Mining news summary: Hummingbird Resources, Aureus Mining, North River Resources, Beacon Hill Resources, Cluff Gold, Hambledon Mining, London Mining
This week’s news in the mining sector included maiden reserve and resource announcements from Hummingbird Resources (LON:HUM), Aureus Mining (LON:AUE), North River Resources (LON:NRRP) and Beacon Hill Resources (LON:BHR).
Hummingbird Resources announced a maiden resource for the Tuzon prospect in Liberia of 2.05 million ounces of gold bringing the global resource estimate for the Dugbe 1 project area to 3.8 million ounces.
The figure is well ahead of analysts’ expectations, but Hummingbird says there is scope for further resource growth within a minable radius of the original Dugbe F deposit.
The deposit grade at Tuzon, its geology and general mineralogy look to be consistent with Dugbe F, simplifying project engineering, Hummingbird said.
Chief executive Dan Betts said: “The significance of this maiden resource discovery at Tuzon cannot be under estimated. It marks a seminal moment in the development of our company.
Fellow gold miner Aureus Mining this week unveiled a maiden mining reserve estimate for the New Liberty project in Liberia.
The company’s initial gold reserve stands at 873,000 ounces, at grades of 3.1 grams per tonne. While gold resources are currently 1.6 million ounces with a grade of 3.6 grams per tonne.
The mining reserve currently provides for eight years mine life with 123,000 being produced annually during the first four years. Cash costs would be around US$632 per ounce.
Meanwhile, coal miner Beacon Hill Resources unveiled a maiden JORC reserve for its Minas Moatize coal project in Mozambique of 42.65 million tonnes (Mt) with potential upside of a further 7.9 Mt.
Total mineable reserve includes a marketable reserve of 23.45 Mt, representing the saleable portion after mining and processing of the resource, of which at least 8.72 Mt is coking coal.
Beacon Hill expects to release the definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the project later this quarter, which will be based on a 4 million tonne per annum run of mine operation producing more than 2 Mtpa of saleable hard coking and thermal coal for the life of mine.
Sector peer North River Resources announced a maiden resource – which is compliant with the JORC standard – of 35,699 tonnes of copper grading 1.36 percent copper in the indicated category for the Malachite Pan deposit on its wholly owned Witvlei project.
The deposit also holds an inferred resource of 26,402 tonnes of copper at a grade of 1.11 percent.
The company has also upgraded the JORC compliant resource at the Koperberg deposit, on its 100 percent owned Dordabis copper project, both located in Namibia.
The Kopperberg resource has been increased to 8,718 tonnes of contained copper at 1.14 percent in the indicated category and 5,863 tonnes grading 0.95 percent in the inferred category.
Both Witvlei and Dordabis are located in Namibia.
This week’s drilling reports included strong results results from Condor Resources’ (LON:CNR) wholly owned La India gold project in Nicaragua.
The drilling report included the results received by the company since the last drilling update on December 20, including the last drill hole on the La India vein set and nine drill holes on the America vein set totalling 2,331 metres.
Condor reported a wide high grade gold intercept on the India-California structure including 4.19 metres grading 6.94 grammes per tonne (g/t) from the California vein and an interval of 7.37 metres at 6.31 g/t gold from the India vein.
The company also announced the discovery of a new vein.
Another gold mining company Cluff Gold (LON:CLF, TSE:CFG) has entered into a binding agreement to acquire a gold project in Burkina Faso that lies within trucking distance from its producing Kalsaka gold mine.
The acquisition will allow it to significantly increase the Kalsaka mine life with limited upfront capital expenditure.
The group is buying the licences and property of Orezone Gold Corp’s (TSE:ORE) Sega project located approximately 20 kilometres by road north of Kalsaka.
Sega hosts a NI 43-101 compliant gold resource comprising 450,366 gold ounces in the indicated category, contained in 8.3 million tonnes grading 1.69 g/t gold, and 147,344 oz inferred, in 2.9Mt grading 1.58g/t gold.
