DISCOVERY V I C T O R I A ’ S
E A R T H
R E S O U R C E S
J O U R N A L
N O V E M B E R
2 0 0 0
BACK COVER: COMMERCIAL HYDRAULICS (SEE OLD FILM)
INSIDE THIS ISSUE •
NEW VIMP RELEASE
•
STAWELL’S GOLDEN GIFT
•
BENAMBRA TO REOPEN
DISCOVERY V I C T O R I A’ S
E A RT H
R E S O U R C E S
J O U R N A L
N O V E M B E R
2 0 0 0
contents STAWELL GOLD GETS THE GIFT OF AGE
2
Victoria’s biggest gold miner gets a new lease of life
THERE IS GOLD IN THOSE RIBBONS
5
Bulk sampling is about to start at Bendigo
ONSHORE HOPES ARE HIGH
8
Renewed search activity in the Otway and Gippsland areas
BENAMBRA TO RESUME MINING
17
New life for old mine
EARLY STARTUP LIKELY FOR DOUGLAS
20
cover picture
Basin Minerals is moving fast with its mineral sands project
THIRTEEN MAY PROVE LUCKY FOR EXPLORERS
22
While Esso/BHP’s off shore fields in the Gippsland Basin continue to be the mainstay of Victoria’s oil and gas industry, renewed efforts are being made to to find similar major deposits in onshore areas of the Victorian coastline. See our story, Onshore hopes are high, on page 8.
All the latest VIMP data
RECORDS TUMBLED AT MINING 2000
25
Australia’s biggest mining industry conference attracted big crowds
FINE TUNE FOR MINING LAW
27
Changes are planned for Victoria’s Mineral Resources Development Act
regular features MINISTERS COLUMN
7
Change is needed to provide more representation for women in the mining industry
INDUSTRY NEWS
DISCLAIMER: This publication may be of assistance to you, but the State of Victoria and its officers do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication.
12
Latest Victorian industry news
RESOURCES MAP
14
A new look at Victoria's mineral, oil and gas resources
MINERAL LICENCE REVIEW
Minerals and Petroleum Victoria acknowledges contributions made by private enterprise. Acceptance of these contributions, however, does not endorse or imply endorsement by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of any product or service offered by the contributors.
16
Who’s doing what with mineral exploration licences
All photographs, maps, charts, tables and written information in this publication are copyright under the Copyright Act and may not be reproduced by any process whatsoever without the written permission of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. © Minerals and Petroleum Victoria 2000.
Published quarterly on behalf of the Minerals and Petroleum Division of the Department of Natural Resources & Environment by RBA Communications, 86 Cooloongatta Rd, Camberwell Vic 3124 Tel: (03) 9889 1094 Fax: (03) 9889 9997 EMail:
[email protected] Editorial: Rex Banks. Advertising: Watts Media, 3 Emily Court, Mulgrave, Vic 3170 Tel: (03) 9546 9566 Fax: (03) 9546 9965. Distribution enquires to Chandri Nambiar, Manager Marketing Development, Minerals and Petroleum Division, Department of Natural Resources & Environment, Level 7, 240 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne, Vic, 3002, Tel: (03) 9412 5061 Fax: (03) 9412 5155. Website:
Australia Post Print Publication PP349472/00128. ISSN Number 13282409.
1
DISCOVERY V I C T O R I A’ S
E A RT H
R E S O U R C E S
J O U R N A L
N O V E M B E R
2 0 0 0
contents STAWELL GOLD GETS THE GIFT OF AGE
2
Victoria’s biggest gold miner gets a new lease of life
THERE IS GOLD IN THOSE RIBBONS
5
Bulk sampling is about to start at Bendigo
ONSHORE HOPES ARE HIGH
8
Renewed search activity in the Otway and Gippsland areas
BENAMBRA TO RESUME MINING
17
New life for old mine
EARLY STARTUP LIKELY FOR DOUGLAS
20
cover picture
Basin Minerals is moving fast with its mineral sands project
THIRTEEN MAY PROVE LUCKY FOR EXPLORERS
22
While Esso/BHP’s off shore fields in the Gippsland Basin continue to be the mainstay of Victoria’s oil and gas industry, renewed efforts are being made to to find similar major deposits in onshore areas of the Victorian coastline. See our story, Onshore hopes are high, on page 8.
All the latest VIMP data
RECORDS TUMBLED AT MINING 2000
25
Australia’s biggest mining industry conference attracted big crowds
FINE TUNE FOR MINING LAW
27
Changes are planned for Victoria’s Mineral Resources Development Act
regular features MINISTERS COLUMN
7
Change is needed to provide more representation for women in the mining industry
INDUSTRY NEWS
DISCLAIMER: This publication may be of assistance to you, but the State of Victoria and its officers do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication.
12
Latest Victorian industry news
RESOURCES MAP
14
A new look at Victoria's mineral, oil and gas resources
MINERAL LICENCE REVIEW
Minerals and Petroleum Victoria acknowledges contributions made by private enterprise. Acceptance of these contributions, however, does not endorse or imply endorsement by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of any product or service offered by the contributors.
16
Who’s doing what with mineral exploration licences
All photographs, maps, charts, tables and written information in this publication are copyright under the Copyright Act and may not be reproduced by any process whatsoever without the written permission of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. © Minerals and Petroleum Victoria 2000.
Published quarterly on behalf of the Minerals and Petroleum Division of the Department of Natural Resources & Environment by RBA Communications, 86 Cooloongatta Rd, Camberwell Vic 3124 Tel: (03) 9889 1094 Fax: (03) 9889 9997 EMail: [email protected] Editorial: Rex Banks. Advertising: Watts Media, 3 Emily Court, Mulgrave, Vic 3170 Tel: (03) 9546 9566 Fax: (03) 9546 9965. Distribution enquires to Chandri Nambiar, Manager Marketing Development, Minerals and Petroleum Division, Department of Natural Resources & Environment, Level 7, 240 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne, Vic, 3002, Tel: (03) 9412 5061 Fax: (03) 9412 5155. Website: Australia Post Print Publication PP349472/00128. ISSN Number 13282409.
1
GOLD NEWS
GOLD NEWS
Stawell gold gets gift of age V
Stawell Gold exploration manager, Jon Dugdale (right) has led the team which found the Golden Gift deep orebody.
ictoria’s biggest gold mine, the 100,000 ounce a year Stawell mine in the state’s west, hopes to continue production for 20 years or more, possibly at double its current production rate.
one of three categories of targets identified below the South Fault.
Continuing exploration success in the newly discovered, high-grade Golden Gift structure is already outlining a possible multi-million ounce orebody with the potential to transform the Stawell mine into one of Australia’s top producers.
Other targets include: • Hangingwall system style high-grade mineralisation in the Stawell Fault and associated flat lodes; and • Wonga style high-grade mineralisation, in structures orthogonal to the Scotchmans Fault style structures above the interpreted south plunging nose.
Stawell Gold Mines, a joint venture between Mineral Project Investors Pty Ltd and Pittston Minerals of the US, is forecast to produce more than 100,000 oz, of gold this year but, until the new discovery, previously established reserves and resources were only sufficient to support mining for five more years.
However, in a bid to quickly extend the mine’s productive life, Magdala-style targets below the South Fault are the key exploration priority. The potential of the target to the 1250 m RL depth is estimated at more than one million ounces, ranking the discovery among the largest in the country. But Stawell Gold Mines senior gold geologist, Jon Dugdale said, “A substantially larger target exists below this depth as the strike length is interpreted to increase on the flanks of the doubly plunging dome.
The discovery of the Golden Gift deposit below the mine’s South Fault now suggests the possibility of a much longer mine life at an expanded production rate.
Conceptual studies of the geology in the mine area during late 1998 and early 1999 suggested a possible repeat of the mine’s ‘Magdala’ ore system below the South Fault. One of the key elements of the geological model was that the ore was located in a doubly plunging dome, which would explain why previous drilling below the South Fault had ‘overshot’ and missed the south plunging target. Structural geological studies through the University of Melbourne established that the
Mr Dugdale said that once the location and geometry of the southern end of the Magdala structure below the South Fault was established, further testing would focus on the west and east side of the basalt dome towards the hanging wall structures and Wonga syncline. “This zone represents the most promising area within the Stawell environs for the location of a new high-grade resource,” he added.
THE STAWELL MINE The Stawell Gold Mine is located 250 km west of Melbourne within the Wimmera Region of Victoria. It is based on the Magdala Decline, which was commenced in 1982 and has now reached a depth of 790 m.
The South Fault has, for several years, marked the limit of the known ore boundary, but earlier this year new drilling discovered a major new ore system capable of dramatically extending the mine’s life. New drilling has discovered potentially economic ore zones down to a depth of 1,400 metres, 800 metres below the base of the existing mine.
“A second phase of drilling is underway from available development locations to define the geometry and continuity of mineralisation.” The company has also begun construction of a dedicated exploration decline in the basalt to the east from which the mineralisation could be drilled out to resource definition status. Mr Dugdale said the Magdala ore type is only
geological movement on the South Fault was predominantly north over south, giving the explorers the vital clue they needed to relocate their drilling. Diamond drilling to test the concept started in June 1999 with the first drillhole, MD 2064, intersecting volcanogenic sediments and basalt immediately below the South Fault producing an intercept of 3.2 metres at a grade of 4 grams of gold per tonne (4g Au/t). A second hole was drilled further east and intersected only basalt below the South Fault but a third hole, MD 2167, angled between the first two, intersected three repeated miner2
Left: Underground drilling at Stawell gold mine is helping to define the new Golden Gift orebody. Above: A new geological interpretation of the Stawell gold mine has helped locate and define the deep orebody which eluded explorers for two decades.
Mineralisation at Stawell is hosted by Cambro-Ordovician rocks at the western margin of the Lachlan Fold Belt. Exploration tenements extend 100 km northwest from the mine and cover a continuous corridor of similar lithologies under a deepening Murray Basin cover.
Golden Gift
The recognised mineral inventory of the Stawell Goldfield is 4.7 million ounces (Moz) including pre-1926 alluvial and hard rock production of 2.7 Moz gold, post 1984 production of 0.9 Moz and current reserves and resources estimated at 1. 17 Moz.
The Golden Gift mineralisation has now been tested on three drill sections over a 900mstrike length from 900 m to a depth of 1400 m.
Discovery since 1992 has added 1.2 million ounces of gold resources at a discovery cost of $13 to $14 per oz.
alised zones producing visible gold with down hole intersections of 16.2m @ 5.2g Au/t, 19.0 m @ 7.1 g Au/t and 2.85m @ 7.1 g Au/t.
The discovery of the new mineralisation, (Golden Gift), below the South Fault, suggests the potential to double the total endowment of the deposit. The recent exploration program has produced outstanding results down the plunge of the main Magdala system and below the South Fault, formerly considered the base of the resource. Ore from Magdala is produced from a series of sub-parallel lodes hosted by faults/shear zones on the western flank of a large basalt antiform, called ‘the Magdala Anticline’. These lodes, the most important of which are Central Lode and the basalt contact lodes, are intimately associated with an intensely deformed package of volcanogenic sedimentary rocks. Historical production was predominantly from high-grade ‘Hanging wall Reefs’, which are hosted by the Stawell Fault. Ore shoots developed within the Magdala Lodes generally plunge steeply north but are 3
Stawell’s giant ball mills will continue turning for years after the new orebody comes into production, extending mine life by up to two decades.
constrained within a moderate northerly plunging corridor - bounded by the Scotchmans Fault, above and the South Fault, below. This corridor has been the main focus of exploration since 1992, and currently contains nearly all of the resources outlined to date.
GOLD NEWS
GOLD NEWS
Stawell gold gets gift of age V
Stawell Gold exploration manager, Jon Dugdale (right) has led the team which found the Golden Gift deep orebody.
ictoria’s biggest gold mine, the 100,000 ounce a year Stawell mine in the state’s west, hopes to continue production for 20 years or more, possibly at double its current production rate.
one of three categories of targets identified below the South Fault.
Continuing exploration success in the newly discovered, high-grade Golden Gift structure is already outlining a possible multi-million ounce orebody with the potential to transform the Stawell mine into one of Australia’s top producers.
Other targets include: • Hangingwall system style high-grade mineralisation in the Stawell Fault and associated flat lodes; and • Wonga style high-grade mineralisation, in structures orthogonal to the Scotchmans Fault style structures above the interpreted south plunging nose.
Stawell Gold Mines, a joint venture between Mineral Project Investors Pty Ltd and Pittston Minerals of the US, is forecast to produce more than 100,000 oz, of gold this year but, until the new discovery, previously established reserves and resources were only sufficient to support mining for five more years.
However, in a bid to quickly extend the mine’s productive life, Magdala-style targets below the South Fault are the key exploration priority. The potential of the target to the 1250 m RL depth is estimated at more than one million ounces, ranking the discovery among the largest in the country. But Stawell Gold Mines senior gold geologist, Jon Dugdale said, “A substantially larger target exists below this depth as the strike length is interpreted to increase on the flanks of the doubly plunging dome.
The discovery of the Golden Gift deposit below the mine’s South Fault now suggests the possibility of a much longer mine life at an expanded production rate.
Conceptual studies of the geology in the mine area during late 1998 and early 1999 suggested a possible repeat of the mine’s ‘Magdala’ ore system below the South Fault. One of the key elements of the geological model was that the ore was located in a doubly plunging dome, which would explain why previous drilling below the South Fault had ‘overshot’ and missed the south plunging target. Structural geological studies through the University of Melbourne established that the
Mr Dugdale said that once the location and geometry of the southern end of the Magdala structure below the South Fault was established, further testing would focus on the west and east side of the basalt dome towards the hanging wall structures and Wonga syncline. “This zone represents the most promising area within the Stawell environs for the location of a new high-grade resource,” he added.
THE STAWELL MINE The Stawell Gold Mine is located 250 km west of Melbourne within the Wimmera Region of Victoria. It is based on the Magdala Decline, which was commenced in 1982 and has now reached a depth of 790 m.
The South Fault has, for several years, marked the limit of the known ore boundary, but earlier this year new drilling discovered a major new ore system capable of dramatically extending the mine’s life. New drilling has discovered potentially economic ore zones down to a depth of 1,400 metres, 800 metres below the base of the existing mine.
“A second phase of drilling is underway from available development locations to define the geometry and continuity of mineralisation.” The company has also begun construction of a dedicated exploration decline in the basalt to the east from which the mineralisation could be drilled out to resource definition status. Mr Dugdale said the Magdala ore type is only
geological movement on the South Fault was predominantly north over south, giving the explorers the vital clue they needed to relocate their drilling. Diamond drilling to test the concept started in June 1999 with the first drillhole, MD 2064, intersecting volcanogenic sediments and basalt immediately below the South Fault producing an intercept of 3.2 metres at a grade of 4 grams of gold per tonne (4g Au/t). A second hole was drilled further east and intersected only basalt below the South Fault but a third hole, MD 2167, angled between the first two, intersected three repeated miner2
Left: Underground drilling at Stawell gold mine is helping to define the new Golden Gift orebody. Above: A new geological interpretation of the Stawell gold mine has helped locate and define the deep orebody which eluded explorers for two decades.
Mineralisation at Stawell is hosted by Cambro-Ordovician rocks at the western margin of the Lachlan Fold Belt. Exploration tenements extend 100 km northwest from the mine and cover a continuous corridor of similar lithologies under a deepening Murray Basin cover.
Golden Gift
The recognised mineral inventory of the Stawell Goldfield is 4.7 million ounces (Moz) including pre-1926 alluvial and hard rock production of 2.7 Moz gold, post 1984 production of 0.9 Moz and current reserves and resources estimated at 1. 17 Moz.
The Golden Gift mineralisation has now been tested on three drill sections over a 900mstrike length from 900 m to a depth of 1400 m.
Discovery since 1992 has added 1.2 million ounces of gold resources at a discovery cost of $13 to $14 per oz.
alised zones producing visible gold with down hole intersections of 16.2m @ 5.2g Au/t, 19.0 m @ 7.1 g Au/t and 2.85m @ 7.1 g Au/t.
The discovery of the new mineralisation, (Golden Gift), below the South Fault, suggests the potential to double the total endowment of the deposit. The recent exploration program has produced outstanding results down the plunge of the main Magdala system and below the South Fault, formerly considered the base of the resource. Ore from Magdala is produced from a series of sub-parallel lodes hosted by faults/shear zones on the western flank of a large basalt antiform, called ‘the Magdala Anticline’. These lodes, the most important of which are Central Lode and the basalt contact lodes, are intimately associated with an intensely deformed package of volcanogenic sedimentary rocks. Historical production was predominantly from high-grade ‘Hanging wall Reefs’, which are hosted by the Stawell Fault. Ore shoots developed within the Magdala Lodes generally plunge steeply north but are 3
Stawell’s giant ball mills will continue turning for years after the new orebody comes into production, extending mine life by up to two decades.
constrained within a moderate northerly plunging corridor - bounded by the Scotchmans Fault, above and the South Fault, below. This corridor has been the main focus of exploration since 1992, and currently contains nearly all of the resources outlined to date.
HIGH HOPES Gold will be poured from the Stawell mine for many years to come after the new discovery of the Golden Gift orebody.
DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT MINERALS AND PETROLEUM CONTACT LIST:
There IS gold in those ribbons
MINERALS BUSINESS CENTRE: Level 8, 240 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne Vic 3002 Australia Tel: +613 9412 5020 Fax: +613 9412 5150 MINERALS AND PETROLEUM DIVISION: Fax: (03) 9412 7834 David Lea Executive Director Minerals and Petroleum Telephone: (03) 9412 4508 Fax: (03) 9412 4183
Mike Woollands Manager Basin Studies Telephone: (03) 9412 5135
David Wallish Business Manager Telephone: (03) 9412 5137
Bob Harms Manager Petroleum Information Telephone: (03) 9412 5053
MINERALS BUSINESS CENTRE: Fax: (03) 9412 5157
Geoff Collins Manager Petroleum Projects Telephone: (03) 9412 5095
Kim Ricketts Client Services Officer Telephone: (03) 9412 5103 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY VICTORIA: Fax: (03) 9412 5155 Phil Roberts Manager Geological Survey Victoria Telephone: (03) 9412 5035 Alan Willocks Manager - Geophysics Telephone: (03) 9412 5131 Peter O’Shea Manager Geological Mapping Telephone: (03) 9412 5093 Roger Buckley Manager Mineral Resources Telephone: (03) 9412 5025 Graham Gooding Regional Manager Ballarat Telephone: (03) 53 336 521 Guy Hamilton Regional Manager Bendigo Telephone: (03) 5444 6697 Chandri Nambiar Manager Marketing Development Telephone: (03) 9412 5061 Fax: (03) 9412 5155 PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT: Fax: (03) 9412 5156 Kathy Hill Manager Petroleum Developments Telephone: (03) 9412 4208 Kourosh Mehin Acting Manager Petroleum Resources Telephone: (03) 9412 5074
T
THE STAWELL GOLD MINE SETTING
he first bulk samples from Bendigo Mining NL’s underground ‘ribbons of gold’ will be extracted for grade testing by the end of the year to provide the most tangible indications that the field could still yield significant quantities of gold.
Stawell Gold Mine occurs within the Stawell zone of the Lachlan Fold Belt. This is a structural high developed between two key faults - the Moyston Fault to the west and the Coongee Break to the east termed the Stawell Gold Belt.
Bendigo Mining is constructing a decline tunnel to provide access to the base of the Bendigo goldfield from where it hopes to locate large, untouched ore resources left by the earlier generation of miners.
