30 kilometres southwest of the provincial capital of Lubumbashi and less than one kilometre from the international border with Zambia.
The idled mine flooded in early 2011 due to a lack of pumping maintenance over an extended period. After acquiring a 68% interest in Kipushi from Gécamines in November 2011, Ivanhoe Mines assumed responsibility for ongoing rehabilitation and pumping, which now has dewatered to the 1,265-metre level. Gécamines continues to hold a 32% interest in Kipushi.
Big Zinc's grade and tonnage potentially are higher than previously estimated, new review indicates.
Mr. Johansson also reported that Ivanhoe recently received the findings of an independent review conducted by MSA Group (Pty.) Ltd., of Johannesburg, based on results of a comprehensive re-sampling program of historical Kipushi core from drilling by Gécamines into the Big Zinc Discovery in the early 1990s.
A total of 384 historical quarter-core (NQ sized) samples were collected and dispatched to Bureau Veritas Minerals Pty. Ltd.'s laboratory in Australia. A total of 457 samples, including quality-control samples, were submitted to Bureau Veritas and analyzed for gold by fire assay, and for multi-elements, including zinc and copper, by sodium peroxide fusion and ICP-AES/MS finish. The re-sampling program was conducted over eight complete drill intersections of the Big Zinc from eight separate section lines and represented 18% of the total samples in the Big Zinc's historical assay database.
MSA's review of the recent re-sampling revealed that the zinc assay results generally report higher - and averaged 5.5% higher - than the assay results originally reported by Gécamines. MSA also concluded that density applied by Gécamines for estimating the tonnage in the Big Zinc Discovery was understated by an average of 9%. Despite the low bias, the review confirms that historical assay values reported by Gécamines are reasonable and can be replicated within a reasonable level of error by international accredited laboratories under strict QA/QC control. This is an important milestone for Ivanhoe as part of its program to establish current resource estimates for its Kipushi Project.
Known resources at Kipushi's currently identified deposits
Previous mining at Kipushi was conducted to a below-surface depth of 1,207 metres on the Kipushi Fault, a deposit of high-grade, copper-zinc-lead mineralization that has a strike length of 600 metres. The Fault Zone mineralization is known to extend to at least 1,800 metres below surface, based on previous drilling reports prepared by Gécamines.
The Big Zinc Discovery, adjacent to the Fault Zone on the footwall side, was discovered shortly before the mine suspended production in 1993 and never has been mined.
Accessible from existing underground workings, the Big Zinc has a strike length of at least 100 metres, a true thickness calculated at 40 to 80 metres, and is open to depth. Gécamines also reported that multiple, steeply-dipping, Big Zinc exploratory holes intersected exceptionally high-grade zinc mineralization, grading 42% to 45% zinc, between the 1,375-metre and 1,600-metre levels, with estimated, apparent thicknesses of between 60 and 100 metres.
Kipushi's 68 years of production history
Following its start-up in 1924 as the Prince Léopold Mine, Kipushi produced a total of 6.6 million tonnes of zinc and 4.0 million tonnes of copper - from 60 million tonnes of ore grading 11% zinc and approximately 7% copper - until political instability prompted the suspension of operations in 1993. The mine also produced 278 tonnes of germanium between 1956 and 1978.
In addition to the recorded production of copper, zinc, lead and germanium, historical Gécamines mine-level plans for Kipushi also reported the presence of precious metals. There is no formal record of gold and silver production; the mine's concentrate was shipped to Belgium and any recovery of precious metals was not disclosed during the colonial era.
To view figures associated with this press release, please visit the following link:http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/939814_FIGURES.pdf.
......

http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/ivanhoe-mines-drill…

[Popeye82]

Antwort auf Beitrag Nr.: 46.808.179 von Popeye82 am 11.04.14 13:28:52

Pallinghurst bringing in new tech, to boost platinum business; In sharp contrast to South African mining’s deep dark and dangerous reputation, the JSE-listed Pallinghurst is rolling out a shallow, safe and sassy platinum alternative spiced with potentially game-changing technology. The platinum division of the company founded by mining doyen Brian Gilbertson is on a mission to create a platinum-group metals (PGMs) producer for the twenty-first century, as Pallinghurst CEO Arne Frandsen outlines in the attached Mining Weekly Online interview - MW/CMR, JOHANNESBURG - APr 10, 2014

- M. Creamer -
www.miningweekly.com/article/pallinghurst-bringing-in-new-te…

"In sharp contrast to South African mining’s deep dark and dangerous reputation, the JSE-listed Pallinghurst is rolling out a shallow, safe and sassy platinum alternative spiced with potentially game-changing technology.

