With commodity prices slumping across the board this week, it has been a difficult week for big mining companies.
The doom and gloom seems to have evaded the world of small caps however, with a number of miners providing some very positive news.
Kicking off with Gemfields’ (LON:GEM), Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique which has enough reserves for more than twenty years of mining, according to its first independent assessment.
Maiden estimates by consultant SRK were that the mine had a JORC-compliant indicated and inferred mineral resource of 467mln carats of ruby and corundum at an in-situ grade of 62.3 carats per tonne (ct/t).
In gold news, Shanta Gold (LON:SHG) boosted production and cut costs at its New Luika mine in Tanzania during the second quarter to the end of June 2015.
During the period the company produced 14,664 ounces of gold, up from the 13,516 ounces produced in the first quarter.
All-in sustaining costs rang in at US$1,157 per ounce, down from US$1,451 per ounce.
Similarly, Russia-based gold producer Petropavlovsk (LON:POG) has instigated another round of cost cuts to offset the impact of the slide in the gold price.
Gold hit a five-year low yesterday and Petropavlosk has responded by lowering its cash costs targets from US$700 per oz to US$600.
At Pioneer and Albyn, two of the company’s major mines, costs in the second quarter were reduced by 15% and 37% per ounce respectively compared to the first quarter.
Meanwhile, Kalimantan Gold (LON:KLG) which is changing its name to Asiamet (LON:ARS) hailed drill results from the BKM deposit at its main Beruang Kanan project in Indonesia, which show the potential to expand the copper resource there.
In total, 80 holes are planned this year and 36 have been completed so far.
Highlight assays include 3 metres (m) at 1.24% copper from 35 metres depth and 32 metres at 1.34% copper from 34m depth.
Elsewhere, Plant at Aureus Mining’s (LON:AUE) New Liberty gold mine in Liberia is now operating at nameplate capacity.
The mine is now on track to reach full scale production by the end of this year, and is slated to produce 120,000 ounces of gold in 2016.
In other production news, Mwana Africa’s (LON:MWA) Trojan Mine in Zimbabwe produced record amounts of nickel for the second year running.
Run by subsidiary Bindura Nickel (BNC), the mine produced 7,306 tonnes (7,129) in the year to March generating US$78.9mln in revenues (US$65mln) at an average price of US$16,700.
In copper news, Weatherly International (LON:WTI) expects to reach full capacity at its Tschudi copper mine in Namibia in the final quarter of the year.
The mine produced 2,257 tonnes Grade A copper cathode in its first full quarter, but this has risen to 1,000 tonnes per month and will hit a 1,400 peak by the year end.
In coal news, Atlantic Coal (LON:ATC) saw anthracite sales rise strongly in its latest quarter as it started to sell coal straight from its mine at Stockton, Pennsylvania.
Combined sales of run of mine coal (ROM) and clean coal rose 39% to 61,700 tons compared to the previous three months, with ROM production 12% higher at 161,000 tons.
Finally, Fertiliser group Sirius Minerals (LON:SXX) is worth more than double the current share price, according to new research by its house broker Liberum.
The company recently received planning approval for the York Potash project in North Yorkshire.