Maher Megallaa Manager Acreage Release Telephone: (03) 9412 5081
MINERALS AND PETROLEUM REGULATION: Fax: (03) 9412 5152
Over 5 million ounces of gold is contained within the 50 km exposed portion of the Stawell Gold Belt between Ararat and Glenorchy.
Rob King Manager Minerals and Petroleum Regulation Telephone: (03) 9412 5069 George Buckland Manager Minerals and Petroleum Tenements Telephone: (03) 9412 4778 Graeme McLaughlan Manager, Northern Region Chief Mining Inspector Telephone: (03) 5444 6689
Detailed aeromagnetics and gravity imagery indicates that the belt continues northwest of Glenorchy under Murray Basin sediments and several repeats of the Magdala geological setting are interpreted to occur from Wildwood to north of Murtoa.
A century ago a lack of water pumping technology, labour shortages and the low price of gold forced the closure of the Bendigo field, after establishing itself as one of the world’s major gold producing regions, a claim it retains to this day.
The boundaries of the prospective corridor are the Coongee Break on the eastern side and the Moyston Fault to the west. East of the Coongee, the St Arnaud Beds are simply folded and more typical of Central Victoria; lacking the basalt, volcanogenics and intense structural and intrusive activity so evident in the Stawell corridor.
But Bendigo Mining believes the regularly repeated gold bearing structures which typified the Bendigo field continue to be repeated below the base of the old workings and now has mounting evidence to support its theory.
West of the Moyston Fault are the Cambrian to Pre-Cambrian rocks of the Adelaide Fold Belt, which are, to date, only associated with minor gold occurrences.
Drilling in July and August encountered an unmined section of a ‘ribbon structure’ on the New Chum line of reef where a two metre wide quartz reef was encountered 900 metres below the surface.
Generally, exploration for gold targets is less advanced in the covered areas to the north.
John Mitas Manager, Southern Region Chief Inspector of Quarries Telephone: (03) 9412 5083
But new technology is slowly unlocking many of the secrets of the covered regions of the Murray Basin area. The key exploration tools currently being utilised include:
Doug Sceney Environmental Manager Telephone: (03) 9412 5107
• Aeromagnetic imagery to locate magnetic domes; • Ground geophysics to locate massive to disseminated sulphides in rock marginal to the basalt domes;
Horacio Haag Manager, Petroleum Operations, Safety and Environment
Visible gold in the drill core showed the potential of the area, which was 200 metres below the old new Chum mine. The intersection produced a gold grade of 66 grams per tonne of ore, more than two ounces to the tonne and twice the gold field’s historic average grade.
• Aircore drilling to bedrock to locate interface dispersion and bedrock geochemistry and point geology, and; • Angled reverse circulation and diamond drilling to test aircore anomalies in fresh rock at depth.
Telephone: (03) 9412 5101
Mr Dugdale said, “The regional exploration program is approximately one year into a three year program aimed at locating and delineating mineralised systems of similar or greater endowment to Stawell.”
MINERALS AND PETROLEUM POLICY: John Lambert Manager Minerals and Petroleum Policy Telephone: (03) 9412 5068
He added that, “Significant encouragement has been generated during the first year of the program, indicating that the potential to discover significant ore deposits along Murray Basin covered extensions of the ‘Stawell Gold Belt’ remains high.”
INFORMATION: Janne Bonnett Manager Minerals and Petroleum Reference Centre Telephone: (03) 9412 5022 Fax: (03) 9412 5157
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Jon Dugdale, senior exploration geologist, Mining Project Investors Tel (03) 5358 1022 email: [email protected]
4
Rapid progress at the New Bendigo gold project could result in gold production resuming within the next two years and provide an important new industry to supplement the region’s other activities like tourism.
5
More drilling is continuing on the New Chum line, but it is the Deborah line of reef, at the other end of the field, where Bendigo Mining is most active.
HIGH HOPES Gold will be poured from the Stawell mine for many years to come after the new discovery of the Golden Gift orebody.
DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT MINERALS AND PETROLEUM CONTACT LIST:
There IS gold in those ribbons
MINERALS BUSINESS CENTRE: Level 8, 240 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne Vic 3002 Australia Tel: +613 9412 5020 Fax: +613 9412 5150 MINERALS AND PETROLEUM DIVISION: Fax: (03) 9412 7834 David Lea Executive Director Minerals and Petroleum Telephone: (03) 9412 4508 Fax: (03) 9412 4183
Mike Woollands Manager Basin Studies Telephone: (03) 9412 5135
David Wallish Business Manager Telephone: (03) 9412 5137
Bob Harms Manager Petroleum Information Telephone: (03) 9412 5053
MINERALS BUSINESS CENTRE: Fax: (03) 9412 5157
Geoff Collins Manager Petroleum Projects Telephone: (03) 9412 5095
Kim Ricketts Client Services Officer Telephone: (03) 9412 5103 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY VICTORIA: Fax: (03) 9412 5155 Phil Roberts Manager Geological Survey Victoria Telephone: (03) 9412 5035 Alan Willocks Manager - Geophysics Telephone: (03) 9412 5131 Peter O’Shea Manager Geological Mapping Telephone: (03) 9412 5093 Roger Buckley Manager Mineral Resources Telephone: (03) 9412 5025 Graham Gooding Regional Manager Ballarat Telephone: (03) 53 336 521 Guy Hamilton Regional Manager Bendigo Telephone: (03) 5444 6697 Chandri Nambiar Manager Marketing Development Telephone: (03) 9412 5061 Fax: (03) 9412 5155 PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT: Fax: (03) 9412 5156 Kathy Hill Manager Petroleum Developments Telephone: (03) 9412 4208 Kourosh Mehin Acting Manager Petroleum Resources Telephone: (03) 9412 5074
T
THE STAWELL GOLD MINE SETTING
he first bulk samples from Bendigo Mining NL’s underground ‘ribbons of gold’ will be extracted for grade testing by the end of the year to provide the most tangible indications that the field could still yield significant quantities of gold.
Stawell Gold Mine occurs within the Stawell zone of the Lachlan Fold Belt. This is a structural high developed between two key faults - the Moyston Fault to the west and the Coongee Break to the east termed the Stawell Gold Belt.
Bendigo Mining is constructing a decline tunnel to provide access to the base of the Bendigo goldfield from where it hopes to locate large, untouched ore resources left by the earlier generation of miners.
Maher Megallaa Manager Acreage Release Telephone: (03) 9412 5081
MINERALS AND PETROLEUM REGULATION: Fax: (03) 9412 5152
Over 5 million ounces of gold is contained within the 50 km exposed portion of the Stawell Gold Belt between Ararat and Glenorchy.
Rob King Manager Minerals and Petroleum Regulation Telephone: (03) 9412 5069 George Buckland Manager Minerals and Petroleum Tenements Telephone: (03) 9412 4778 Graeme McLaughlan Manager, Northern Region Chief Mining Inspector Telephone: (03) 5444 6689
Detailed aeromagnetics and gravity imagery indicates that the belt continues northwest of Glenorchy under Murray Basin sediments and several repeats of the Magdala geological setting are interpreted to occur from Wildwood to north of Murtoa.
A century ago a lack of water pumping technology, labour shortages and the low price of gold forced the closure of the Bendigo field, after establishing itself as one of the world’s major gold producing regions, a claim it retains to this day.
The boundaries of the prospective corridor are the Coongee Break on the eastern side and the Moyston Fault to the west. East of the Coongee, the St Arnaud Beds are simply folded and more typical of Central Victoria; lacking the basalt, volcanogenics and intense structural and intrusive activity so evident in the Stawell corridor.
But Bendigo Mining believes the regularly repeated gold bearing structures which typified the Bendigo field continue to be repeated below the base of the old workings and now has mounting evidence to support its theory.
West of the Moyston Fault are the Cambrian to Pre-Cambrian rocks of the Adelaide Fold Belt, which are, to date, only associated with minor gold occurrences.
Drilling in July and August encountered an unmined section of a ‘ribbon structure’ on the New Chum line of reef where a two metre wide quartz reef was encountered 900 metres below the surface.
Generally, exploration for gold targets is less advanced in the covered areas to the north.
John Mitas Manager, Southern Region Chief Inspector of Quarries Telephone: (03) 9412 5083
But new technology is slowly unlocking many of the secrets of the covered regions of the Murray Basin area. The key exploration tools currently being utilised include:
Doug Sceney Environmental Manager Telephone: (03) 9412 5107
• Aeromagnetic imagery to locate magnetic domes; • Ground geophysics to locate massive to disseminated sulphides in rock marginal to the basalt domes;
Horacio Haag Manager, Petroleum Operations, Safety and Environment
Visible gold in the drill core showed the potential of the area, which was 200 metres below the old new Chum mine. The intersection produced a gold grade of 66 grams per tonne of ore, more than two ounces to the tonne and twice the gold field’s historic average grade.
• Aircore drilling to bedrock to locate interface dispersion and bedrock geochemistry and point geology, and; • Angled reverse circulation and diamond drilling to test aircore anomalies in fresh rock at depth.
Telephone: (03) 9412 5101
Mr Dugdale said, “The regional exploration program is approximately one year into a three year program aimed at locating and delineating mineralised systems of similar or greater endowment to Stawell.”
MINERALS AND PETROLEUM POLICY: John Lambert Manager Minerals and Petroleum Policy Telephone: (03) 9412 5068
He added that, “Significant encouragement has been generated during the first year of the program, indicating that the potential to discover significant ore deposits along Murray Basin covered extensions of the ‘Stawell Gold Belt’ remains high.”
INFORMATION: Janne Bonnett Manager Minerals and Petroleum Reference Centre Telephone: (03) 9412 5022 Fax: (03) 9412 5157
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Jon Dugdale, senior exploration geologist, Mining Project Investors Tel (03) 5358 1022 email: [email protected]
4
Rapid progress at the New Bendigo gold project could result in gold production resuming within the next two years and provide an important new industry to supplement the region’s other activities like tourism.
5
More drilling is continuing on the New Chum line, but it is the Deborah line of reef, at the other end of the field, where Bendigo Mining is most active.
HIGH HOPES
REGULAR FEATURE
Women have a role in mining too
The historic City of Greater Bendigo could soon resonate to the sounds of mining a century after the first mining created one of Australia’s wealthiest cities. New gold resources are being found below the old workings. Old mines, such as the Central Deborah, are being refurbished to help provide underground access for explorers.
ining has historically been a male dominated industry in terms of representation and culture. However, in recent years, we have seen many women emerge and excel in the industry as company executives, geologists, and environmental scientists.
M
country towns, in metropolitan Melbourne and in regional centres.
It was good to note at the recent Women in Mining Breakfast (as part of the Mining 2000 conference) a good representation of women in our industry.
As Minister for Energy and Resources, I have committed the Victorian Government to ensuring that the extractive, minerals and petroleum industries continue to be pillars for Victoria’s growth.
But the standing of women in mining is still well behind that of men. We don’t see too many women mining engineers. Nor do we see enough women as top decision-makers in the mining industry.
The Government will increase women’s representation on government boards and committees and will work towards similar outcomes in the private sector to increase the number of women corporate board members.
And in delivering this commitment, the Government's approach is to work in a consultative way with the community, whilst building partnerships with industry.
The Swan decline, being driven into the Deborah syncline between the Deborah and Sheepshead lines of reef has encountered previously unknown reef structures.
Perception, education and awareness are all contributors to this shortfall. But corporate culture remains one of the main hurdles for women to overcome in this industry.
As the first woman Minister for the mining industry in Victoria, I am naturally keen to see tangible change for women in an industry where we are significantly under- represented.
Now the New Bendigo gold project has identified a bulk sample target 500 metres below surface and close to the current planned path of the decline.
Jane Slack-Smith,Technical Services Manager at Orica Quarrying Services, was the keynote speaker at the Breakfast. She provided a personal and insightful account of her experiences and the difficulties she faced in the workplace ‘on the ground’ and ‘underground’.
For the mining industry, the opportunities to
Managing director, Doug Buerger, said bulk sampling was originally planned to begin early in 2001.“We may now be able to commence bulk sampling in late 2000,” Mr Buerger said. In July, Bendigo Mining reported intersecting an unmined ribbon on the Deborah line of reef, approximately 500 metres underground. This ribbon is 200 metres below the historically mined areas in this section of the Bendigo goldfield. Designated as D3, it has identified two quartz reefs within the main structural zone. One of the reefs, located 600 metres below surface, had been identified previously and was bulk sampled in 1954 when those results reported an assay of 9.3 grams of gold per ton ne (9.3g Au/t) from a sample of 130 tonnes. The second reef is in the same ribbon structure and at a similar depth as the decline face, approximately 40 metres to the east of the tunnel. The Swan decline is now more than 3.5 kilometres in length from the portal in Kangaroo Flat and has reached a depth of 500 metres under the City of Greater Bendigo. Mr Buerger said, “The reef is associated with a major west-dipping fault and drilling on the first section shows quartz and arsenopyrite over a vertical distance of 50 metres.
Some of them were hilarious and others more serious. “Visible gold was seen in one drill intersection and samples of the first two holes into the reef reported sporadic anomalous gold assays with values ranging from 0.1g/t up to 80g/t.” This wide range of gold values is symptomatic of the Bendigo field and illustrates the need for bulk sampling to correctly determine the gold grade. Due to the close proximity of the decline to the reef, work on advancing the decline was temporarily stopped while drilling was conducted to determine the most advantageous route for the decline. Mr Buerger added that the Bendigo Goldfield comprised 15 parallel lines of reef, stretching for 17 kilometres north to south and 6 kilometres wide. “The ribbons, structurally complex zones, repeat at approximately 200 metre intervals beneath the lines of reef” Mr Buerger said. “These ribbons host gold bearing reefs and we are looking to mine the reefs below the depth of the majority of past mining activities.” “Bendigo is a huge field with enormous potential,” Mr Buerger said. 6
Corporations must also make it a priority to ensure that women are well represented in their organisations to enable the diverse interests of the whole community to be taken into account. This includes ensuring that mechanisms are in place to include a broad range of women. These mechanisms have to be flexible and take into account the structural factors that can limit women’s participation, as well as accommodating women’s cultural diversity and range of life experiences. From a Government perspective, for the first time we now have a forward plan for all women in Victoria.
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Doug Buerger, managing director Bendigo Mines NL Tel: 03 5447 1834
‘Valuing Victoria’s Women’, which was released by my colleague the Minister for Women’s Affairs, Sherryl Garbutt, commits the Government to implement specific programs and policies to redress the imbalances of the past. It will also address the needs of all women, including women who live on farms, in small
Women are significantly under represented in the mining industry... I am keen to see tangibile change seek better representation for women are huge. From my understanding, there is no one organisation in Australia that represents women in mining on a national basis. Such a nationwide organisation, composed of individuals employed in or interested in the mining industry, could set the ball rolling. It could articulate the concerns raised by women, industry employees, educators, concerned citizens and business and civic leaders. It would also provide members an opportunity to become acquainted and work with others involved in the mining industry and thereby acquire new personal and professional contacts. I look forward to working with more women in mining in the future.
Candy Broad Minister for Energy and Resources 7
HIGH HOPES
REGULAR FEATURE
Women have a role in mining too
The historic City of Greater Bendigo could soon resonate to the sounds of mining a century after the first mining created one of Australia’s wealthiest cities. New gold resources are being found below the old workings. Old mines, such as the Central Deborah, are being refurbished to help provide underground access for explorers.
ining has historically been a male dominated industry in terms of representation and culture. However, in recent years, we have seen many women emerge and excel in the industry as company executives, geologists, and environmental scientists.
M
country towns, in metropolitan Melbourne and in regional centres.
It was good to note at the recent Women in Mining Breakfast (as part of the Mining 2000 conference) a good representation of women in our industry.
As Minister for Energy and Resources, I have committed the Victorian Government to ensuring that the extractive, minerals and petroleum industries continue to be pillars for Victoria’s growth.
But the standing of women in mining is still well behind that of men. We don’t see too many women mining engineers. Nor do we see enough women as top decision-makers in the mining industry.
The Government will increase women’s representation on government boards and committees and will work towards similar outcomes in the private sector to increase the number of women corporate board members.
And in delivering this commitment, the Government's approach is to work in a consultative way with the community, whilst building partnerships with industry.
The Swan decline, being driven into the Deborah syncline between the Deborah and Sheepshead lines of reef has encountered previously unknown reef structures.
Perception, education and awareness are all contributors to this shortfall. But corporate culture remains one of the main hurdles for women to overcome in this industry.
As the first woman Minister for the mining industry in Victoria, I am naturally keen to see tangible change for women in an industry where we are significantly under- represented.
Now the New Bendigo gold project has identified a bulk sample target 500 metres below surface and close to the current planned path of the decline.
Jane Slack-Smith,Technical Services Manager at Orica Quarrying Services, was the keynote speaker at the Breakfast. She provided a personal and insightful account of her experiences and the difficulties she faced in the workplace ‘on the ground’ and ‘underground’.
For the mining industry, the opportunities to
Managing director, Doug Buerger, said bulk sampling was originally planned to begin early in 2001.“We may now be able to commence bulk sampling in late 2000,” Mr Buerger said. In July, Bendigo Mining reported intersecting an unmined ribbon on the Deborah line of reef, approximately 500 metres underground. This ribbon is 200 metres below the historically mined areas in this section of the Bendigo goldfield. Designated as D3, it has identified two quartz reefs within the main structural zone. One of the reefs, located 600 metres below surface, had been identified previously and was bulk sampled in 1954 when those results reported an assay of 9.3 grams of gold per ton ne (9.3g Au/t) from a sample of 130 tonnes. The second reef is in the same ribbon structure and at a similar depth as the decline face, approximately 40 metres to the east of the tunnel. The Swan decline is now more than 3.5 kilometres in length from the portal in Kangaroo Flat and has reached a depth of 500 metres under the City of Greater Bendigo. Mr Buerger said, “The reef is associated with a major west-dipping fault and drilling on the first section shows quartz and arsenopyrite over a vertical distance of 50 metres.
Some of them were hilarious and others more serious. “Visible gold was seen in one drill intersection and samples of the first two holes into the reef reported sporadic anomalous gold assays with values ranging from 0.1g/t up to 80g/t.” This wide range of gold values is symptomatic of the Bendigo field and illustrates the need for bulk sampling to correctly determine the gold grade. Due to the close proximity of the decline to the reef, work on advancing the decline was temporarily stopped while drilling was conducted to determine the most advantageous route for the decline. Mr Buerger added that the Bendigo Goldfield comprised 15 parallel lines of reef, stretching for 17 kilometres north to south and 6 kilometres wide. “The ribbons, structurally complex zones, repeat at approximately 200 metre intervals beneath the lines of reef” Mr Buerger said. “These ribbons host gold bearing reefs and we are looking to mine the reefs below the depth of the majority of past mining activities.” “Bendigo is a huge field with enormous potential,” Mr Buerger said. 6
Corporations must also make it a priority to ensure that women are well represented in their organisations to enable the diverse interests of the whole community to be taken into account. This includes ensuring that mechanisms are in place to include a broad range of women. These mechanisms have to be flexible and take into account the structural factors that can limit women’s participation, as well as accommodating women’s cultural diversity and range of life experiences. From a Government perspective, for the first time we now have a forward plan for all women in Victoria.