The platinum division of the company founded by mining doyen Brian Gilbertson is on a mission to create a platinum-group metals (PGMs) producer for the twenty-first century, as Pallinghurst CEO Arne Frandsen outlines in the attached Mining Weekly Online interview.

It has a 100-million-ounce resource on the western limb of the Bushveld Complex to put into the platinum mix at a time when the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) strike is throwing the industry into unpredictable turmoil.

“I have never seen an industry as ripe for restructuring. I am simply at a loss to explain that with all this metal going off the market the prices remain so weak,” was Gilbertson’s comment to Mining Weekly Online.

While the three major platinum companies continue to face uncertainty, the company's Sedibelo platinum business is currently moving up a gear on the production front.

“We’re in the happy position that our mine is running. So we’re getting on with our project and waiting for that sea-change to take place in the market and then we will harvest the platinum operation and return its full value to our shareholders,” says Gilbertson.

The diversified Pallinghurst group’s shallow, safe, mechanised and low-cost openpit platinum operation will be mining 1 500 m above the industry average for the next 30 to 40 years and, when it does eventually go underground, mining will remain above refrigeration level for decades.

The constellation of State-linked organisations that make up the company’s investor base are all investing for the long term, as is the Bakgatla Ba Kgafela community’s black economic empowerment 27% shareholding in the platinum company, which is fully paid-up and debt-free – “unencumbered, direct exposure at the shareholder level”.

The Kgosi Nyalala Pilane-led 350 000-strong Bakgatla Ba Kgafela invested R1-billion-plus cash, and South Africa’s State-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), two years ago, committed R3.24-billion over five years to the new integrated miner and beneficiator vision, in return for a 16.2% stake.

Besides the South African government investing through the IDC, the Singaporean government has invested through its Temasek sovereign wealth fund and the Dutch government through the Dutch Algemene Pensioen Groep.

“Over the past three or four years we’ve attracted $1-billion to $1.5-billion foreign investment into South Africa, making us one of the largest investors,” Frandsen points out.

Last year the PGM business, which is in the black, produced 150 000 oz and expects to produce 1.1-million ounces a year as its expansion plans are realised.

“Our workers sit in air-conditioned Caterpillars listening to Classic FM,” Frandsen quips.

The company, which produces its own concentrate, intends introducing Kell technology, which is a low electricity user and which is insensitive to chrome content.

“It’s something that could potentially transform the market,” says Frandsen, describing it as one of the cylinders the company is firing on to create a PGM mining company for the twenty-first century.

The bankable feasibility study on the introduction of the Kell process is board approved and detailed engineering design is under way.

The process, developed by former Mintek researcher Keith Liddell, consumes 80% less electricity and the smelting of a ton of concentrate using the Kell hydrometallurgical process requires 140 kWh/t rather than the conventional 1 000 kWh/t and emits 400 kg/t of carbon dioxide rather than the conventional 1 400 kg/t.

“We think there are important improvements that can still be done in the metallurgical plant and we have bought the units for a new technology that will feed the higher-grade material into the process and remove the barren rock so that what has to be treated is of lower volume,” says Gilbertson.

If major sections of the platinum-mining industry are closed, a completely different future awaits the industry, in which well-founded emerging producers could take centre stage. "

[Popeye82]

New generation of Pt miner 'plots way to JSE'; Sedibelo Platinum Mines, Ivanhoe Mines +the recently listed Tharisa "are proof that investors will have more options as SA's platinum industry changes scope" - mmx - Apr 10, 2014

- D. McKay -
www.miningmx.com/page/news/platinum_group_metals/1641372-New…

"AMID all the grindingly depressing news in the strike-hit platinum sector, there comes a flowering of new investment options hoping to capitalise on an improved platinum price that the strike is expected to create.

Johannesburg-listed Pallinghurst Resources gave notice in late March that it would list its subsidiary Sedibelo Platinum Mines once the platinum price responded to the likely supply deficit as South Africa’s major platinum firms shut down productive capacity.

This is the view of Pallinghurst chairman and mining industry veteran, Brian Gilbertson, who said on March 27 the strike would see mines shut.

