There was a major milestone for Lydian International Ltd (TSX:LYD) as it started earthworks in the construction of its huge Amulsar gold project in Armenia.
President and chief executive Howard Stevenson said: "Our team has accomplished a great deal. In less than three years, we have taken the Amulsar Gold Project through feasibility, permitting, financing, and now to the start of construction.
"Our funding is in place to proceed, and we expect to be pouring gold in about 18 months. Amulsar will be a large-scale, conventional operation. We expect it to deliver excellent cash flows and already see opportunities for growth."
Work is now under way on key roads, camp platforms and construction facilities. Top-soil removal (pre-stripping) in the Tigranes pit area is also progressing, the firm said.
It wasn't the only mining firm engaged in building activity.
Over in Mali, Hummingbird Resources PLC (LON:HUM) said first concrete had been poured on time and on budget at the Yanfolila gold mine project.
Civil contractor IMAGRI-SARL, which has worked for Randgold Resources (LON:RSS), poured the concrete, which will provide the base for the plant, and pours will continue over the next three months.
Several other long-lead equipment orders have been placed, such as for screens and crushers.
Hummingbird has committed US$12mln of the budget and remains on budget and schedule for the construction of the Yanfolila mine.
Elsewhere, it was a busy week for multi -commodity player Premier African Minerals Limited’s (LON:PREM), which said significant tantalum grades have been recorded from the current 2,500 metre drilling programme at the Zulu project in Zimbabwe.
Significantly elevated tantalum (Ta2O5) grades have been encountered in all holes sampled to date, with grades reported as high as 706 parts per million (ppm) Ta2O5 in bore hole ZDD 14.
Meanwhile, massive lithium enriched mineralised intersections in excess of 40 metres have been found in hole ZDD-05.
On Wednesday, Premier revealed it had bought a 4.5% stake in a mining firm, which gives it exposure to an exciting gold project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the prospect of relatively near term production.
Private company CASA has three mining licenses covering 133 sq km known as the Misisi project in the highly prospective South Kivu province in the eastern Congo gold belt.
To fund the deal, Premier has raised £300,000 via a share subscription of over 93.7mln of its shares at 0.32p and subscribed for US$250,000 worth of CASA shares.
Significantly this week, explorer Kolar Gold Limited (LON:KGLD) saw shares rise as it revealed that the JORC resource at the Jonnagiri project in India has more than doubled.
Geomysore, in which Kolar has a 22.31% stake, commissioned consultant Golders to review drilling work and estimate the resource.
It came back with a figure of 351,000 ounces, in the indicated and inferred categories, for the East and West blocks (234,000 ounces and 117,000 ounces respectively, which was a lot more than the 150,000 ounces identified at the East Block announced in March this year.
For the East Block, Geomysore has been granted a 30-year mining licence to mine 365,000 tonnes of gold ore per year.
Kolar's chief executive Cameron Parry said the uplift was due to the significant improvement at the East block and through the addition of the underground prospect in the West block.
An economic feasibility study (EFS) is scheduled to be completed before the end of the first quarter next year, he added.
There was also good news for Jubilee Platinum PLC as it reported a 108.22% increase in revenues from chromite sales in the third quarter compared to the second and said it was close to sealing another acquisition.
The increased revenues come from the group's Dilokong Chrome mine tailings project in South Africa.
Chromite concentrate output was up around 88% to 28,559 tons for the three months, compared with the preceding quarter, which led to revenue of £2.09mln for the quarter.
Earnings attributable to the firm was up 94.73% to £0.888mln against the second quarter.
Meanwhile, Diamondcorp (LON:DCP) shares picked up another 5% as investors digested last night’s rescue funding.
Existing 11.6% shareholder Rasmala is putting up £0.7mln through a Shariah-compliant secured convertible facility.
The money will satisfy an immediate need for £500,000 but DiamondCorp said it still requires an additional £2.5-3mln to get the Lace mine in South Africa into commercial production.
The Rasmala facility comprises two tranches and is secured against up to 5,000 carats of diamonds in inventory. The facility matures on 15 December.
Minerals sands group Sierra Rutile PLC saw its best production in a quarter since 2006 as the Gangama dry mine came fully on stream.
In total, 43,081 tonnes of rutile were produced in the three months to September, a 24% increase on the previous quarter and 27% better than a year ago.
Gangama contributed 20,198 tonnes of rutile, 17% ahead of its target as a result of higher plant throughput and utilisation rates.
Steady state production is expected by the end of the year.
Rutile production was supported by strong increases in tonnes of ore fed and heavy mineral concentrate production across the operation.
Finally, Ariana Resources plc’s (LON:AAU) drilling at the southern end of its planned open pit at Kiziltepe in Turkey has identified potential new reserves and possible vein extension.
Seven holes were drilled to test the Arzu South vein at the southern end of the Kiziltepe mine and recently discovered Arzu South Parallel (ASP) vein trend.
Kerim Sener, Ariana’s managing director, said the continuity of high-grade and near-surface mineralisation at the very end of the Arzu South vein was encouraging.