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Doug Buerger, managing director Bendigo Mines NL Tel: 03 5447 1834
‘Valuing Victoria’s Women’, which was released by my colleague the Minister for Women’s Affairs, Sherryl Garbutt, commits the Government to implement specific programs and policies to redress the imbalances of the past. It will also address the needs of all women, including women who live on farms, in small
Women are significantly under represented in the mining industry... I am keen to see tangibile change seek better representation for women are huge. From my understanding, there is no one organisation in Australia that represents women in mining on a national basis. Such a nationwide organisation, composed of individuals employed in or interested in the mining industry, could set the ball rolling. It could articulate the concerns raised by women, industry employees, educators, concerned citizens and business and civic leaders. It would also provide members an opportunity to become acquainted and work with others involved in the mining industry and thereby acquire new personal and professional contacts. I look forward to working with more women in mining in the future.
Candy Broad Minister for Energy and Resources 7
EXPLORATION
EXPLORATION
ONSHORE HOPES ARE HIGH IN THE WEST:
IN THE EAST:
Old theory spurs new Otway search
Lakes Oil takes new tack on gas
M
nce disregarded as a likely source of commercial reserves of oil or natural gas, the onshore Gippsland Basin is attracting both local and international interest as one of Australia’s veteran exploration companies embarks on a new round of drilling.
any years of drilling and seismic exploration in the onshore portion of Victoria’s Otway Basin have uncovered a number of small commercial gas fields, but no major oil discoveries have yet been made. Essential Petroleum Resources Ltd plans to change that with an eight-well drilling program over three years aimed at testing a theory developed over 25 years by two highly-experienced and well-credentialled petroleum geologists. John Remfry and Roger Blake believe that four separate petroleum systems with up to 14 associated prospects in the Otway Basin have the potential to contain more than 200 million barrels of oil and up to 500 billion cubic feet of recoverable gas reserves. Essential Petroleum, incorporated late in 1999, has secured title to six separate tenements in the Otway Basin and plans to drill wells in each to test for Victoria’s first onshore crude oil reserves.
and Blake have coveted for two decades since Mr Blake completed his Master of Science with a thesis on the prospectivity of the Otway Basin. Other permits in the Victorian part of the Basin held by Essential include 25 per cent in the adjacent Vic/099 (1), 50 per cent in PEP101 and 33.33 per cent in PEP152 which stretches along the coast from Warrnambool westwards past Port Fairy. In South Australia, Essential has 15 per cent in permit area PEL57, which abuts Vic/099 (2) along the state border and 25 per cent in the adjacent PEL 72. Essential is now working to raise capital to fund its exploration program, but the tough market for raising cash to fund junior companies has made its task difficult. “We have had to trim back our prospectus proposal from 12 wells over five years to just
Four of the areas are within Victoria and extend from the South Australian border east towards Port Campbell and Colac. The company’s major target is area Vic/099 (2), which lies hard against the South Australian border in which Essential holds 100 per cent.
ESSENTIAL PETROLEUM TENEMENTS SOUTH AUSTRALIA
VICTORIA
Hamiliton
PEL 72 (25%)
Mt Gambier
PEL 57 (15%)
VIC/099(2) (100%)
38 o
VIC/099(1) (25%) 38 o Lindon 1
PEP 101 (50%)
Windermere 1
Cobden
PEP 152 (33.9%)
Portland
Warrnambool Port Fairy
This is the area that triggered the creation of Essential Petroleum, as it is a target Remfry
38o 30'
38o 30'
0 141
Port Campbell
50km 142
o
o
LATE CRETACEOUS - TERTIARY DEXTRAL SHEAR STRUCTURAL REGIME
143
o
eight wells in the first three years to reduce the amount of cash required,” Mr Remfry said, The main driver behind Essential Petroleum’s focus on the Otway Basin is the dramatic loss of expertise in the region due to a spate of corporate takeovers, which scattered many of the original explorers. That, and the fact that the Otway Basin is well served with existing gas transmission pipelines, infrastructure, ports, road and rail links, makes it an attractive place to explore, Mr Remfry said. “In the early to mid-1980’s successful middlesized Australian oil companies such as Beach Petroleum, Alliance Oil Development, Hartogen Energy, Gas and Fuel Exploration and TMOC were exploring in the Otway basin,” he added. “The Essential Petroleum executive team worked closely with these companies until the takeover euphoria of the late 1980’s removed them from the corporate scene. “With the demise of most of them, much of the geological knowledge of the Otway Basin was also lost. Essential Petroleum believes the time is now right to return to the Otway Basin and build on those early successes.” Critical to Essential Petroleum’s theory of undiscovered fields in the Otway Basin is a deep understanding of the geological history of the region. Essential has developed a geological model for the basin which allows the identification of compressional structures which are likely to contain oil or gas such as folds and faulted folds within a ‘pull-apart’ basin which generally exhibits tensional features. Remfry and Blake believe that the Otway Basin and the prolific oil and gas producing Gippsland Basin display “considerable similarities”. “Both the Gippsland and the Otway Basins developed in response to the separation of Australia and Antarctica and both were subject to east-west wrenching coincident with the rifting of the two continents,” they say.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 8
O
Hosting the Bass Strait oil and gas fields, which have already produced close to 4 billion barrels of oil and more than 3 trillion cubic feet of gas, the Gippsland Basin is well known as one of the world’s great petroleum provinces. Now Lakes Oil NL is about to embark on a new drilling program to find commercial gas reserves where conventional wisdom has previously held that no hydrocarbons could exist. Lakes Oil has already proved that theory wrong. Earlier this year, the company drilled the North Seaspray 3 well, producing a 150,000 cubic ft a day gas flow before the unconsolidated sands deep in the well collapsed, killing the well. But the gas flow from the Golden Beach Formation proved that commercial volumes of gas could potentially be trapped in structures other than the traditional LaTrobe Formation, the host of virtually all of the offshore oil and gas production.
Lakes Oil’s enthusiasm for new drilling in Gippsland was heightened by the results of the North Seaspray 3 wildcat well which discovered a non-commercial gas field but raised hopes of finding gas in other onshore prospects.
To test the theory, Lakes Oil has remapped large parts of the onshore Gippsland Basin, locating a number of prime drilling targets which it plans to test late in 2000 and early next year.
Lakes Oil is planning to drill two major tests of the Golden Beach Formation in the Trifon 1 and Gangell 1 wells, both located close to the North Seaspray 3 well. To fund the program, Lakes made a share placement during August of 24 million shares at 3 cents each.
Lakes Oil managing director, Rob Annells, is bullish about his company’s chances of finding a commercially viable gas field.
It later issued a prospectus for the issue of another 104 million shares at three cents to raise enough cash to fund the two wells, expected to cost $1.2 million each on a dry hole basis.
His company now controls all but one of the permits covering the onshore part of the Gippsland Basin, an area that has been tested by only 60 wells in the past 100 years. Most of these were drilled on intuition, without the benefit of any valid geological assessment. All of the early wells sought oil only as, until recently, gas had virtually no commercial value.
Now, thanks to the deregulation of the gas industry and growing concerns over the environmental impacts of other energy forms such as coal and crude oil, the value of natural gas is rising rapidly.
9
Lakes shareholders will be entitled to one share for every four shares already held and the company plans to follow up the rights
CONTINUED ON PAGE 11
EXPLORATION
EXPLORATION
ONSHORE HOPES ARE HIGH IN THE WEST:
IN THE EAST:
Old theory spurs new Otway search
Lakes Oil takes new tack on gas
M
nce disregarded as a likely source of commercial reserves of oil or natural gas, the onshore Gippsland Basin is attracting both local and international interest as one of Australia’s veteran exploration companies embarks on a new round of drilling.
any years of drilling and seismic exploration in the onshore portion of Victoria’s Otway Basin have uncovered a number of small commercial gas fields, but no major oil discoveries have yet been made. Essential Petroleum Resources Ltd plans to change that with an eight-well drilling program over three years aimed at testing a theory developed over 25 years by two highly-experienced and well-credentialled petroleum geologists. John Remfry and Roger Blake believe that four separate petroleum systems with up to 14 associated prospects in the Otway Basin have the potential to contain more than 200 million barrels of oil and up to 500 billion cubic feet of recoverable gas reserves. Essential Petroleum, incorporated late in 1999, has secured title to six separate tenements in the Otway Basin and plans to drill wells in each to test for Victoria’s first onshore crude oil reserves.
and Blake have coveted for two decades since Mr Blake completed his Master of Science with a thesis on the prospectivity of the Otway Basin. Other permits in the Victorian part of the Basin held by Essential include 25 per cent in the adjacent Vic/099 (1), 50 per cent in PEP101 and 33.33 per cent in PEP152 which stretches along the coast from Warrnambool westwards past Port Fairy. In South Australia, Essential has 15 per cent in permit area PEL57, which abuts Vic/099 (2) along the state border and 25 per cent in the adjacent PEL 72. Essential is now working to raise capital to fund its exploration program, but the tough market for raising cash to fund junior companies has made its task difficult. “We have had to trim back our prospectus proposal from 12 wells over five years to just
Four of the areas are within Victoria and extend from the South Australian border east towards Port Campbell and Colac. The company’s major target is area Vic/099 (2), which lies hard against the South Australian border in which Essential holds 100 per cent.
ESSENTIAL PETROLEUM TENEMENTS SOUTH AUSTRALIA
VICTORIA
Hamiliton
PEL 72 (25%)
Mt Gambier
PEL 57 (15%)
VIC/099(2) (100%)
38 o
VIC/099(1) (25%) 38 o Lindon 1
PEP 101 (50%)
Windermere 1
Cobden
PEP 152 (33.9%)
Portland
Warrnambool Port Fairy
This is the area that triggered the creation of Essential Petroleum, as it is a target Remfry
38o 30'
38o 30'
0 141
Port Campbell
50km 142
o
o
LATE CRETACEOUS - TERTIARY DEXTRAL SHEAR STRUCTURAL REGIME
143
o
eight wells in the first three years to reduce the amount of cash required,” Mr Remfry said, The main driver behind Essential Petroleum’s focus on the Otway Basin is the dramatic loss of expertise in the region due to a spate of corporate takeovers, which scattered many of the original explorers. That, and the fact that the Otway Basin is well served with existing gas transmission pipelines, infrastructure, ports, road and rail links, makes it an attractive place to explore, Mr Remfry said. “In the early to mid-1980’s successful middlesized Australian oil companies such as Beach Petroleum, Alliance Oil Development, Hartogen Energy, Gas and Fuel Exploration and TMOC were exploring in the Otway basin,” he added. “The Essential Petroleum executive team worked closely with these companies until the takeover euphoria of the late 1980’s removed them from the corporate scene. “With the demise of most of them, much of the geological knowledge of the Otway Basin was also lost. Essential Petroleum believes the time is now right to return to the Otway Basin and build on those early successes.” Critical to Essential Petroleum’s theory of undiscovered fields in the Otway Basin is a deep understanding of the geological history of the region. Essential has developed a geological model for the basin which allows the identification of compressional structures which are likely to contain oil or gas such as folds and faulted folds within a ‘pull-apart’ basin which generally exhibits tensional features. Remfry and Blake believe that the Otway Basin and the prolific oil and gas producing Gippsland Basin display “considerable similarities”. “Both the Gippsland and the Otway Basins developed in response to the separation of Australia and Antarctica and both were subject to east-west wrenching coincident with the rifting of the two continents,” they say.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 8
O
Hosting the Bass Strait oil and gas fields, which have already produced close to 4 billion barrels of oil and more than 3 trillion cubic feet of gas, the Gippsland Basin is well known as one of the world’s great petroleum provinces. Now Lakes Oil NL is about to embark on a new drilling program to find commercial gas reserves where conventional wisdom has previously held that no hydrocarbons could exist. Lakes Oil has already proved that theory wrong. Earlier this year, the company drilled the North Seaspray 3 well, producing a 150,000 cubic ft a day gas flow before the unconsolidated sands deep in the well collapsed, killing the well. But the gas flow from the Golden Beach Formation proved that commercial volumes of gas could potentially be trapped in structures other than the traditional LaTrobe Formation, the host of virtually all of the offshore oil and gas production.
Lakes Oil’s enthusiasm for new drilling in Gippsland was heightened by the results of the North Seaspray 3 wildcat well which discovered a non-commercial gas field but raised hopes of finding gas in other onshore prospects.
To test the theory, Lakes Oil has remapped large parts of the onshore Gippsland Basin, locating a number of prime drilling targets which it plans to test late in 2000 and early next year.
Lakes Oil is planning to drill two major tests of the Golden Beach Formation in the Trifon 1 and Gangell 1 wells, both located close to the North Seaspray 3 well. To fund the program, Lakes made a share placement during August of 24 million shares at 3 cents each.
Lakes Oil managing director, Rob Annells, is bullish about his company’s chances of finding a commercially viable gas field.
It later issued a prospectus for the issue of another 104 million shares at three cents to raise enough cash to fund the two wells, expected to cost $1.2 million each on a dry hole basis.
His company now controls all but one of the permits covering the onshore part of the Gippsland Basin, an area that has been tested by only 60 wells in the past 100 years. Most of these were drilled on intuition, without the benefit of any valid geological assessment. All of the early wells sought oil only as, until recently, gas had virtually no commercial value.
Now, thanks to the deregulation of the gas industry and growing concerns over the environmental impacts of other energy forms such as coal and crude oil, the value of natural gas is rising rapidly.
9
Lakes shareholders will be entitled to one share for every four shares already held and the company plans to follow up the rights
CONTINUED ON PAGE 11
EXPLORATION
EXPLORATION
FROM PAGE 8:
FROM PAGE 9: OTWAY BASIN/ GIPPSLAND BASIN REGIONAL SETTING
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
WHO’S WHO AT ESSENTIAL
issue with a further share placement of another 35 million shares at three cents each.
The main players behind Essential Petroleum include John Remfry, who has over 25 years petroleum geology experience.
In its prospectus Lakes Oil said, “The proposed Trifon 1 well is located approximately 1.6 kilometres south of North Seaspray No. 3 which flowed gas to surface when drilled by Lakes earlier this year.
Mr Remfry previously worked for Exxon Production Research Corp in the US and later for Exxon Production Malaysia, before founding Encom Technology, a petroleum consulting and computing company.
“The Trifon Prospect is a “deeper” play than North Seaspray 3 and has resulted from a geological assessment of the three previous North Seaspray wells which has recently been undertaken by Lakes.
VICTORIA
MELBOURNE
Otway Gippsland
Basin
Basin
Bass Basin
In 1992, he joined BHP Petroleum before transferring to BHP Information Technology where he was business manager. His fellow director, Roger Blake, has similar petroleum credentials, having accumulated over 30 years industry experience in a variety of areas ranging from the Geological Survey of Victoria to public companies like Alliance Oil before working as a consultant for many years.
TASMANIA
“In the Gippsland Basin, the wrenching resulted in the large northeast-southwest oriented anticlinal structures that contain the giant offshore oil and gas fields. “In the onshore Otway Basin, wrenching also produced northeast-southwest oriented compressional structures but these are not as pronounced as the offshore Gippsland structures.” Accordingly, one of the Essential team’s main strategies is to locate the mirror image of the Gippsland Basin Tertiary age formations in the Otway Basin.
Essential Petroleum’s chairman is John Cornelius, who has worked within the resources industry for more than 30 years as a company director and executive, most prominently within the Elders Resources group and more recently with New Zealand Forest Products and the Carter Holt Harvey group.
And they believe they have found just such an analogue in the Portland Trough located within Vic/099 (2). The team searched for a deep trough with suitable source rocks within a Basal Tertiary reservoir present at a sufficient depth for a suitable seal to be present above. As well the relative timing of the structure had to be present to allow any hydrocarbons to have migrated and be trapped in Middle-tolate Tertiary age structures. “Each of these criteria is met in the Portland Trough and this area is considered to be one of the most prospective areas in the entire onshore Otway Basin that is capable of holding large commercial oil fields of Tertiary age,” Mr Remfry said. One early exploration well already has recovered indications of oil in the area outlined by the Essential Petroleum team. The early Lindon 1 well found oil within a sixmetre thick sand structure but it did not flow due to the poor permeability of the sand. However, it provides a pointer to the accuracy of the Essential team’s theory, Mr Remfry said.
posed in the group’s work program.
Geological similarities between the onshore portion of the Otway Basin in western Victoria and the prolific Gippsland Basin in the state’s east, offer exciting opportunities for new onshore oil discoveries according to Essential Petroleum’s John Remfry.
“From a petroleum exploration viewpoint, comparison with similar troughs elsewhere in Australia suggests that the Portland Trough should be considered a very significant exploration target for oil. “It is comparable in size and depth with the central deep in the offshore Gippsland Basin and has had a very similar depositional and structural history.” The Portland Trough, naturally, is Essential Petroleum’s main target with two wells pro10
But the company’s biggest test will be whether it can generate sufficient interest among the investment community to raise the $8.8 million required to fund its program. Mr Remfry said more than 60 presentations had been made to brokers and institutional investors who had shown a high level of interest in the geological theory. However, so far it had been difficult to locate an underwriter for the issue. F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
John Remfry, managing director. Essential Petroleum Resources Ltd Phone (03) 9699 3009 Fax (03) 9699 3110 Email: [email protected]
Gangell Prospect The geological report said, “The Gangell prospect is interpreted as a fan associated with an east-west trending fault located approximately 2.5 km south of the North Seaspray 3 well. “Seismic suggests the fan has a maximum thickness of the order of 300 metres, and extends southwards from the fault for a distance of approximately 1.5 to 2 km. “Estimates range up to 200 billion cubic feet of recoverable gas for the Gangell prospect should gas be present.
“The proposed Gangell 1 well, which will be drilled further south towards the coast, is a separate structure and is located approximately 2.5 kilometres from North Seaspray 3.
“Gangell-1 is the first well to be drilled in the upcoming program and has a scheduled total depth of 1800 metres, with the top of the fan estimated at 1483 metres.”
“This well also results from our re-interpretation of the data gathered from the wells previously drilled in the nearby vicinity.”
Trifon Prospect
The prospectus said that the proposed wells were expected to cost approximately $1 million each. “However, due to the possibility of deeper drilling, multiple tests and cutting of a core in the target reservoir the projected budget has now increased to approximately $1.2 million each,” the document told shareholders.
Lakes Oil has committed to two new wells in the Gippsland Basin to be drilled in 2001 seeking commercial onshore gas fields.
Lakes Oil is also seeking a major company to join it as a joint venture partner in the drilling program.
ing new phase as the understanding of the geology of the pre-LaTrobe, Strzelecki Formation now becomes clearer.
Mr Annells said even a small gas field could become commercially viable in the North Seaspray area as two major gas transmission pipeline crossed the permit area in which the wells would be located, making any gas find cheap to develop.
“Following acquisition of virtually the entire onshore portion of the Basin in 1999, Lakes has undertaken an active 2000 year exploration program.”
“Preliminary discussions have taken place with several major companies to ascertain whether they are interested in participating in the wells by sharing the costs,” he added. Discussions are continuing and no decision has yet been made as to the percentage interests which may be available or indeed if a farm-out will eventually take place at all.”