Said Gilbertson: “The South African operations of the three largest platinum producers are now into their third month of industrial action, with significant loss of production and the increased likelihood of mine closures; yet the platinum price has hardly responded.

"This inconsistency is unlikely to continue for a protracted period and when the turn comes, Sedibelo Platinum Mines, with its improving production profile and unique growth story, will be prepared to proceed with a listing".

The platinum price is expected to respond although to date it has been on the quiet side, up about $50 per ounce this year but not rocketing higher despite the closure of Impala Platinum and Lonmin, and the loss of 40% of Anglo American Platinum’s output.

Some 160,000 ounces of platinum were lost in 2012 strike, but production losses resulting from the current strike, which was called by the Association of Mineworkers & Construction Union (AMCU) on January 23, has exceeded the 2012 figure.

“We should see a sustained and constant increase in price to a level that all analysts indicate is higher than the price than see today,” said Chris Griffith, CEO of Amplats in a press briefing on March 28. “What we don’t want is price spike during a strike as people panic, and start looking at substitution [of platinum with other metals in certain industrial applications],” he added.

Another company, Toronto-listed Ivanhoe Mining, led by Protean mining entrepreneur, Robert Friedland, has also announced its intention to list in Johannesburg whilst a third, Tharisa, listed today. It was a disappointing debut, however, trading 34% or R13 off its prelisting value of R38/share.

Nonetheless, these companies believe they will soon have a fresh price tailwind at their backs. Yet they are also linked by other similarities beyond optimism in the long term price of platinum.

As with another platinum company already listed on the JSE - Royal Bafokeng Platinum - Ivanhoe Mines, Sedibelo Platinum Mines and Tharisa operate single open-cast or shallow reef assets with lower risk of labour disruption as seen in the deepest platinum mines of Rustenburg.

Phoevos Pouroulis, CEO of Tharisa, said there’s not much appetite for underground mining in his company’s strategy. “The Tharisa mine is a shallow, open pit mine with some 28 years of life,” he says. It therefore has a smaller labour force – about 500 which are affiliated to the National Union of Mineworkers - and is mechanised.

Even for the major platinum producers, mechanisation is preferred for the future. “The final solution for mining industry must be more mechanised, more productive work where employees are paid more,” said Griffith. “This is the ultimate aim.”

The days of giant, dominant platinum companies such as Amplats and Lonmin are not over, but the meaty, ambitious production targets are less in evidence. There’s also the likelihood that platinum will become a portfolio asset rather than a metal of the pure-play.

That’s if Sibanye Gold succeeds in ambitions of securing the Rustenburg mines Amplats.

In such a scenario, platinum production will become another option of the diversified miner in a manner similar to African Rainbow Minerals – perhaps another suitor for Amplats’ Rustenburg mines – or Glencore Xstrata, although the latter is hoping to divest of its platinum. "

[Popeye82]

zum, hier(?), angesprochenen, PGM, Kartell.
Ich konnte es mir ja nicht vorstellen, dann wurde es aber doch wirklich 'ins Gespräch' gebracht.

"A proposal by South Africa's state pension fund manager that producers should form a cartel to control the price has also been met with skepticism and called unfeasible.
www.mining.com/platinum-palladium-prices-tank-49734/?utm_sou… "

Gruß
P.

[Popeye82]

Wer so auf Señore Friedland steht kann sich auch mal KZD anschauen.
Für mich aber, noch, nix.

Gruß
P.

[Popeye82]

Platinum town gripped in fear and hunger, People staying near platinum mines in Rustenburg in the North West are hungry and living in fear. "Our lives are in danger. It is peaceful during the day, but when the sun sets we wonder who will be next," says Agrippa Phir
www.miningweekly.com/article/platinum-town-gripped-in-fear-a…

[Boersiback]

wobei man auch immer im auge behalten muss, wie sich die technik weiterentwickelt... flow cell vs fuel cell

http://www.kitco.com/ind/Albrecht/2014-03-06-Flow-Cell-Batte…


....We have asked NFC for an interview and hope to learn about the chances of realization from LaVecchia in a lot more detail, also because of the technology’s potential negative impact on conventional fuel cell vehicles and the platinum group metals they employ.

[Boersiback]

Antwort auf Beitrag Nr.: 46.758.497 von Popeye82 am 03.04.14 10:48:07

... recovery technology....

genau sowas in der art hatte ich auch im hinterkopf.
muss ich mir mal anschauen

[Popeye82]