Sticking with gold miners, Hambledon Mining (LON:HMB) plans to raise US$9.06 million through a share placing.
This comes after the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) agreed to provide US$18 million in a mixture of debt and equity last month.
The money will be used to complete the acquisition of Akmola Gold LLP, which owns two gold deposits near the group’s Sekisovskoye mine.
It will also be used to pay fines relating to the leak at one of the Sekisovskoye mine’s tailings dams as well as repairs to the dam. Additionally Hambledon intends to repay its debt to Alfa Bank, which lent the company money during a period of reduced gold production in the winter months.
ECR Minerals (LON:ECR, OTC:MTGDY) said its associate THEMAC Resources Group (CVE:MAC) has increased the copper resource for the Copper Flat project above 1 million pounds.
The copper-molybdenum-gold-silver project in New Mexico was sold by ECR – then known as Mercator Gold – through a deal agreed back in March 2010, in return for a 19 per cent stake in THEMAC.
ECR relayed a statement by THEMAC in which the latter detailed the updated NI43-101 compliant resource estimate for Copper Flat.
In other news in the mining sector, London Mining (LON:LOND) hailed two major landmarks as the first shipment of iron ore from its Marampa mine departed, while coking coal production started in Colombia.
The miner said it expects to get a premium price for the 49,656 wet metric tonnes of Marampa iron ore concentrate, which it added is now en route for Europe.
A second ship has been ordered for February destined for China while trading giant Glencore (LON:GLEN) has requested a third ship. Glencore has an offtake agreement with for output from the Sierra Leone-based iron ore mine.
Turkey-focused gold explorer and developer Ariana Resources (LON:AAU) plans to secure further licences in the highly prospective western part of the country during government auctions starting this month.
It also plans more exploration drilling in the Kiziltepe area with a view to increasing the Red Rabbit project resource of currently 448,000 ounces of gold equivalent.
Red Rabbit combines the Sindirgi and Tavsan deposits, which are 75 kilometres apart in western Turkey. Kiziltepe, Kerpez and Karakavak are prospects within Sindirgi, and Tavsan also comprises multiple individual prospects. The project is being developed in a joint venture with Turkish group Proccea Construction Co.
In the meantime, the takeover of uranium miner Kalahari Minerals (LON:KAH) by Chinese state-owned Guangdong Nuclear (CGNPC-URC) has now been declared unconditional.
In a statement this week, CGNPC-URC said all of the conditions of its 243.55 pence per share offer for Kalahari have now been satisfied or waived and urged Kalahari shareholders who have not yet accepted the offer to do so “without delay”.
Acceptances have so far been received for shares representing 89.5 percent of Kalahari’s share capital.
The offer, valuing the group at £630 million, was announced and recommended by Kalahari back in December and received the approval of Namibian regulators in January.
This week’s research reports included a note on Nyota Minerals (LON:NYO) from Ocean Equities.
Centamin’s (LON:CEY) involvement in Nyota’s fundraising is potentially beneficial for both mining companies, said Ocean.
East Africa-focused Nyota is to raise £9.7 million through a share placing at 6p with Centamin to take 67 million of the 161 million new shares.
Added to its existing holding it will own just over 14 per cent of Nyota.
The money raised will fund the Tulu Kapi gold project in Ethiopia between completion of the definitive feasibility study and before project finance is set up.
Nyota added it would also be able to continue exploration on its Northern Block properties with the extra cash.
Another note came from Edison Investment Research, which said Russia focused Amur Minerals (LON:AMC) may be looking at developing a "district scale" nickel project, rather than three deposits.
Recent exploration results from the Kun-Manie nickel sulphide project, the firm's main asset, point to this, said analyst Charles Gibson, who added that such a district was "incredibly rare".
"Although Amur’s licence area is not known to contain massive nickel sulphide, the extent of pervasive lower grade nickel mineralisation at surface lends itself to numerous shallow open pits being mined and, in all likelihood, a call for a new and improved revised feasibility study being completed," he said.