Alluvial fans The new structures to be drill tested by Lakes Oil are believed to be the remains of large alluvial fans located at a depth of approximately 1,500 metres. “Should these fans contain hydrocarbons, they have the potential to be of major significance to Lakes and will represent a major breakthrough in energy supply for Victoria,” the prospectus said. A geological report on the Trifon and Gangell structures, prepared by Mulready Consulting Services Pty Ltd for Lakes Oil’s prospectus said, “Exploration within Lakes’ extensive Gippsland permits has entered a most interest-
A 31-kilometre seismic survey completed by Lakes near Yarram in Permit PEP158 helped define the new structures. “Lakes is now reviewing all the existing seismic within its Gippsland permits for the purpose of identifying Early Cretaceous age (Strzelecki Formation) and Late Cretaceous age (Golden Beach Formation) alluvial fans, formed as sediments which were originally shed from fault scarps. “These fans are similar in style to that of the Kipper Field, located in the offshore portion of the Basin,” the Mulready report said. The geological report said that one such fan was penetrated in the earlier North Seaspray 2 well (located 600 metres south of the North Seaspray-3 well), but found that the fan lacked a cross-fault seal and is believed to be water filled. “At least two other fans, (Gangell and Trifon prospects), have been identified in the vicinity. These are expected to have valid cross-fault or stratigraphic seal: as such they constitute viable exploration targets capable of hosting commercial size quantities of gas,” the report said. 11
“The Trifon prospect is interpreted as a detached fan, which overlies the lower portion of the fan intersected in North Seaspray 2,” the geological report found. “The trapping mechanism here is entirely stratigraphic. A flat event within the fan holds out the possibility of a direct indication of a gas/water interface within the fan. “Seismic reprocessing of 1985 lines is currently being undertaken to examine this possibility. Estimates range up to 70 bcf of recoverable gas for Trifon 1 should gas be present. “The Trifon 1 well is scheduled to follow Gangell 1 and has a programmed total depth of 1500 metres which may be deepened, depending on the results of Gangell 1. The top of the target fan is estimated to occur at 1421 metres.” The Lakes Oil prospectus added: “The gas shows already encountered within thin overlying Strzelecki Formation sands, (as at North Seaspray 1 and North Seaspray 3) illustrate the presence of migrating hydrocarbons within the Cretaceous sedimentary sequence, probably sourced by more deeply buried Strzelecki Formation sediments. “The major risk relates to reservoir quality, which is likely to vary throughout the permit areas depending on the source of sediments and the severity of contemporaneous volcanic activity.” F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Robert J. Annells Executive Chairman, Lakes Oil NL Level 11, 500 Collins Street, Melbourne Vic. 3000 Tel: (03) 9629 1566 Fax: (03) 9629 1624 e-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.lakesoil.com.au
EXPLORATION
EXPLORATION
FROM PAGE 8:
FROM PAGE 9: OTWAY BASIN/ GIPPSLAND BASIN REGIONAL SETTING
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
WHO’S WHO AT ESSENTIAL
issue with a further share placement of another 35 million shares at three cents each.
The main players behind Essential Petroleum include John Remfry, who has over 25 years petroleum geology experience.
In its prospectus Lakes Oil said, “The proposed Trifon 1 well is located approximately 1.6 kilometres south of North Seaspray No. 3 which flowed gas to surface when drilled by Lakes earlier this year.
Mr Remfry previously worked for Exxon Production Research Corp in the US and later for Exxon Production Malaysia, before founding Encom Technology, a petroleum consulting and computing company.
“The Trifon Prospect is a “deeper” play than North Seaspray 3 and has resulted from a geological assessment of the three previous North Seaspray wells which has recently been undertaken by Lakes.
VICTORIA
MELBOURNE
Otway Gippsland
Basin
Basin
Bass Basin
In 1992, he joined BHP Petroleum before transferring to BHP Information Technology where he was business manager. His fellow director, Roger Blake, has similar petroleum credentials, having accumulated over 30 years industry experience in a variety of areas ranging from the Geological Survey of Victoria to public companies like Alliance Oil before working as a consultant for many years.
TASMANIA
“In the Gippsland Basin, the wrenching resulted in the large northeast-southwest oriented anticlinal structures that contain the giant offshore oil and gas fields. “In the onshore Otway Basin, wrenching also produced northeast-southwest oriented compressional structures but these are not as pronounced as the offshore Gippsland structures.” Accordingly, one of the Essential team’s main strategies is to locate the mirror image of the Gippsland Basin Tertiary age formations in the Otway Basin.
Essential Petroleum’s chairman is John Cornelius, who has worked within the resources industry for more than 30 years as a company director and executive, most prominently within the Elders Resources group and more recently with New Zealand Forest Products and the Carter Holt Harvey group.
And they believe they have found just such an analogue in the Portland Trough located within Vic/099 (2). The team searched for a deep trough with suitable source rocks within a Basal Tertiary reservoir present at a sufficient depth for a suitable seal to be present above. As well the relative timing of the structure had to be present to allow any hydrocarbons to have migrated and be trapped in Middle-tolate Tertiary age structures. “Each of these criteria is met in the Portland Trough and this area is considered to be one of the most prospective areas in the entire onshore Otway Basin that is capable of holding large commercial oil fields of Tertiary age,” Mr Remfry said. One early exploration well already has recovered indications of oil in the area outlined by the Essential Petroleum team. The early Lindon 1 well found oil within a sixmetre thick sand structure but it did not flow due to the poor permeability of the sand. However, it provides a pointer to the accuracy of the Essential team’s theory, Mr Remfry said.
posed in the group’s work program.
Geological similarities between the onshore portion of the Otway Basin in western Victoria and the prolific Gippsland Basin in the state’s east, offer exciting opportunities for new onshore oil discoveries according to Essential Petroleum’s John Remfry.
“From a petroleum exploration viewpoint, comparison with similar troughs elsewhere in Australia suggests that the Portland Trough should be considered a very significant exploration target for oil. “It is comparable in size and depth with the central deep in the offshore Gippsland Basin and has had a very similar depositional and structural history.” The Portland Trough, naturally, is Essential Petroleum’s main target with two wells pro10
But the company’s biggest test will be whether it can generate sufficient interest among the investment community to raise the $8.8 million required to fund its program. Mr Remfry said more than 60 presentations had been made to brokers and institutional investors who had shown a high level of interest in the geological theory. However, so far it had been difficult to locate an underwriter for the issue. F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
John Remfry, managing director. Essential Petroleum Resources Ltd Phone (03) 9699 3009 Fax (03) 9699 3110 Email: [email protected]
Gangell Prospect The geological report said, “The Gangell prospect is interpreted as a fan associated with an east-west trending fault located approximately 2.5 km south of the North Seaspray 3 well. “Seismic suggests the fan has a maximum thickness of the order of 300 metres, and extends southwards from the fault for a distance of approximately 1.5 to 2 km. “Estimates range up to 200 billion cubic feet of recoverable gas for the Gangell prospect should gas be present.
“The proposed Gangell 1 well, which will be drilled further south towards the coast, is a separate structure and is located approximately 2.5 kilometres from North Seaspray 3.
“Gangell-1 is the first well to be drilled in the upcoming program and has a scheduled total depth of 1800 metres, with the top of the fan estimated at 1483 metres.”
“This well also results from our re-interpretation of the data gathered from the wells previously drilled in the nearby vicinity.”
Trifon Prospect
The prospectus said that the proposed wells were expected to cost approximately $1 million each. “However, due to the possibility of deeper drilling, multiple tests and cutting of a core in the target reservoir the projected budget has now increased to approximately $1.2 million each,” the document told shareholders.
Lakes Oil has committed to two new wells in the Gippsland Basin to be drilled in 2001 seeking commercial onshore gas fields.
Lakes Oil is also seeking a major company to join it as a joint venture partner in the drilling program.
ing new phase as the understanding of the geology of the pre-LaTrobe, Strzelecki Formation now becomes clearer.
Mr Annells said even a small gas field could become commercially viable in the North Seaspray area as two major gas transmission pipeline crossed the permit area in which the wells would be located, making any gas find cheap to develop.
“Following acquisition of virtually the entire onshore portion of the Basin in 1999, Lakes has undertaken an active 2000 year exploration program.”
“Preliminary discussions have taken place with several major companies to ascertain whether they are interested in participating in the wells by sharing the costs,” he added. Discussions are continuing and no decision has yet been made as to the percentage interests which may be available or indeed if a farm-out will eventually take place at all.”
Alluvial fans The new structures to be drill tested by Lakes Oil are believed to be the remains of large alluvial fans located at a depth of approximately 1,500 metres. “Should these fans contain hydrocarbons, they have the potential to be of major significance to Lakes and will represent a major breakthrough in energy supply for Victoria,” the prospectus said. A geological report on the Trifon and Gangell structures, prepared by Mulready Consulting Services Pty Ltd for Lakes Oil’s prospectus said, “Exploration within Lakes’ extensive Gippsland permits has entered a most interest-
A 31-kilometre seismic survey completed by Lakes near Yarram in Permit PEP158 helped define the new structures. “Lakes is now reviewing all the existing seismic within its Gippsland permits for the purpose of identifying Early Cretaceous age (Strzelecki Formation) and Late Cretaceous age (Golden Beach Formation) alluvial fans, formed as sediments which were originally shed from fault scarps. “These fans are similar in style to that of the Kipper Field, located in the offshore portion of the Basin,” the Mulready report said. The geological report said that one such fan was penetrated in the earlier North Seaspray 2 well (located 600 metres south of the North Seaspray-3 well), but found that the fan lacked a cross-fault seal and is believed to be water filled. “At least two other fans, (Gangell and Trifon prospects), have been identified in the vicinity. These are expected to have valid cross-fault or stratigraphic seal: as such they constitute viable exploration targets capable of hosting commercial size quantities of gas,” the report said. 11
“The Trifon prospect is interpreted as a detached fan, which overlies the lower portion of the fan intersected in North Seaspray 2,” the geological report found. “The trapping mechanism here is entirely stratigraphic. A flat event within the fan holds out the possibility of a direct indication of a gas/water interface within the fan. “Seismic reprocessing of 1985 lines is currently being undertaken to examine this possibility. Estimates range up to 70 bcf of recoverable gas for Trifon 1 should gas be present. “The Trifon 1 well is scheduled to follow Gangell 1 and has a programmed total depth of 1500 metres which may be deepened, depending on the results of Gangell 1. The top of the target fan is estimated to occur at 1421 metres.” The Lakes Oil prospectus added: “The gas shows already encountered within thin overlying Strzelecki Formation sands, (as at North Seaspray 1 and North Seaspray 3) illustrate the presence of migrating hydrocarbons within the Cretaceous sedimentary sequence, probably sourced by more deeply buried Strzelecki Formation sediments. “The major risk relates to reservoir quality, which is likely to vary throughout the permit areas depending on the source of sediments and the severity of contemporaneous volcanic activity.” F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Robert J. Annells Executive Chairman, Lakes Oil NL Level 11, 500 Collins Street, Melbourne Vic. 3000 Tel: (03) 9629 1566 Fax: (03) 9629 1624 e-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.lakesoil.com.au
REGULAR FEATURE
REGULAR FEATURE
Industry News BORAL SELLS STONE BUSINESS Boral Ltd’s Victorian-based dimension stone operations have been sold to the group’s management as part of a major asset sales program by the building products and energy group. Boral’s Melocco granite cutting operation is Victoria’s biggest dimension stone operator. The business operates a production site at Springvale and a stone cutting quarry at Deer Park. “The Melocco operations in Victoria are a good niche business but one which is better managed by an experienced small team,” Boral managing director Rod Pearse said. “I’m very pleased that the Victorian operations have been purchased by the management team in Victoria which has done a great job for Boral over the years.” Mr Pearse said the offer received from the management team was by far the best offer Boral had received for the business. The sale price was in line with the $8 million book value of the business.
CLEVER COUNTRY ALIVE IN VICTORIA The Federal Government has awarded $61 million to fund a total of 56 separate research and development projects in Victoria under the R&D Start Grants and Loans Program. Federal Industry, Science and Resources Minister, Senator Nick Minchin, said a total of 26 projects in the engineering and manufacturing sector, including several in the resources area, had received funding offers totalling $24m.
Eleven separate biological industries projects were offered $11m in funding while a further 19 information technology projects had been offered $26m. The Victorian allocation came from a total Industry R&D funding package of $177m which, in conjunction with industry contributions, totaled more than $400m in research support.
CLEAN SMELTING The promise of smelting iron direct from unprocessed ore or waste material is considered the ultimate challenge for the metals industry, with the promise of dramatically lower environmental emissions and hard waste. The lower costs, achieved by removing major parts of the smelting process, provide a significant economic incentive to smelters all around the world. Now Ausmelt Ltd, a small but growing metal smelting firm, and Swinburne University of Technology have combined to try and solve the direct smelting riddle.
Industry News VICTORIAN GAS SPREADING INTERSTATE Two new proposals for major interstate gas transmission pipelines could soon see Bass Strait or other Victorian gas reserves being delivered into both Tasmania and South Australia, as well as NSW and beyond. Deregulation of the national gas industry and the removal of barriers to the interstate trade in natural gas have already assisted the development of the Longford-to-Sydney Eastern Gas Pipeline, built by Duke Energy International. Now Duke Energy is investigating the construction of a new gas pipeline from Longford under Bass Strait to Bell Bay in Tasmania. The proposed pipeline would deliver natural gas to the Bell Bay power station and also to Hobart and surrounding regions. A feasibility study is currently underway.
deliveries into NSW via the pipeline as market opportunities become available. “BHP is also appreciative of the support given by the Victorian and NSW Governments to the project, particularly the latter for leading the development of third party access to pipelines in NSW,” he said. The pipeline will enable BHP to supply a number of important customers in NSW including Sithe Energies (Smithfield co-generation plant), BHP Steel and OneSteel sites including Newcastle and Port Kembla, and Tomago Aluminium. BHP also supplied gas to keep the Olympic Cauldron alight during the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sydney. BHP initiated the study for the eastern gas pipeline in partnership with Westcoast Energy in 1995. In December 1998, it sold its 50 per cent interest in the project to Duke Energy and signed a long-term gas transportation agreement enabling the delivery of Bass Strait gas to NSW.
The SA Government has also called for expressions of interest from companies interested in developing a major supply of gas into SA.
SHADOWS OF THE PAST IN BENDIGO STOCK EXCHANGE
Swinburne is working with Ausmelt’s ‘AusIron’ direct smelting process to try and achieve a greater understanding of the flow characteristics of the AusIron reactor.
Now that Victoria’s western region gas pipelines are linked to the state’s main gas grid at Geelong, interest is high in bolstering SA’s waning gas reserves from Victoria.
Small investors will get the chance to relive the days when dozens of small mining companies were hotly traded and dividends paid weekly during the gold rushes of the 1880’s.
The AusIron technology will be used at the proposed South Australian Steel and Energy project at Whyalla where a demonstration plant is in the final stages of construction.
More than 10 companies have expressed initial interest in developing the link to SA.
Two of the biggest stock exchanges in Australia operated in those heady days at Ballarat and Bendigo, but they closed when share trading moved to the capital cities under the umbrella of the Australian Stock Exchange. But now the Bendigo Stock Exchange has been granted approval to resume operations as a registered stock exchange following grants totalling $480,000 from the Commonwealth Government.
To optimise the design and operation of commercial plants, where more expensive feed materials are used, Ausmelt has commissioned Swinburne’s School of Engineering to examine flow in the reactor to maximise process efficiency.
Such a pipeline link may also help promote the development of BHP’s offshore Minerva gas field.
EASTERN GAS PIPELINE TO SUPPLY BHP CUSTOMERS
Ausmelt chose Swinburne’s modeling and process simulation research group, under the leadership of Professor Yos Morsi, for its expertise in flowfield modeling and diagnostics.
Bass Strait partners Esso and BHP have started delivering Bass Strait gas to New South Wales customers through Duke Energy’s newly completed Eastern Gas Pipeline.
The group will receive $180,000 from Ausmelt to provide computational fluid dynamics and physical cold modeling as well as provide assistance in the testwork in the pilot and demonstration plants.
NSW Premier Bob Carr opened the 795-km pipeline just before the start of the 2000 Olympics while a parallel ceremony was held in Melbourne attended by the Minister for Energy and Resources, Candy Broad, representing the premier, Steve Bracks.
Minerals and Petroleum staff volunteered their help at the Mining 2000 Conference and display at Melbourne’s Exhibition Centre in September.
12
The President of BHP Petroleum, Philip Aiken said he was delighted with the successful construction of the pipeline. “BHP and Esso have substantial reserves of gas in Bass Strait and both companies look forward to increasing gas
Federal Industry Science and Resources Minister Senator Nick Minchin said: “ The BSX has been tailored to specifically meet the needs of small capitalisation companies. It will enable those companies to list their securities and more easily raise capital.” The Bendigo Stock Exchange will initially focus on potential listings from within the Victorian region and operate across a range of industry sectors. It is also aimed at providing a local, regulated investment framework for rural and regional communities helping to stem the flow of funds out of country areas. The exchange expects to have its first company listings by early 2001.
EXPLORATION SPENDING RISES IN VICTORIA Victoria has maintained its share of Australia’s national spending on mineral and petroleum exploration at around 5.5 per cent of the total national exploration budget. Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that exploration spending in Victoria in the June quarter rose to $10 million, up from $6.7 million in the previous June quarter. But exploration across Australia rose in the same period. The June quarter spend of $10 million was up from $7.5 million spent in the March quarter and brought the total exploration expenditure in Victoria in the financial year to $33.8 million. That level was down from the previous year in which companies spent $37 million, although the rise of Internet and related companies made life difficult for exploration companies which struggled to raise equity for new projects. Exploration in Victoria has soared in the 1990’s largely due to the VIMP program, which stimulated a rush to peg ground which had been surveyed by the airborne gravity and magnetic surveys as part of the initiative. Victorian exploration spending also has been stimulated by the discovery of potentially commercial mineral sand deposits in the Murray Basin and by major spending on the Bendigo gold project.
Duke Energy chief executive, Bruce Williamson (left) and Eastern Gas Pipeline construction general manager, Mark Landseidel, turn the valve to open the flow of gas from Gippsland to Sydney at the Horsley park meter station. Gippsland gas was used in the cauldron at the Sydney Olympic Games.
in the first round of Access Arrangements and the outcome of the recently announced Productivity Commission review of Part IIIA of the Trade Practices Act 1974 and Clause 6 of the Competition Principles Agreement. Senator Minchin said the inclusion of the Eastern Gas Pipeline in the Access Code followed a recommendation by the National Competition Council and was part of the drive to create a competitive national gas market. The third party access code is designed to provide a benchmark in the terms and conditions of access to gas pipelines during commercial negotiations, increasing transparency and certainty in pricing in the gas market.
NATIONAL ACCESS CODE FOR GAS PIPELINES UNDER REVIEW
The $450 million Eastern Gas Pipeline, built by Duke Energy, brings that company’s total gas pipeline assets in Australia to more than $A1.5 billion.
Gas pipeline industry concerns over recent regulatory decisions has sparked a review of the national third party access code for gas pipeline systems. The review was announced in response to infrastructure industry concerns over the impact of recent regulatory decisions on future investment in natural gas pipelines.
Senator Minchin said the pipeline had “the potential to be the most significant infrastructure project in the eastern Australian energy market in many years”.
The newly completed Eastern Gas Pipeline, from Longford to Sydney, has recently been included in the list of gas pipelines which would fall under the coverage of the national third party access code
Hazelwood Power won the major national award for large companies at the Australian Minerals and Energy Environment Foundation (AMEEF) Environmental Excellence Awards in Melbourne last month.
Federal Treasurer, Peter Costello and Industry, Science and Resources Minister, Nick Minchin, said the review of the code would be appropriate following the recent completion of the regulators’ final decisions
The award is for excellence in environmental management in relation to a specific project or program. Hazelwood received the award for the overall environmental management in its mine and power station.
13
ENVIRONMENTAL WINNER
REGULAR FEATURE
REGULAR FEATURE
Industry News BORAL SELLS STONE BUSINESS Boral Ltd’s Victorian-based dimension stone operations have been sold to the group’s management as part of a major asset sales program by the building products and energy group. Boral’s Melocco granite cutting operation is Victoria’s biggest dimension stone operator. The business operates a production site at Springvale and a stone cutting quarry at Deer Park. “The Melocco operations in Victoria are a good niche business but one which is better managed by an experienced small team,” Boral managing director Rod Pearse said. “I’m very pleased that the Victorian operations have been purchased by the management team in Victoria which has done a great job for Boral over the years.” Mr Pearse said the offer received from the management team was by far the best offer Boral had received for the business. The sale price was in line with the $8 million book value of the business.
CLEVER COUNTRY ALIVE IN VICTORIA The Federal Government has awarded $61 million to fund a total of 56 separate research and development projects in Victoria under the R&D Start Grants and Loans Program. Federal Industry, Science and Resources Minister, Senator Nick Minchin, said a total of 26 projects in the engineering and manufacturing sector, including several in the resources area, had received funding offers totalling $24m.
Eleven separate biological industries projects were offered $11m in funding while a further 19 information technology projects had been offered $26m. The Victorian allocation came from a total Industry R&D funding package of $177m which, in conjunction with industry contributions, totaled more than $400m in research support.
CLEAN SMELTING The promise of smelting iron direct from unprocessed ore or waste material is considered the ultimate challenge for the metals industry, with the promise of dramatically lower environmental emissions and hard waste. The lower costs, achieved by removing major parts of the smelting process, provide a significant economic incentive to smelters all around the world. Now Ausmelt Ltd, a small but growing metal smelting firm, and Swinburne University of Technology have combined to try and solve the direct smelting riddle.
Industry News VICTORIAN GAS SPREADING INTERSTATE Two new proposals for major interstate gas transmission pipelines could soon see Bass Strait or other Victorian gas reserves being delivered into both Tasmania and South Australia, as well as NSW and beyond. Deregulation of the national gas industry and the removal of barriers to the interstate trade in natural gas have already assisted the development of the Longford-to-Sydney Eastern Gas Pipeline, built by Duke Energy International. Now Duke Energy is investigating the construction of a new gas pipeline from Longford under Bass Strait to Bell Bay in Tasmania. The proposed pipeline would deliver natural gas to the Bell Bay power station and also to Hobart and surrounding regions. A feasibility study is currently underway.
deliveries into NSW via the pipeline as market opportunities become available. “BHP is also appreciative of the support given by the Victorian and NSW Governments to the project, particularly the latter for leading the development of third party access to pipelines in NSW,” he said. The pipeline will enable BHP to supply a number of important customers in NSW including Sithe Energies (Smithfield co-generation plant), BHP Steel and OneSteel sites including Newcastle and Port Kembla, and Tomago Aluminium. BHP also supplied gas to keep the Olympic Cauldron alight during the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sydney. BHP initiated the study for the eastern gas pipeline in partnership with Westcoast Energy in 1995. In December 1998, it sold its 50 per cent interest in the project to Duke Energy and signed a long-term gas transportation agreement enabling the delivery of Bass Strait gas to NSW.
The SA Government has also called for expressions of interest from companies interested in developing a major supply of gas into SA.
SHADOWS OF THE PAST IN BENDIGO STOCK EXCHANGE
Swinburne is working with Ausmelt’s ‘AusIron’ direct smelting process to try and achieve a greater understanding of the flow characteristics of the AusIron reactor.
Now that Victoria’s western region gas pipelines are linked to the state’s main gas grid at Geelong, interest is high in bolstering SA’s waning gas reserves from Victoria.
Small investors will get the chance to relive the days when dozens of small mining companies were hotly traded and dividends paid weekly during the gold rushes of the 1880’s.
The AusIron technology will be used at the proposed South Australian Steel and Energy project at Whyalla where a demonstration plant is in the final stages of construction.
More than 10 companies have expressed initial interest in developing the link to SA.
Two of the biggest stock exchanges in Australia operated in those heady days at Ballarat and Bendigo, but they closed when share trading moved to the capital cities under the umbrella of the Australian Stock Exchange. But now the Bendigo Stock Exchange has been granted approval to resume operations as a registered stock exchange following grants totalling $480,000 from the Commonwealth Government.
To optimise the design and operation of commercial plants, where more expensive feed materials are used, Ausmelt has commissioned Swinburne’s School of Engineering to examine flow in the reactor to maximise process efficiency.
Such a pipeline link may also help promote the development of BHP’s offshore Minerva gas field.
EASTERN GAS PIPELINE TO SUPPLY BHP CUSTOMERS
Ausmelt chose Swinburne’s modeling and process simulation research group, under the leadership of Professor Yos Morsi, for its expertise in flowfield modeling and diagnostics.
Bass Strait partners Esso and BHP have started delivering Bass Strait gas to New South Wales customers through Duke Energy’s newly completed Eastern Gas Pipeline.
The group will receive $180,000 from Ausmelt to provide computational fluid dynamics and physical cold modeling as well as provide assistance in the testwork in the pilot and demonstration plants.
NSW Premier Bob Carr opened the 795-km pipeline just before the start of the 2000 Olympics while a parallel ceremony was held in Melbourne attended by the Minister for Energy and Resources, Candy Broad, representing the premier, Steve Bracks.
Minerals and Petroleum staff volunteered their help at the Mining 2000 Conference and display at Melbourne’s Exhibition Centre in September.
12
The President of BHP Petroleum, Philip Aiken said he was delighted with the successful construction of the pipeline. “BHP and Esso have substantial reserves of gas in Bass Strait and both companies look forward to increasing gas
Federal Industry Science and Resources Minister Senator Nick Minchin said: “ The BSX has been tailored to specifically meet the needs of small capitalisation companies. It will enable those companies to list their securities and more easily raise capital.” The Bendigo Stock Exchange will initially focus on potential listings from within the Victorian region and operate across a range of industry sectors. It is also aimed at providing a local, regulated investment framework for rural and regional communities helping to stem the flow of funds out of country areas. The exchange expects to have its first company listings by early 2001.
EXPLORATION SPENDING RISES IN VICTORIA Victoria has maintained its share of Australia’s national spending on mineral and petroleum exploration at around 5.5 per cent of the total national exploration budget. Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that exploration spending in Victoria in the June quarter rose to $10 million, up from $6.7 million in the previous June quarter. But exploration across Australia rose in the same period. The June quarter spend of $10 million was up from $7.5 million spent in the March quarter and brought the total exploration expenditure in Victoria in the financial year to $33.8 million. That level was down from the previous year in which companies spent $37 million, although the rise of Internet and related companies made life difficult for exploration companies which struggled to raise equity for new projects. Exploration in Victoria has soared in the 1990’s largely due to the VIMP program, which stimulated a rush to peg ground which had been surveyed by the airborne gravity and magnetic surveys as part of the initiative. Victorian exploration spending also has been stimulated by the discovery of potentially commercial mineral sand deposits in the Murray Basin and by major spending on the Bendigo gold project.
Duke Energy chief executive, Bruce Williamson (left) and Eastern Gas Pipeline construction general manager, Mark Landseidel, turn the valve to open the flow of gas from Gippsland to Sydney at the Horsley park meter station. Gippsland gas was used in the cauldron at the Sydney Olympic Games.
in the first round of Access Arrangements and the outcome of the recently announced Productivity Commission review of Part IIIA of the Trade Practices Act 1974 and Clause 6 of the Competition Principles Agreement. Senator Minchin said the inclusion of the Eastern Gas Pipeline in the Access Code followed a recommendation by the National Competition Council and was part of the drive to create a competitive national gas market. The third party access code is designed to provide a benchmark in the terms and conditions of access to gas pipelines during commercial negotiations, increasing transparency and certainty in pricing in the gas market.
NATIONAL ACCESS CODE FOR GAS PIPELINES UNDER REVIEW
The $450 million Eastern Gas Pipeline, built by Duke Energy, brings that company’s total gas pipeline assets in Australia to more than $A1.5 billion.
Gas pipeline industry concerns over recent regulatory decisions has sparked a review of the national third party access code for gas pipeline systems. The review was announced in response to infrastructure industry concerns over the impact of recent regulatory decisions on future investment in natural gas pipelines.
Senator Minchin said the pipeline had “the potential to be the most significant infrastructure project in the eastern Australian energy market in many years”.
The newly completed Eastern Gas Pipeline, from Longford to Sydney, has recently been included in the list of gas pipelines which would fall under the coverage of the national third party access code
Hazelwood Power won the major national award for large companies at the Australian Minerals and Energy Environment Foundation (AMEEF) Environmental Excellence Awards in Melbourne last month.
Federal Treasurer, Peter Costello and Industry, Science and Resources Minister, Nick Minchin, said the review of the code would be appropriate following the recent completion of the regulators’ final decisions
The award is for excellence in environmental management in relation to a specific project or program. Hazelwood received the award for the overall environmental management in its mine and power station.
13
ENVIRONMENTAL WINNER
REGULAR FEATURE
REGULAR FEATURE
Victoria’s mineral, oil and gas resources
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15
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REGULAR FEATURE
Victoria’s mineral, oil and gas resources
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15
LICENCE REVIEW
SPECIAL FEATURE
Mineral Licences
Benambra to resume mining
July to September 2000 EXPLORATION LICENCES GRANTED
TITLE NO.
STATUS
EVENT
MAP
PRIMARY OWNER
EVENT DATE
EXPIRY DATE
EL4459 EL4074 EL4314 EL4496 EL4497 EL4507
CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT
GRANT GRANT GRANT GRANT GRANT GRANT
CASTLEMAINE DANYO MILDURA ARARAT ARARAT BACCHUS MARSH
PICKENS ENTERPRISES PTY LTD ILUKA MIDWEST LIMITED STEINER HOLDINGS PTY LTD MR PHILIP G ROSENGREN MR PHILIP G ROSENGREN EASTERN ENERGY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
07/07/2000 12/07/2000 14/08/2000 22/08/2000 23/08/2000 04/09/2000
07/07/2002 12/07/2002 14/08/2002 22/08/2002 23/08/2002 04/09/2002
TITLE NO.
STATUS
MAP
PRIMARY OWNER
EVENT DATE
EXPIRY DATE
EL3927 EL4442 EL4444 EL4336 EL3958 EL3954 EL3173 EL3882 EL3844 EL4017 EL4420
EXPIRED SURR SURR SURR SURR SURR EXPIRED SURR SURR SURR SURR
BENDIGO NOWINGI NOWINGI MATLOCK NYAH ST ARNAUD CASTLEMAINE BENDIGO BENDIGO BALLARAT KERANG
BENDIGO EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES PTY LTD ILUKA RESOURCES LIMITED ILUKA RESOURCES LIMITED AUSTMINEX NL MURRAY BASIN TITANIUM PTY LTD SEDIMENTARY HOLDINGS NL FORTUNA NL DATAFAST COMMUNICATIONS LTD METEX RESOURCES NL DAVNET LIMITED NORTHERN PROPERTY DEVELOPERS PTY LTD
02/07/2000 13/07/2000 13/07/2000 14/08/2000 24/08/2000 24/08/2000 28/08/2000 04/09/2000 05/09/2000 12/09/2000 14/09/2000
02/07/2000 13/07/2000 13/07/2000 14/08/2000 24/08/2000 24/08/2000 28/08/2000 04/09/2000 05/09/2000 12/09/2000 14/09/2000
TITLE NO.
STATUS
EVENT
MAP
PRIMARY OWNER
EVENT DATE
EXPIRY DATE
MIN5304
CURRENT
GRANT
MOE
YALLOURN ENERGY PTY LTD
12/07/2000
12/07/2020
TITLE NO.
STATUS
EVENT DATE
EXPIRY DATE
MIN4715 MIN4925 MIN5103 MIN5089 MIN4700 ABBREVIATIONS:
SURR ST ARNAUD SEDIMENTARY HOLDINGS NL EXPIRED NHILL CHRISTOPHER WILKSCH SURR CRESWICK PHILLIP GOLDING SURR CRESWICK PHILLIP GOLDING SURR BACCHUS MARSH RMA CORPORATION PTY LTD SURR - SURRENDERED, CANC - CANCELLATION CAN/AM - CANCELLED/AMALGAMATED
06/07/2000 19/07/2000 24/07/2000 24/07/2000 14/09/2000
06/07/2000 19/07/2000 24/07/2000 24/07/2000 14/09/2000
EXPLORATION LICENCES SURRENDERED, CANCELLED OR EXPIRED
MINING LICENCES GRANTED
MINING LICENCES SURRENDERED, CANCELLED OR EXPIRED MAP
PRIMARY OWNER
the WORLD is yours
You’ll find a world of information on Victorian mining, geology and petroleum in the Department of Natural Resources’ Minerals and Petroleum Reference Centre. Although focussed to serve members of the mining industry, the MPRC is open to the public from 8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. It is conveniently located next to the Minerals Business Centre.
T
he Benambra base-metal project in north-east Victoria is set to resume operations, but with zinc, not copper, as the mine’s principal focus in its second life as Victoria’s major base metal mine. The newly-listed company, Austminex NL, has acquired an option over the mine and raised $8 million from the sharemarket to conduct a detailed feasibility study into resuming operations at the mine which previously operated between 1992 and July 1996. Led by a group of Australia’s most experienced mining engineers, geologists and financiers, Austminex represents one of the strongest new entrants to the Victorian mining industry for many years. Kevin Tomlinson, who was previously exploration manager for Plutonic Resources, one of Australia’s leading gold producers, heads the company. The chairman is former Ashton Mining chief executive, John Robinson and board members include Mike Eager, former chief executive of Aberfoyle Ltd, Peter Vanderspuy, former chief executive of Delta Gold NL and Bruce Paterson, former company secretary of Newcrest Ltd.
New life is about be kindled at the Benambra base metals project where Austminex NL has plans to resume mining for zinc and copper. The mine is located in the mountainous region near the Victorian-NSW border.
Also on the board is former Delta Gold exploration geologist and resources analyst, Alan Martin.
tion of 703,100 tonnes of ore, when mining moved into the zinc rich Wilga lens.
Located 300 km northeast of Melbourne, the Benambra project includes both the Wilga and Currawong copper and zinc deposits.
The concentrator was expanded to a capacity of 300,000 tonnes a year but falling basemetal prices and financial problems within Denehurst, which is now in administration, forced the mine to close in July 1996, leaving most of the Wilga zinc lens unmined.
The initial Wilga mine development was
The option acquired by Austminex covers granted and pending tenements extending over an area of approximately 580 square kilometres and includes several base and precious metal anomalies which require additional exploration.
special collections include: • Expired tenement reports on microfiche (and hard copy) • 5000+ Geological Survey of Victoria Unpublished Reports • Departmental publications (old Mines Department records and reports dating from 1851) • Victorian published geological maps, both current and historical • Underground mine plans on microfiche • 1600+ B&W historical Victorian mining photographs The MPRC is now located with the Minerals Business Centre on the 8th floor, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, 240 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne. Phone: (03) 9412 5145. Fax: (03) 9412 5157. E-mail:[email protected]
16
Other assets included in the option agreement include granted mining tenements covering the Wilga mine, the Currawong deposit and other known prospects in the district. based on a high-grade copper reserve of 710,000 tonnes of ore grading 8.6% copper and 2.9% zinc.
November, 1992, with capacity to process 200,000 tonnes of ore a year to produce 70,000 tonnes of copper concentrate.
Denehurst Ltd originally developed the mine and its existing facilities constructing the concentrator, which began production in
Zinc was not recovered until 1994 when a flotation circuit was added. Mining of the copper zone ended in late 1995 after the produc17
Exploration licence applications over 430 square kilometres are pending grant and cover most of the prospective Limestone Creek Graben. Equipment and infrastructure at the mine site includes the concentrator, concentrate load-
LICENCE REVIEW
SPECIAL FEATURE
Mineral Licences
Benambra to resume mining
July to September 2000 EXPLORATION LICENCES GRANTED
TITLE NO.
STATUS
EVENT
MAP
PRIMARY OWNER
EVENT DATE
EXPIRY DATE
EL4459 EL4074 EL4314 EL4496 EL4497 EL4507
CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT
GRANT GRANT GRANT GRANT GRANT GRANT
CASTLEMAINE DANYO MILDURA ARARAT ARARAT BACCHUS MARSH
PICKENS ENTERPRISES PTY LTD ILUKA MIDWEST LIMITED STEINER HOLDINGS PTY LTD MR PHILIP G ROSENGREN MR PHILIP G ROSENGREN EASTERN ENERGY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
07/07/2000 12/07/2000 14/08/2000 22/08/2000 23/08/2000 04/09/2000
07/07/2002 12/07/2002 14/08/2002 22/08/2002 23/08/2002 04/09/2002
TITLE NO.
STATUS
MAP
PRIMARY OWNER
EVENT DATE
EXPIRY DATE
EL3927 EL4442 EL4444 EL4336 EL3958 EL3954 EL3173 EL3882 EL3844 EL4017 EL4420
EXPIRED SURR SURR SURR SURR SURR EXPIRED SURR SURR SURR SURR
BENDIGO NOWINGI NOWINGI MATLOCK NYAH ST ARNAUD CASTLEMAINE BENDIGO BENDIGO BALLARAT KERANG
BENDIGO EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES PTY LTD ILUKA RESOURCES LIMITED ILUKA RESOURCES LIMITED AUSTMINEX NL MURRAY BASIN TITANIUM PTY LTD SEDIMENTARY HOLDINGS NL FORTUNA NL DATAFAST COMMUNICATIONS LTD METEX RESOURCES NL DAVNET LIMITED NORTHERN PROPERTY DEVELOPERS PTY LTD
02/07/2000 13/07/2000 13/07/2000 14/08/2000 24/08/2000 24/08/2000 28/08/2000 04/09/2000 05/09/2000 12/09/2000 14/09/2000
02/07/2000 13/07/2000 13/07/2000 14/08/2000 24/08/2000 24/08/2000 28/08/2000 04/09/2000 05/09/2000 12/09/2000 14/09/2000
TITLE NO.
STATUS
EVENT
MAP
PRIMARY OWNER
EVENT DATE
EXPIRY DATE
MIN5304
CURRENT
GRANT
MOE
YALLOURN ENERGY PTY LTD
12/07/2000
12/07/2020
TITLE NO.
STATUS
EVENT DATE
EXPIRY DATE
MIN4715 MIN4925 MIN5103 MIN5089 MIN4700 ABBREVIATIONS:
SURR ST ARNAUD SEDIMENTARY HOLDINGS NL EXPIRED NHILL CHRISTOPHER WILKSCH SURR CRESWICK PHILLIP GOLDING SURR CRESWICK PHILLIP GOLDING SURR BACCHUS MARSH RMA CORPORATION PTY LTD SURR - SURRENDERED, CANC - CANCELLATION CAN/AM - CANCELLED/AMALGAMATED
06/07/2000 19/07/2000 24/07/2000 24/07/2000 14/09/2000
06/07/2000 19/07/2000 24/07/2000 24/07/2000 14/09/2000
EXPLORATION LICENCES SURRENDERED, CANCELLED OR EXPIRED
MINING LICENCES GRANTED
MINING LICENCES SURRENDERED, CANCELLED OR EXPIRED MAP
PRIMARY OWNER
the WORLD is yours
You’ll find a world of information on Victorian mining, geology and petroleum in the Department of Natural Resources’ Minerals and Petroleum Reference Centre. Although focussed to serve members of the mining industry, the MPRC is open to the public from 8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. It is conveniently located next to the Minerals Business Centre.
T
he Benambra base-metal project in north-east Victoria is set to resume operations, but with zinc, not copper, as the mine’s principal focus in its second life as Victoria’s major base metal mine. The newly-listed company, Austminex NL, has acquired an option over the mine and raised $8 million from the sharemarket to conduct a detailed feasibility study into resuming operations at the mine which previously operated between 1992 and July 1996. Led by a group of Australia’s most experienced mining engineers, geologists and financiers, Austminex represents one of the strongest new entrants to the Victorian mining industry for many years. Kevin Tomlinson, who was previously exploration manager for Plutonic Resources, one of Australia’s leading gold producers, heads the company. The chairman is former Ashton Mining chief executive, John Robinson and board members include Mike Eager, former chief executive of Aberfoyle Ltd, Peter Vanderspuy, former chief executive of Delta Gold NL and Bruce Paterson, former company secretary of Newcrest Ltd.
New life is about be kindled at the Benambra base metals project where Austminex NL has plans to resume mining for zinc and copper. The mine is located in the mountainous region near the Victorian-NSW border.
Also on the board is former Delta Gold exploration geologist and resources analyst, Alan Martin.
tion of 703,100 tonnes of ore, when mining moved into the zinc rich Wilga lens.
Located 300 km northeast of Melbourne, the Benambra project includes both the Wilga and Currawong copper and zinc deposits.
The concentrator was expanded to a capacity of 300,000 tonnes a year but falling basemetal prices and financial problems within Denehurst, which is now in administration, forced the mine to close in July 1996, leaving most of the Wilga zinc lens unmined.
The initial Wilga mine development was
The option acquired by Austminex covers granted and pending tenements extending over an area of approximately 580 square kilometres and includes several base and precious metal anomalies which require additional exploration.
special collections include: • Expired tenement reports on microfiche (and hard copy) • 5000+ Geological Survey of Victoria Unpublished Reports • Departmental publications (old Mines Department records and reports dating from 1851) • Victorian published geological maps, both current and historical • Underground mine plans on microfiche • 1600+ B&W historical Victorian mining photographs The MPRC is now located with the Minerals Business Centre on the 8th floor, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, 240 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne. Phone: (03) 9412 5145. Fax: (03) 9412 5157. E-mail:[email protected]
16
Other assets included in the option agreement include granted mining tenements covering the Wilga mine, the Currawong deposit and other known prospects in the district. based on a high-grade copper reserve of 710,000 tonnes of ore grading 8.6% copper and 2.9% zinc.
November, 1992, with capacity to process 200,000 tonnes of ore a year to produce 70,000 tonnes of copper concentrate.
Denehurst Ltd originally developed the mine and its existing facilities constructing the concentrator, which began production in
Zinc was not recovered until 1994 when a flotation circuit was added. Mining of the copper zone ended in late 1995 after the produc17
Exploration licence applications over 430 square kilometres are pending grant and cover most of the prospective Limestone Creek Graben. Equipment and infrastructure at the mine site includes the concentrator, concentrate load-
SPECIAL FEATURE
SPECIAL FEATURE
Austminex NL’s plans to re-open the Benambra mine has excited major interest in the local area with a large number of locals joining the share register of the new company. Managing director, Kevin Tomlinson (right) and founding director Alan Martin have attracted a high calibre team to the project, which will resume mining in 2001.
That will involve study of the ground control in the mine, examining alternative mine methods, implement mine planning, resume mine development and start stoping operations.
tonnes lower than the peak stockpile in 1994.
Before resuming mining, it will be essential for Austminex to finalise smelter off-take agreements and concentrate shipping arrangements.
The Benambra mineral tenements and exploration have a long history.
out facility and workshop, administration, warehouse, laboratory and employee amenities buildings.
Access to the Wilga mine was through a 5m x 6m decline, constructed at a gradient of one in seven, with access to the ore by crosscut declines every 15 metres.
As well, there is data in the form of reports, maps, digital data, drill core and production records which will prove useful in continuing the exploration and development work at the project.
Mining and development was by mechanised methods with ore loaded from stopes into trucks for haulage to an ore stockpile at surface where it was transferred to the run-ofmine (ROM) stockpile at the plant.
Geology
Ore from the ROM stockpile was crushed in three stages to minus 10 millimetres and then fed at approximately 30 tonnes an hour to a two-stage grinding circuit.
The Benambra tenements lie within a sequence of Middle to Upper Silurian felsic volcanics, tuffs and fine-grained sediments within the southern part of the Lachlan Fold belt, which, to the North in New South Wales, hosts a number of volcanic massive sulphide base-metal deposits.
A copper concentrate was produced with two stages of cleaning and copper tailings were reconditioned for zinc flotation.
The Wilga and Currawong base-metal deposits are located near the footwall of the Indi Fault and occur within a distinct horizon of strongly altered volcanics and sediments within a sequence of volcanic rocks typical of VMS deposits. Mineralisation within the Wilga deposit is localised within a single ore body that strikes northeast, dips at a low angle to the northwest and occurs at shallow depth of between 50 to 160m vertically below surface.
The Currawong deposit is located approximately 3.5 km northeast along strike from the Wilga deposit and comprises multiple sulphide lenses.
Zinc flotation tailings were pumped to the tailings dam and the separate copper and zinc concentrates were thickened and pressure filtered before being transported.
Overall, the Currawong deposit is much larger than Wilga, containing more copper and significantly higher precious metal grades than Wilga.
In keeping with modern environmental practices and the sensitive nature of the region in which the Wilga mine is located, Austminex has committed itself to the highest level of environmental and social care.
Benambra Re-development
The company said it is “committed to the integration of environmental, social and economic considerations into decision-making and management, consistent with achieving compatibility between economic development and the maintenance of the environment.
Austminex says the Benambra project offers an excellent chance to establish profitable zinc and copper production with cash flow from Wilga mine zinc production expected to fund the development of the Currawong deposit and mine-area exploration.
The deposit is 470m along strike, 350m down dip and has an average true thickness of 37 metres. A discrete copper-rich zone was identified within the sulphide lens and formed the basis of the initial mining at Wilga, while the remaining mineralisation comprises predominantly zinc-rich massive sulphide ore with lower grade copper and silver content.
The combination of favorable economic conditions, and the scope for improved metallurgical operations, provides an opportunity to add significant value to the re-development of the Benambra Project. Austminex said that the key steps in the Benambra project re-development include: o Drilling of the Wilga zinc lens to obtain metallurgical samples for testing, with surface drilling being a more cost-effective proposition than re-opening the mine portal and underground drilling. o Austminex will also develop a new process flowsheet for zinc ore treatment through metallurgical testwork to maximise metal recovery and then to complete a mine re-opening study. If that process finds the re-opening of the project viable, Austminex must then refurbish and update the Benambra ore treatment plant to process the zinc ore before re-opening the Wilga mine portal and re-establish mine services. 18
Copper stocks on the LME have also declined, allowing the price to move higher, close to its ten-year average level.
The area was first explored for gold by pioneers over a hundred years ago with numerous small claims worked in the general area. The area was first sampled in modern history in 1967 by Australian Geophysical Pty Ltd, which identified base metal anomalies in the area. In the early 1970’s, WMC Ltd, which was active across Victoria and principally in the Bendigo region, applied for the Benambra license areas specifically looking for volcanic massive sulphide type deposits. WMC and BP Australia, which was then an active mineral explorer and WMC’s partner in the massive Olympic Dam project in South Australia, formed an exploration joint venture and subsequently found the Wilga deposit in April, 1978.
Below: The mill is being refurbished after a long period on care and maintenance. Above: Exploration drilling at the Wilga prospect.
per cent zinc as well as 1.19 grams per tonne of gold had been defined within seven separate lenses of mineralisation. The orebody estimate produced in 1990 by Denehurst complied with the prevailing
“As a fundamental policy, the company is committed to conducting its business responsibly and in a manner that is designed to protect its employees, the community’s health and the environment.” The economic environment for the mine’s reopening over the next few months is a significant improvement over the period when the project was forced to close its doors in mid-1996. The average global zinc price over the first half of the current year has exceeded $A1,850 a tonne, more than $A500 a tonne higher than when the mine closed. While the zinc price has clearly been assisted by the weaker Australian dollar, the market fundamentals have improved substantially. Stocks of zinc metal held in London Metal Exchange warehouses have dropped by more than 50,000 tonnes to about 230,000 tonnes at the end of June and have continued to fall in the latter part of the year. That level represents only 40 per cent of the LME stocks held in 1996 and is one million
That was followed by the discovery of Currawong in March 1979. In 1985, the mining contracting company, Roche Bros, acquired the leases and later floated Macquarie Resources Ltd to conduct a feasibility study and seek a mining lease. In 1991, Macquarie formed a joint venture with Denehurst which became the project operator and mining started in 1992. The Currawong resources represent the largest known resources in the Benambra district. The Austminex prospectus revealed that a global resource estimate compiled by Denehurst suggests that a total of 9.49 million tonnes grading 1.85 per cent copper and 3.86 19
guidelines for reporting orebodies but the Austminex directors noted in the prospectus that subsequent changes to the reporting standards might have altered the resource size. The company plans to recalculate the resource in accordance with the current JORC code for reporting orebodies. F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Kevin Tomlinson, managing director Austminex NL Tel: (03) 9620 4486 Fax (03) 9620 2147 www.austminex.com.au
SPECIAL FEATURE
SPECIAL FEATURE
Austminex NL’s plans to re-open the Benambra mine has excited major interest in the local area with a large number of locals joining the share register of the new company. Managing director, Kevin Tomlinson (right) and founding director Alan Martin have attracted a high calibre team to the project, which will resume mining in 2001.
That will involve study of the ground control in the mine, examining alternative mine methods, implement mine planning, resume mine development and start stoping operations.
tonnes lower than the peak stockpile in 1994.
Before resuming mining, it will be essential for Austminex to finalise smelter off-take agreements and concentrate shipping arrangements.
The Benambra mineral tenements and exploration have a long history.
out facility and workshop, administration, warehouse, laboratory and employee amenities buildings.
Access to the Wilga mine was through a 5m x 6m decline, constructed at a gradient of one in seven, with access to the ore by crosscut declines every 15 metres.
As well, there is data in the form of reports, maps, digital data, drill core and production records which will prove useful in continuing the exploration and development work at the project.
Mining and development was by mechanised methods with ore loaded from stopes into trucks for haulage to an ore stockpile at surface where it was transferred to the run-ofmine (ROM) stockpile at the plant.
Geology
Ore from the ROM stockpile was crushed in three stages to minus 10 millimetres and then fed at approximately 30 tonnes an hour to a two-stage grinding circuit.
The Benambra tenements lie within a sequence of Middle to Upper Silurian felsic volcanics, tuffs and fine-grained sediments within the southern part of the Lachlan Fold belt, which, to the North in New South Wales, hosts a number of volcanic massive sulphide base-metal deposits.
A copper concentrate was produced with two stages of cleaning and copper tailings were reconditioned for zinc flotation.
The Wilga and Currawong base-metal deposits are located near the footwall of the Indi Fault and occur within a distinct horizon of strongly altered volcanics and sediments within a sequence of volcanic rocks typical of VMS deposits. Mineralisation within the Wilga deposit is localised within a single ore body that strikes northeast, dips at a low angle to the northwest and occurs at shallow depth of between 50 to 160m vertically below surface.
The Currawong deposit is located approximately 3.5 km northeast along strike from the Wilga deposit and comprises multiple sulphide lenses.
Zinc flotation tailings were pumped to the tailings dam and the separate copper and zinc concentrates were thickened and pressure filtered before being transported.
Overall, the Currawong deposit is much larger than Wilga, containing more copper and significantly higher precious metal grades than Wilga.
In keeping with modern environmental practices and the sensitive nature of the region in which the Wilga mine is located, Austminex has committed itself to the highest level of environmental and social care.
Benambra Re-development
The company said it is “committed to the integration of environmental, social and economic considerations into decision-making and management, consistent with achieving compatibility between economic development and the maintenance of the environment.
Austminex says the Benambra project offers an excellent chance to establish profitable zinc and copper production with cash flow from Wilga mine zinc production expected to fund the development of the Currawong deposit and mine-area exploration.
The deposit is 470m along strike, 350m down dip and has an average true thickness of 37 metres. A discrete copper-rich zone was identified within the sulphide lens and formed the basis of the initial mining at Wilga, while the remaining mineralisation comprises predominantly zinc-rich massive sulphide ore with lower grade copper and silver content.
The combination of favorable economic conditions, and the scope for improved metallurgical operations, provides an opportunity to add significant value to the re-development of the Benambra Project. Austminex said that the key steps in the Benambra project re-development include: o Drilling of the Wilga zinc lens to obtain metallurgical samples for testing, with surface drilling being a more cost-effective proposition than re-opening the mine portal and underground drilling. o Austminex will also develop a new process flowsheet for zinc ore treatment through metallurgical testwork to maximise metal recovery and then to complete a mine re-opening study. If that process finds the re-opening of the project viable, Austminex must then refurbish and update the Benambra ore treatment plant to process the zinc ore before re-opening the Wilga mine portal and re-establish mine services. 18
Copper stocks on the LME have also declined, allowing the price to move higher, close to its ten-year average level.
The area was first explored for gold by pioneers over a hundred years ago with numerous small claims worked in the general area. The area was first sampled in modern history in 1967 by Australian Geophysical Pty Ltd, which identified base metal anomalies in the area. In the early 1970’s, WMC Ltd, which was active across Victoria and principally in the Bendigo region, applied for the Benambra license areas specifically looking for volcanic massive sulphide type deposits. WMC and BP Australia, which was then an active mineral explorer and WMC’s partner in the massive Olympic Dam project in South Australia, formed an exploration joint venture and subsequently found the Wilga deposit in April, 1978.
Below: The mill is being refurbished after a long period on care and maintenance. Above: Exploration drilling at the Wilga prospect.
per cent zinc as well as 1.19 grams per tonne of gold had been defined within seven separate lenses of mineralisation. The orebody estimate produced in 1990 by Denehurst complied with the prevailing
“As a fundamental policy, the company is committed to conducting its business responsibly and in a manner that is designed to protect its employees, the community’s health and the environment.” The economic environment for the mine’s reopening over the next few months is a significant improvement over the period when the project was forced to close its doors in mid-1996. The average global zinc price over the first half of the current year has exceeded $A1,850 a tonne, more than $A500 a tonne higher than when the mine closed. While the zinc price has clearly been assisted by the weaker Australian dollar, the market fundamentals have improved substantially. Stocks of zinc metal held in London Metal Exchange warehouses have dropped by more than 50,000 tonnes to about 230,000 tonnes at the end of June and have continued to fall in the latter part of the year. That level represents only 40 per cent of the LME stocks held in 1996 and is one million
That was followed by the discovery of Currawong in March 1979. In 1985, the mining contracting company, Roche Bros, acquired the leases and later floated Macquarie Resources Ltd to conduct a feasibility study and seek a mining lease. In 1991, Macquarie formed a joint venture with Denehurst which became the project operator and mining started in 1992. The Currawong resources represent the largest known resources in the Benambra district. The Austminex prospectus revealed that a global resource estimate compiled by Denehurst suggests that a total of 9.49 million tonnes grading 1.85 per cent copper and 3.86 19
guidelines for reporting orebodies but the Austminex directors noted in the prospectus that subsequent changes to the reporting standards might have altered the resource size. The company plans to recalculate the resource in accordance with the current JORC code for reporting orebodies. F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Kevin Tomlinson, managing director Austminex NL Tel: (03) 9620 4486 Fax (03) 9620 2147 www.austminex.com.au
MINERAL SANDS
MINERAL SANDS
Early startup likely for Douglas
Two of the blocks - Numbers 1 and 2 - cover the WIM 150 and WIM 100 fine-grained mineral sands deposits near Horsham, discovered in the 1980’s by Rio Tinto, but which could not be made commercial despite intensive efforts to improve mineral recovery from the massive resource. Iluka recently relinquished the remainder of the blocks as part of a program to stimulate exploration in the basin.
T
Basin Minerals won the tender for Block 2 (the WIM 100 area) which formed an attractive extension to its existing, highly successful exploration efforts to the north and south of the block.
The Murray Basin is attracting growing local and international interest for its mineral sands potential. Basin Minerals has already identified a major titanium mineral deposit which could form the base for Victoria’s second mineral sands development.
he Douglas mineral sands project in northwest Victoria could be in production by 2004 if a final feasibility study confirms that the project is commercially viable. Basin Minerals Ltd, owner of the Douglas project and a number of other potential mineral sands prospects in the region, recently completed a pre-feasibility study in conjunction with Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd and MD Technologies which showed the project has significant commercial merit.
across strike besides inclusion of an as yet classification of the resource at Chetwynd,” Dr Farrell said. Basin Minerals has now started a bankable final feasibility study with the aim of starting mine site development and construction in 2003 and commissioning mining and treatment operations in early 2004. That would grab a potential advantage offered by market opportunities that supply shortfalls of titanium and zircon are expected to create. A two phase, 60,000 metre, resource definition drilling program has already started on two deposits, to outline sufficient resources to support a 20 year mine life. Once complete in the first half of 2001, trial mining and processing through a pilot plant will occur to finalise a metallurgical processing flowsheet. “Market analysis shows that over the past 20 years the world demand for titanium minerals and feedstocks has grown at a steady rate of 3% per annum, which is a reflection of growth of western economies GDP,” Dr Farrell said.
A review of the pre-feasibility study by a panel of mining industry peer groups concluded that the Douglas project: • Has a current resource base of 20.8 million tonnes which is significant by world standards and has the potential to initiate titanium and zircon mineral downstream processing. • Strandline resources have high grades of ilmenite, rutile and zircon minerals with excellent physical and chemical characteristics at or near surface and that mining and metallurgical problems can be readily overcome using proven technology.
a substantial increase over earlier estimates of 12.7 million tonnes. In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange during September, Basin’s chairman, Dr Brad Farrell, said that the Douglas project was now “a major mineral sands field of global significance,” The company said the inferred resource for the project area contains 11.31 million tonnes of ilmenite, including leucoxene, 1.26 million tonnes of rutile and 1.62 million tonnes of zircon.
• Is close to good infrastructure and the export port of Portland, and importantly, is located in a politically stable environment compared with competing African projects.
Previously announced inferred resources for the Bondi, Bondi East and Echo strand line discoveries have also been upgraded, while the Acapulco strand lines, previously categorised as resources, have been converted to an inferred resource by infill drilling.
The resource base of 20.8 million tonnes of concentrate for the Douglas project represents
“There exists considerable potential in all deposits for additional resources along and 20
“This growth in demand is expected to continue in the foreseeable future due to the fact that the major product, white titanium dioxide pigment used in paints, plastics and paper, is not subject to recycling. “Market projections suggest that from year 2003/2204 there is likely to be a substantial shortfall of titanium feedstocks. This shortfall coincides with the projected start-up of mining of the Douglas project.” Meanwhile, two highly-prospective mineral sands exploration blocks have been awarded in the Murray Basin region following the calling of tenders for 14 separate permits previously held by both Rio Tinto Ltd and Iluka Resources. The tender call, announced last May, was designed to maintain the strong interest in the Murray Basin which has been generated by a string of discoveries of high grade, potentially economic, strandline deposits. The 14 blocks offered were in the Mallee and Wimmera regions.
EXAGGERATED 3D PERSPECTIVE OF PORTION OF DOUGLAS PROJECT AREA, LOOKING SOUTH-EAST
The coarse-grained strand line mineralisation within block 2 aligns with mineral sands resources and reserves outlined by Basin Minerals to the immediate north and south, as part of its Douglas project. Winning control of Block 2 consolidates Basin’s mineral inventory in the region and provides a substantial boost to potential future mining operations in the region. Block 2 (covering the WIM 150 area) went to a joint venture between Austpac Resources NL and Ticor Limited where the main focus of the joint venture bid is the commercial development of the massive WIM 150 fine-grained deposits. Using new technologies and existing mineral sands development expertise through Ticor’s existing mineral sands operations, the new joint venture hopes to solve the problems of separating the valuable minerals from the fine grains in the resource.
mineral sands industry with corporate activity leading to the emergence of new players and the disappearance of others in the sector. Stockbrokers, JB Were and Son, recently reported in a study by analyst Mike Brook that the main changes among Australian-listed companies had been the departure of Rio Tinto from Australia’s mineral sands industry and of BHP following the closure of its Beenup project in Western Australia. WMC Ltd had entered the industry by taking an option over the Corridor Sands project in RELIEF MAP OF CULGOA PROJECT AREA
Ticor holds a significant position in the Australian mineral sands industry through the Tiwest joint venture in Western Australia, which is 50% owned jointly by Ticor and global titanium pigment producer, KerrMcGee Chemical Corporation.
Mozambique while Sons of Gwalia had also entered through the acquisition of an interest in the Wemen project in joint venture with RZM Corp near Ouyen. The JB Were report added: “Iluka continues to hold a dominant position in Australia from its east coast (Consolidated Rutile) and west coast (Eneabba, Capel) operations.” The report also noted that Basin Minerals was also emerging fast as a potential new player in the industry. The JB Were report concluded: “Perhaps the least recognised exploration success in Australia has come in the past 2-3 years from the Murray Basin. “Major resource bases have been established by Iluka, Basin Minerals, BeMax, Sons of Gwalia SGW/RZM and Murray Basin Minerals. Exploration is continuing and further significant successes are anticipated.” But Mr Brook added that, “With the recent takeover bid by Iluka for BeMax, we now believe that the inevitable rationalisation of the Murray Basin assets has commenced.
Through the Tiwest joint venture, Ticor has a fully integrated mine to pigment production operation where it operates a mineral sands dredge mine, a mineral separation plant, a synthetic rutile plant and a titanium dioxide pigment plant.
“We believe that Basin Minerals in particular will become a corporate target as part of this process.” The Murray Basin remains an attractive place to both explore and grow resources given the favorable geographic location relative to some of the other mineral sands projects located in Africa and Asia that will compete for investor funds,” he said.
Tiwest ranks fourth among the global titanium dioxide feedstock producers by value of production while Kerr-McGee ranks third or fourth among titanium dioxide pigment producers by capacity. Austpac Resources has developed special technology for upgrading titaniferous feedstock developed in Australia and currently being applied to a synthetic rutile plant in India.
But he added that, “It makes sense for the major players to commence the rationalisation process. The key candidate, Iluka, has asserted its intentions by its bid for BeMax. However, other companies, such as Sons of Gwalia and Ticor, are likely to be looking at growth/entry opportunities.”
The tender results substantially improve the prospects for development of both coarsegrained and fine-grained deposits within the Murray Basin.
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Meanwhile, the emergence of the Murray Basin as a potentially major source of mineral sands products has sparked a restructure of the
George Buckland, MPV Tel: 03 9412 4778
21
MINERAL SANDS
MINERAL SANDS
Early startup likely for Douglas
Two of the blocks - Numbers 1 and 2 - cover the WIM 150 and WIM 100 fine-grained mineral sands deposits near Horsham, discovered in the 1980’s by Rio Tinto, but which could not be made commercial despite intensive efforts to improve mineral recovery from the massive resource. Iluka recently relinquished the remainder of the blocks as part of a program to stimulate exploration in the basin.
T
Basin Minerals won the tender for Block 2 (the WIM 100 area) which formed an attractive extension to its existing, highly successful exploration efforts to the north and south of the block.
The Murray Basin is attracting growing local and international interest for its mineral sands potential. Basin Minerals has already identified a major titanium mineral deposit which could form the base for Victoria’s second mineral sands development.
he Douglas mineral sands project in northwest Victoria could be in production by 2004 if a final feasibility study confirms that the project is commercially viable. Basin Minerals Ltd, owner of the Douglas project and a number of other potential mineral sands prospects in the region, recently completed a pre-feasibility study in conjunction with Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd and MD Technologies which showed the project has significant commercial merit.
across strike besides inclusion of an as yet classification of the resource at Chetwynd,” Dr Farrell said. Basin Minerals has now started a bankable final feasibility study with the aim of starting mine site development and construction in 2003 and commissioning mining and treatment operations in early 2004. That would grab a potential advantage offered by market opportunities that supply shortfalls of titanium and zircon are expected to create. A two phase, 60,000 metre, resource definition drilling program has already started on two deposits, to outline sufficient resources to support a 20 year mine life. Once complete in the first half of 2001, trial mining and processing through a pilot plant will occur to finalise a metallurgical processing flowsheet. “Market analysis shows that over the past 20 years the world demand for titanium minerals and feedstocks has grown at a steady rate of 3% per annum, which is a reflection of growth of western economies GDP,” Dr Farrell said.
A review of the pre-feasibility study by a panel of mining industry peer groups concluded that the Douglas project: • Has a current resource base of 20.8 million tonnes which is significant by world standards and has the potential to initiate titanium and zircon mineral downstream processing. • Strandline resources have high grades of ilmenite, rutile and zircon minerals with excellent physical and chemical characteristics at or near surface and that mining and metallurgical problems can be readily overcome using proven technology.
a substantial increase over earlier estimates of 12.7 million tonnes. In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange during September, Basin’s chairman, Dr Brad Farrell, said that the Douglas project was now “a major mineral sands field of global significance,” The company said the inferred resource for the project area contains 11.31 million tonnes of ilmenite, including leucoxene, 1.26 million tonnes of rutile and 1.62 million tonnes of zircon.
• Is close to good infrastructure and the export port of Portland, and importantly, is located in a politically stable environment compared with competing African projects.
Previously announced inferred resources for the Bondi, Bondi East and Echo strand line discoveries have also been upgraded, while the Acapulco strand lines, previously categorised as resources, have been converted to an inferred resource by infill drilling.
The resource base of 20.8 million tonnes of concentrate for the Douglas project represents
“There exists considerable potential in all deposits for additional resources along and 20
“This growth in demand is expected to continue in the foreseeable future due to the fact that the major product, white titanium dioxide pigment used in paints, plastics and paper, is not subject to recycling. “Market projections suggest that from year 2003/2204 there is likely to be a substantial shortfall of titanium feedstocks. This shortfall coincides with the projected start-up of mining of the Douglas project.” Meanwhile, two highly-prospective mineral sands exploration blocks have been awarded in the Murray Basin region following the calling of tenders for 14 separate permits previously held by both Rio Tinto Ltd and Iluka Resources. The tender call, announced last May, was designed to maintain the strong interest in the Murray Basin which has been generated by a string of discoveries of high grade, potentially economic, strandline deposits. The 14 blocks offered were in the Mallee and Wimmera regions.
EXAGGERATED 3D PERSPECTIVE OF PORTION OF DOUGLAS PROJECT AREA, LOOKING SOUTH-EAST
The coarse-grained strand line mineralisation within block 2 aligns with mineral sands resources and reserves outlined by Basin Minerals to the immediate north and south, as part of its Douglas project. Winning control of Block 2 consolidates Basin’s mineral inventory in the region and provides a substantial boost to potential future mining operations in the region. Block 2 (covering the WIM 150 area) went to a joint venture between Austpac Resources NL and Ticor Limited where the main focus of the joint venture bid is the commercial development of the massive WIM 150 fine-grained deposits. Using new technologies and existing mineral sands development expertise through Ticor’s existing mineral sands operations, the new joint venture hopes to solve the problems of separating the valuable minerals from the fine grains in the resource.
mineral sands industry with corporate activity leading to the emergence of new players and the disappearance of others in the sector. Stockbrokers, JB Were and Son, recently reported in a study by analyst Mike Brook that the main changes among Australian-listed companies had been the departure of Rio Tinto from Australia’s mineral sands industry and of BHP following the closure of its Beenup project in Western Australia. WMC Ltd had entered the industry by taking an option over the Corridor Sands project in RELIEF MAP OF CULGOA PROJECT AREA
Ticor holds a significant position in the Australian mineral sands industry through the Tiwest joint venture in Western Australia, which is 50% owned jointly by Ticor and global titanium pigment producer, KerrMcGee Chemical Corporation.
Mozambique while Sons of Gwalia had also entered through the acquisition of an interest in the Wemen project in joint venture with RZM Corp near Ouyen. The JB Were report added: “Iluka continues to hold a dominant position in Australia from its east coast (Consolidated Rutile) and west coast (Eneabba, Capel) operations.” The report also noted that Basin Minerals was also emerging fast as a potential new player in the industry. The JB Were report concluded: “Perhaps the least recognised exploration success in Australia has come in the past 2-3 years from the Murray Basin. “Major resource bases have been established by Iluka, Basin Minerals, BeMax, Sons of Gwalia SGW/RZM and Murray Basin Minerals. Exploration is continuing and further significant successes are anticipated.” But Mr Brook added that, “With the recent takeover bid by Iluka for BeMax, we now believe that the inevitable rationalisation of the Murray Basin assets has commenced.
Through the Tiwest joint venture, Ticor has a fully integrated mine to pigment production operation where it operates a mineral sands dredge mine, a mineral separation plant, a synthetic rutile plant and a titanium dioxide pigment plant.
“We believe that Basin Minerals in particular will become a corporate target as part of this process.” The Murray Basin remains an attractive place to both explore and grow resources given the favorable geographic location relative to some of the other mineral sands projects located in Africa and Asia that will compete for investor funds,” he said.
Tiwest ranks fourth among the global titanium dioxide feedstock producers by value of production while Kerr-McGee ranks third or fourth among titanium dioxide pigment producers by capacity. Austpac Resources has developed special technology for upgrading titaniferous feedstock developed in Australia and currently being applied to a synthetic rutile plant in India.
But he added that, “It makes sense for the major players to commence the rationalisation process. The key candidate, Iluka, has asserted its intentions by its bid for BeMax. However, other companies, such as Sons of Gwalia and Ticor, are likely to be looking at growth/entry opportunities.”
The tender results substantially improve the prospects for development of both coarsegrained and fine-grained deposits within the Murray Basin.
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Meanwhile, the emergence of the Murray Basin as a potentially major source of mineral sands products has sparked a restructure of the
George Buckland, MPV Tel: 03 9412 4778
21
VIMP RELEASE
VIMP RELEASE
Thirteen may prove lucky for explorers T
he mineral exploration industry will get another major boost this month through the thirteenth VIMP geological data release.
The new GSV mapping clearly identifies the regional structural controls on the gold mineralisation at Stawell and provides a sound base on which to plan exploration for repetitions of Stawell-type mineralisation in the area.
While offering major new sources of data and products and opening up new exploration opportunities in central and eastern Victoria, the data release will also mark the removal of the last remaining exploration exemption over licence applications in the Warburton map sheet area.
Creswick New data for the Creswick 1:100 000 map area includes four new 1:50 000 geology maps together with a new 1:100 000 geophysical interpretation map and a set of explanatory notes.
New data and products to be featured in the release include:
The Creswick map area lies in the central part of the western Lachlan Fold Belt and the new mapping has accurately tied down the position of the Avoca Fault separating the Stawell and Bendigo zones.
• The Tasman Fold Belt System in Victoria publication. • In the central goldfields area, new geological maps covering the Ararat and Creswick areas provide valuable insights for explorers in their search for gold deposits in a variety of geological settings. GIS data on CD for the Ballarat 1:250 000 sheet area as well as for the whole state has been updated.
Of particular interest to explorers is the delineation of positions of deep leads in the area from which major historical gold production has taken place.
• An airborne electromagnetic survey north of Bendigo highlights the application of this geophysical technique to three-dimensional modelling of bedrock beneath shallow cover. • To the east, new airborne geophysical surveys covering the Maffra, Alexandra and Healesville areas provide essential data for interpreting the geology and prospectivity.
ry rocks of the Bendigo Zone in the east. Significant gold mineralisation was introduced into the bedrock in quartz reefs during regional deformation and weathering and erosion have subsequently remobilised substantial amounts of gold into deep-lead placer deposits. Much of the area is covered by Cainozoic basalt flows that have shielded large areas of prospective bedrock from conventional exploration. The GSV mapping provides a new structural interpretation of the bedrock to aid explorers in targeting primary gold mineralisation beneath the Cainozoic basalt cover and also pinpoints the deep lead positions more accurately than in the past.
Warburton airborne surveys
The Avoca Fault, containing fault slices of Cambrian volcanics, separates Cambrian sedimentary rocks of the Stawell Zone in the west of the area from Ordovician sedimenta-
Two airborne magnetic/radiometric surveys in the eastern highlands on the Warburton 1:250 000 sheet and an airborne electromagnetic (TEMPEST) survey north of Bendigo are being released as a part of the VIMP data package.
Victoria’s geology takes on a new look with the release of the milestone publication, the Tasman Fold Belt System in Victoria.
The largest survey covers the Alexandra and part of the Healesville 1:100 000 sheets and will provide a valuable dataset for mineral explorers. The quality of the data is superb.
• New data for the Ararat 1:100 000 map area includes four new 1:50 000 geology maps together with a new 1:100 000 geophysical interpretation map. Accompanying explanatory notes will be released shortly.
The Ararat area straddles the boundary between the Lachlan and Delamerian Fold Belts and interpretation of the geology has been crucial in unraveling the structural history of the Tasman Fold Belt in western Victoria. Cambrian volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Delamerian Fold Belt, together with overlying, thrust-stacked, Grampians Group sedimentary rocks of the Lachlan Fold Belt, form part of the Grampians-Stavely Zone
The milestone publication ‘The Tasman Fold Belt System in Victoria’ will be officially released as part of the 13th VIMP data release. Produced by the Geological Survey of Victoria, the new book provides a comprehensive overhaul of Victoria’s Palaeozoic geology and evolution overturning many long-held theories about the state’s geological development (see Discovery, May 2000 edition). The launch will be marked by a seminar on key aspects of the new geological interpretations presented in the book. (see advertisement on next page for details). ‘The Tasman Fold Belt System in Victoria’ has been two years in the making. The project was conceived at a time when a decade of GSV mapping, supported by new airborne geophysical data, had made major advances in understanding the fundamental tectonic development of Victoria. The book focuses on new interpretations of recent GSV work and provides the most comprehensive geological picture of the Palaeozoic rocks of the state since the pioneering geological mapping of Alfred Selwyn in the 1850’s.
• New gravity data covering the Gippsland Basin and Wangaratta areas complements the airborne data and further enhances the geological understanding of this area.
Ararat
MILESTONE PUBLICATION ON VICTORIAN GEOLOGY
west of the Moyston Fault which strikes northwest through the area. To the east of the Moyston Fault, Cambrian metavolcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Lachlan Fold Belt are exposed in a complex metamorphic belt, which forms the westernmost part of the Stawell Zone.
Golden Triangle The Lachlan Fold Belt east of the Moyston Fault at Ararat is part of Victoria’s famous golden triangle. 22
It comes in hard cover with 480 pages of text and full-color illustrations and is accompanied by a cardboard sleeve containing three 1:1 000 000 scale maps of the state and a CD-ROM containing both the text of the book together with raster images of the maps.
Primary gold mineralisation is associated with mesothermal quartz veins in the Cambrian bedrock, with some minor occurrences in Devonian granites, which intrude the bedrock. Victoria’s largest gold mine, the Stawell Mine, is located within the map area, with current production of approximately 100 000 oz per annum from the Magdala decline. Significant historical alluvial gold is also recorded from the map area and in the 1970s base metal mineralisation was discovered in the complex Cambrian bedrock sequence exposed at Mount Ararat.
Priced at $110 plus $10 postage and packing, the publication is essential for anybody interested in the geology and mineralisation of Proterozoic to Carboniferous rocks in Victoria.
23
VIMP RELEASE
VIMP RELEASE
Thirteen may prove lucky for explorers T
he mineral exploration industry will get another major boost this month through the thirteenth VIMP geological data release.
The new GSV mapping clearly identifies the regional structural controls on the gold mineralisation at Stawell and provides a sound base on which to plan exploration for repetitions of Stawell-type mineralisation in the area.
While offering major new sources of data and products and opening up new exploration opportunities in central and eastern Victoria, the data release will also mark the removal of the last remaining exploration exemption over licence applications in the Warburton map sheet area.
Creswick New data for the Creswick 1:100 000 map area includes four new 1:50 000 geology maps together with a new 1:100 000 geophysical interpretation map and a set of explanatory notes.
New data and products to be featured in the release include:
The Creswick map area lies in the central part of the western Lachlan Fold Belt and the new mapping has accurately tied down the position of the Avoca Fault separating the Stawell and Bendigo zones.
• The Tasman Fold Belt System in Victoria publication. • In the central goldfields area, new geological maps covering the Ararat and Creswick areas provide valuable insights for explorers in their search for gold deposits in a variety of geological settings. GIS data on CD for the Ballarat 1:250 000 sheet area as well as for the whole state has been updated.
Of particular interest to explorers is the delineation of positions of deep leads in the area from which major historical gold production has taken place.
• An airborne electromagnetic survey north of Bendigo highlights the application of this geophysical technique to three-dimensional modelling of bedrock beneath shallow cover. • To the east, new airborne geophysical surveys covering the Maffra, Alexandra and Healesville areas provide essential data for interpreting the geology and prospectivity.
ry rocks of the Bendigo Zone in the east. Significant gold mineralisation was introduced into the bedrock in quartz reefs during regional deformation and weathering and erosion have subsequently remobilised substantial amounts of gold into deep-lead placer deposits. Much of the area is covered by Cainozoic basalt flows that have shielded large areas of prospective bedrock from conventional exploration. The GSV mapping provides a new structural interpretation of the bedrock to aid explorers in targeting primary gold mineralisation beneath the Cainozoic basalt cover and also pinpoints the deep lead positions more accurately than in the past.
Warburton airborne surveys
The Avoca Fault, containing fault slices of Cambrian volcanics, separates Cambrian sedimentary rocks of the Stawell Zone in the west of the area from Ordovician sedimenta-
Two airborne magnetic/radiometric surveys in the eastern highlands on the Warburton 1:250 000 sheet and an airborne electromagnetic (TEMPEST) survey north of Bendigo are being released as a part of the VIMP data package.
Victoria’s geology takes on a new look with the release of the milestone publication, the Tasman Fold Belt System in Victoria.
The largest survey covers the Alexandra and part of the Healesville 1:100 000 sheets and will provide a valuable dataset for mineral explorers. The quality of the data is superb.
• New data for the Ararat 1:100 000 map area includes four new 1:50 000 geology maps together with a new 1:100 000 geophysical interpretation map. Accompanying explanatory notes will be released shortly.
The Ararat area straddles the boundary between the Lachlan and Delamerian Fold Belts and interpretation of the geology has been crucial in unraveling the structural history of the Tasman Fold Belt in western Victoria. Cambrian volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Delamerian Fold Belt, together with overlying, thrust-stacked, Grampians Group sedimentary rocks of the Lachlan Fold Belt, form part of the Grampians-Stavely Zone
The milestone publication ‘The Tasman Fold Belt System in Victoria’ will be officially released as part of the 13th VIMP data release. Produced by the Geological Survey of Victoria, the new book provides a comprehensive overhaul of Victoria’s Palaeozoic geology and evolution overturning many long-held theories about the state’s geological development (see Discovery, May 2000 edition). The launch will be marked by a seminar on key aspects of the new geological interpretations presented in the book. (see advertisement on next page for details). ‘The Tasman Fold Belt System in Victoria’ has been two years in the making. The project was conceived at a time when a decade of GSV mapping, supported by new airborne geophysical data, had made major advances in understanding the fundamental tectonic development of Victoria. The book focuses on new interpretations of recent GSV work and provides the most comprehensive geological picture of the Palaeozoic rocks of the state since the pioneering geological mapping of Alfred Selwyn in the 1850’s.
• New gravity data covering the Gippsland Basin and Wangaratta areas complements the airborne data and further enhances the geological understanding of this area.
Ararat
MILESTONE PUBLICATION ON VICTORIAN GEOLOGY
west of the Moyston Fault which strikes northwest through the area. To the east of the Moyston Fault, Cambrian metavolcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Lachlan Fold Belt are exposed in a complex metamorphic belt, which forms the westernmost part of the Stawell Zone.
Golden Triangle The Lachlan Fold Belt east of the Moyston Fault at Ararat is part of Victoria’s famous golden triangle. 22
It comes in hard cover with 480 pages of text and full-color illustrations and is accompanied by a cardboard sleeve containing three 1:1 000 000 scale maps of the state and a CD-ROM containing both the text of the book together with raster images of the maps.
Primary gold mineralisation is associated with mesothermal quartz veins in the Cambrian bedrock, with some minor occurrences in Devonian granites, which intrude the bedrock. Victoria’s largest gold mine, the Stawell Mine, is located within the map area, with current production of approximately 100 000 oz per annum from the Magdala decline. Significant historical alluvial gold is also recorded from the map area and in the 1970s base metal mineralisation was discovered in the complex Cambrian bedrock sequence exposed at Mount Ararat.
Priced at $110 plus $10 postage and packing, the publication is essential for anybody interested in the geology and mineralisation of Proterozoic to Carboniferous rocks in Victoria.
23
VIMP RELEASE
CONFERENCE REPORT
GIS datasets
Units and cross faults within the Cerberean and Acheron cauldrons are clearly identified in the magnetic and radiometric data.
To complement the release of new geological and geophysical data, GIS data sets for the Ballarat 1:250 000 sheet and for the whole state have been updated.
Folds within the Devonian sediments can be seen with the radiometric data while more magnetic marker horizons within the sediments can also be identified.
The Victoria CD, which includes statewide coverage of themes, has been updated to include the new geophysics data.
The Maffra airborne helicopter survey covers the rugged parts of this map sheet.
Major new data themes on the CD include:
The area covers the southern portion of the Cambrian age Mt Useful slate belt, the Dolodrook greenstones and the Devonian rhyolites and sediments of the Avon and Macalister Basins.
• Detailed summaries of the work programs from over 1,200 expired tenements throughout Victoria, as documented in recent VIMP reports; • Official gold production statistics for selected areas of central and western Victoria.
These two airborne surveys now bring the total area of Victoria covered by industry standard airborne magnetic and radiometric data to almost 90%, a higher proportion than any other mainland state in Australia.
Exemptions lifted Following the release of this airborne survey data the exemption on licence applications applying to the Alexandra and Maffra survey areas will be lifted. Applications for exploration licences will be accepted from February 13, 2001, leaving explorers about 12 weeks to review the data. There are no tender blocks nominated and each licence area application will be treated on the merits of the individual application.
Airborne electromagnetics and gravity The airborne electromagnetic survey was a trial in an 11 x 12 km block north of Bendigo done in conjunction with the Centre for Land Protection. The survey covers part of the
VIMP DATA RELEASE & TASMAN FOLD BELT SYSTEM IN VICTORIA SEMINAR
Loddon deep lead and is along strike from the Bendigo goldfield. The survey identifies conductivity variations caused by differences in the groundwater salinity and changes in lithology (e.g. sands and clays). In the 26-30 m depth slice, rock units and structures including a possible subsurface extension of the Whitelaw Fault are evident in the basement geology. This survey technique will generate interest as a new tool for exploring under shallow cover. New gravity data, with station spacing of about 1.5 km, is provided for the Gippsland Basin and the Wangaratta area. This now brings the detailed gravity coverage of Victoria to about 85%.
Mary Aitkenhead Centre, cnr Victoria Pde and Nicholson St East Melbourne
This is in addition to the existing geophysical, mineral occurrence, exploration geochemistry, tenement, borehole, land use and cultural data already available. This new GIS data will allow better analysis of geological data, identifying prospective areas, generating new projects and allowing explorers to better target their exploration effort.
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Phil Roberts Manager Geological Survey of Victoria Tel: (03) 9412 5035
TASMAN FOLD BELT SEMINAR
• New Victoria GIS CD
• Introduction to the book Peter O’Shea
• New Ballarat 1:250k GIS CD • Ararat geological maps • Creswick geological maps • Alexandra & part Healesville airborne magnetic/radiometric survey • Maffra airborne magnetic/ radiometric survey • North Bendigo TEMPEST airborne EM survey
Lunch provided
The newly released 1:50 000 scale geological data and 1:100 000 scale geophysical interpretation for the Creswick and Ararat mapsheet areas is available on the Ballarat CD.
VIMP DATA RELEASE
• Creswick geological report Thursday, 30 November 2000 9am – 5pm
Records tumbled at Mining 2000
• Mallacoota, Warburton & Wangaratta gravity surveys
Please book your place by contacting: Gayle Ellis Tel: (03) 9412 5042
24
A
ustralia’s biggest ever assembly of local and international mining industry players gathered in Melbourne’s exhibition centre during September for Mining 2000, the showcase conference for Australia’s mining industry. More than a thousand delegates and exhibitors from around the world discussed the trend of declining global exploration, gaining access to new areas for exploration and the rigors of rising environmental other social expectations. Tours of the Bendigo goldfield and the LaTrobe Valley brown coal fields highlighted Victoria’s outstanding mineral and energy resources. Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources, Candy Broad, told conference delegates the state government hoped Mining 2000, and its planned annual repetition, could become as significant as the Prospectors and Developers Conference in Canada, recognised as the world’s major conference for explorers and prospectors. “A forum like Mining 2000, enables us to showcase our state to an international audience, which can then appreciate what Victoria, has to offer,” she added. International delegates showed keen interest in the emerging mineral sands province of the Murray Basin where Victoria is leading the way with the first commercial development of a titanium mineral mining and concentrating project near Robinvale. Several smaller companies and now some of
• Overall crustal architecture Fons VandenBerg • Mineralisation overview Simon Maher • Delamerian Fold Belt David Taylor • Western Lachlan Fold Belt Ross Cayley
Top: A simulated mine rescue at the exhibition.
• Eastern Lachlan Fold Belt Clive Willman
Left: NRE’s David Lea and Elizabeth Lewis-Gray of Gekko Systems.
• Synthesis David Moore
Far left: Doug Buerger, managing director of Bendigo Mines, addresses the conference.
25
VIMP RELEASE
CONFERENCE REPORT
GIS datasets
Units and cross faults within the Cerberean and Acheron cauldrons are clearly identified in the magnetic and radiometric data.
To complement the release of new geological and geophysical data, GIS data sets for the Ballarat 1:250 000 sheet and for the whole state have been updated.
Folds within the Devonian sediments can be seen with the radiometric data while more magnetic marker horizons within the sediments can also be identified.
The Victoria CD, which includes statewide coverage of themes, has been updated to include the new geophysics data.
The Maffra airborne helicopter survey covers the rugged parts of this map sheet.
Major new data themes on the CD include:
The area covers the southern portion of the Cambrian age Mt Useful slate belt, the Dolodrook greenstones and the Devonian rhyolites and sediments of the Avon and Macalister Basins.
• Detailed summaries of the work programs from over 1,200 expired tenements throughout Victoria, as documented in recent VIMP reports; • Official gold production statistics for selected areas of central and western Victoria.
These two airborne surveys now bring the total area of Victoria covered by industry standard airborne magnetic and radiometric data to almost 90%, a higher proportion than any other mainland state in Australia.
Exemptions lifted Following the release of this airborne survey data the exemption on licence applications applying to the Alexandra and Maffra survey areas will be lifted. Applications for exploration licences will be accepted from February 13, 2001, leaving explorers about 12 weeks to review the data. There are no tender blocks nominated and each licence area application will be treated on the merits of the individual application.
Airborne electromagnetics and gravity The airborne electromagnetic survey was a trial in an 11 x 12 km block north of Bendigo done in conjunction with the Centre for Land Protection. The survey covers part of the
VIMP DATA RELEASE & TASMAN FOLD BELT SYSTEM IN VICTORIA SEMINAR
Loddon deep lead and is along strike from the Bendigo goldfield. The survey identifies conductivity variations caused by differences in the groundwater salinity and changes in lithology (e.g. sands and clays). In the 26-30 m depth slice, rock units and structures including a possible subsurface extension of the Whitelaw Fault are evident in the basement geology. This survey technique will generate interest as a new tool for exploring under shallow cover. New gravity data, with station spacing of about 1.5 km, is provided for the Gippsland Basin and the Wangaratta area. This now brings the detailed gravity coverage of Victoria to about 85%.
Mary Aitkenhead Centre, cnr Victoria Pde and Nicholson St East Melbourne
This is in addition to the existing geophysical, mineral occurrence, exploration geochemistry, tenement, borehole, land use and cultural data already available. This new GIS data will allow better analysis of geological data, identifying prospective areas, generating new projects and allowing explorers to better target their exploration effort.
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Phil Roberts Manager Geological Survey of Victoria Tel: (03) 9412 5035
TASMAN FOLD BELT SEMINAR
• New Victoria GIS CD
• Introduction to the book Peter O’Shea
• New Ballarat 1:250k GIS CD • Ararat geological maps • Creswick geological maps • Alexandra & part Healesville airborne magnetic/radiometric survey • Maffra airborne magnetic/ radiometric survey • North Bendigo TEMPEST airborne EM survey
Lunch provided
The newly released 1:50 000 scale geological data and 1:100 000 scale geophysical interpretation for the Creswick and Ararat mapsheet areas is available on the Ballarat CD.
VIMP DATA RELEASE
• Creswick geological report Thursday, 30 November 2000 9am – 5pm
Records tumbled at Mining 2000
• Mallacoota, Warburton & Wangaratta gravity surveys
Please book your place by contacting: Gayle Ellis Tel: (03) 9412 5042
24
A
ustralia’s biggest ever assembly of local and international mining industry players gathered in Melbourne’s exhibition centre during September for Mining 2000, the showcase conference for Australia’s mining industry. More than a thousand delegates and exhibitors from around the world discussed the trend of declining global exploration, gaining access to new areas for exploration and the rigors of rising environmental other social expectations. Tours of the Bendigo goldfield and the LaTrobe Valley brown coal fields highlighted Victoria’s outstanding mineral and energy resources. Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources, Candy Broad, told conference delegates the state government hoped Mining 2000, and its planned annual repetition, could become as significant as the Prospectors and Developers Conference in Canada, recognised as the world’s major conference for explorers and prospectors. “A forum like Mining 2000, enables us to showcase our state to an international audience, which can then appreciate what Victoria, has to offer,” she added. International delegates showed keen interest in the emerging mineral sands province of the Murray Basin where Victoria is leading the way with the first commercial development of a titanium mineral mining and concentrating project near Robinvale. Several smaller companies and now some of
• Overall crustal architecture Fons VandenBerg • Mineralisation overview Simon Maher • Delamerian Fold Belt David Taylor • Western Lachlan Fold Belt Ross Cayley
Top: A simulated mine rescue at the exhibition.
• Eastern Lachlan Fold Belt Clive Willman
Left: NRE’s David Lea and Elizabeth Lewis-Gray of Gekko Systems.
• Synthesis David Moore
Far left: Doug Buerger, managing director of Bendigo Mines, addresses the conference.
25
CONFERENCE REPORT
LEGISLATION
‘Fine tune’ for mining law The Victorian Government is moving ahead with modifications to the Mineral Resources Development Act to streamline Victoria’s mining laws and attract more investment into the state. The Mineral Resources Development (Amendment) Bill is expected to be finalised by the end of the year after receiving its second reading in the Victorian Parliament in October.
the mineral sands industry majors are showing interest in the Murray Basin. Iluka Minerals has already launched a takeover bid for Bemax Resources while global titanium industry major DuPont has formed a close relationship with Basin Minerals NL. Mining 2000 managing director Stewart McDonald said: “Our conference program received strong support from delegates, especially in the Australian Auditorium and Explorers and Producers Forum, which was ‘standing room only’ on many occasions. “This is great news for the Australian mining industry and shows that the industry is still very interested in the future of these companies.”
Mr McDonald said final figures for the conference showed that a total of 1842 people visited Mining 2000. “We are also pleased that many who attended fell into the decision-maker category. We had more managing directors at Mining 2000 than
have attended any other mining conference in Australia,” he said.
The Victorian Minister for Environment and Conservation, Sherryl Garbutt, introduced the legislation on behalf of the Victorian Minister for Resources and Environment, Candy Broad, who is a member of the Legislative Council. The following is an edited transcript of the second reading speech.
While some delegates felt numbers had been lower than planned, the massive venue dwarfed the exhibition and speaking venues, making numbers seem lower than reality.
T
“Our main aim at Mining 2000 was to showcase the Australian mining industry to a global audience and the support that speakers received in the upstairs auditoriums was a great indication of the future growth this industry will certainly achieve,” Mr McDonald said.
Top: Chris Fraser, VCM and Jane Slack Smith, keynote speaker at the ‘Women in Mining Breakfast’.
“It is always difficult to establish a convention in the first year and, having achieved a record number of decision-makers this year, we aim to improve on numbers in 2001.”
Above right: The Minerals and Petroleum display. Right: Julie Garland Mclellan of KPMG with South American delegates. Below: Minister Candy Broad with female MPV staff at the ‘Women in Mining Breakfast’.
he Ministerial Statement ‘Pillars for Balanced Growth – Minerals and Petroleum for the 21st Century’, representing the policy framework in which the Government will administer the mineral and petroleum industries in Victoria, was presented earlier this year. A key element of that policy statement was that the government would introduce amendments to the Mineral Resources Development Act 1990 to ensure it continues to provide Australia’s best and most contemporary legislative framework for the development and regulation of the mineral exploration and mining industry. The Mineral Resources Development Act 1990, (MRDA), was last amended in 1993 and it is timely to consider some fine-tuning to ensure that it remains relevant for all stakeholders. This is particularly necessary as the legislation now applies to the large open cut brown coal mines of the LaTrobe Valley [following their privatisation] as well as to the vast mineral sands resources that are being developed in the west of the state.
Far right: The dramatic Peruvian display won plenty of attention.
In particular the legislation must • provide a framework to achieve balanced economic, social and environmental outcomes; • provide appropriate and timely processes relating to mineral exploration and mining. The fundamental principle underlying legislation for the administration of exploration and mining for minerals in all Australian jurisdictions is that minerals are owned by the Crown. This principle enables governments to ensure that mineral production can be undertaken on behalf of all the community. While the MRDA provides the administrative framework within which mineral activities are 26
to be undertaken, the Act does not control the processes that lead to a decision to allow mining at a particular location.
As a result, the industry must manage the environmental and social impacts of mining to the standards expected in this community.
A particular mining operation can only occur if it has been granted a permit under the Planning and Environment Act 1987 or an Environment Effects Statement has been prepared and assessed under the Environment Effects Act 1978.
The MRDA amendments are proposed to ensure that viable projects are encouraged, while also safeguarding broader community and environmental interests.
Either of these approaches provides the opportunity for consultation and involvement of the community before a decision is made to allow a mine to proceed. The proposed amendments to the MRDA do not attempt to alter the approval processes that are appropriately managed under the relevant environmental and planning legislation. The MRDA was originally proclaimed in 1991 and amended in 1993. Exploration investment has increased by over 300% since 1992.
The above factors represent the main rationale for the proposed amendments, the specific objectives of which are to: • ensure that claims for compensation for loss of amenity on account of mining operations are fair and equitable and do not create a significant open-ended commercial liability for mining companies; • provide the ability to obtain compensation for mining impacts on Crown Land in specified circumstances; • improve the operation of the ‘100 metre rule’ for both the community and industry,
While these developments are encouraging, the globalisation of the mineral industry has intensified competition for exploration and mineral development investment.
• make the necessary amendments to accord with the Commonwealth Native Title Act 1993;
A significant factor in encouraging investment is the efficiency and certainty of the legislative framework within which the industry must operate. It is, therefore, necessary to provide the optimal regulatory framework for Victoria in order to maximise investment.
• improve the general quality of applications received and provide for a more competitive system of licence application.
It is important to recognise that, unlike most other areas in Australia, mining developments in Victoria have occurred and are likely to continue to occur close to settled areas. 27
• remove unnecessary impediments to lowimpact exploration activities;
• provide a more open application process, which will improve competition for licences; • provide an enhanced Mining Register of significant license documents, which is more amenable to searching by the public;
CONFERENCE REPORT
LEGISLATION
‘Fine tune’ for mining law The Victorian Government is moving ahead with modifications to the Mineral Resources Development Act to streamline Victoria’s mining laws and attract more investment into the state. The Mineral Resources Development (Amendment) Bill is expected to be finalised by the end of the year after receiving its second reading in the Victorian Parliament in October.
the mineral sands industry majors are showing interest in the Murray Basin. Iluka Minerals has already launched a takeover bid for Bemax Resources while global titanium industry major DuPont has formed a close relationship with Basin Minerals NL. Mining 2000 managing director Stewart McDonald said: “Our conference program received strong support from delegates, especially in the Australian Auditorium and Explorers and Producers Forum, which was ‘standing room only’ on many occasions. “This is great news for the Australian mining industry and shows that the industry is still very interested in the future of these companies.”
Mr McDonald said final figures for the conference showed that a total of 1842 people visited Mining 2000. “We are also pleased that many who attended fell into the decision-maker category. We had more managing directors at Mining 2000 than
have attended any other mining conference in Australia,” he said.
The Victorian Minister for Environment and Conservation, Sherryl Garbutt, introduced the legislation on behalf of the Victorian Minister for Resources and Environment, Candy Broad, who is a member of the Legislative Council. The following is an edited transcript of the second reading speech.
While some delegates felt numbers had been lower than planned, the massive venue dwarfed the exhibition and speaking venues, making numbers seem lower than reality.
T
“Our main aim at Mining 2000 was to showcase the Australian mining industry to a global audience and the support that speakers received in the upstairs auditoriums was a great indication of the future growth this industry will certainly achieve,” Mr McDonald said.
Top: Chris Fraser, VCM and Jane Slack Smith, keynote speaker at the ‘Women in Mining Breakfast’.
“It is always difficult to establish a convention in the first year and, having achieved a record number of decision-makers this year, we aim to improve on numbers in 2001.”
Above right: The Minerals and Petroleum display. Right: Julie Garland Mclellan of KPMG with South American delegates. Below: Minister Candy Broad with female MPV staff at the ‘Women in Mining Breakfast’.
he Ministerial Statement ‘Pillars for Balanced Growth – Minerals and Petroleum for the 21st Century’, representing the policy framework in which the Government will administer the mineral and petroleum industries in Victoria, was presented earlier this year. A key element of that policy statement was that the government would introduce amendments to the Mineral Resources Development Act 1990 to ensure it continues to provide Australia’s best and most contemporary legislative framework for the development and regulation of the mineral exploration and mining industry. The Mineral Resources Development Act 1990, (MRDA), was last amended in 1993 and it is timely to consider some fine-tuning to ensure that it remains relevant for all stakeholders. This is particularly necessary as the legislation now applies to the large open cut brown coal mines of the LaTrobe Valley [following their privatisation] as well as to the vast mineral sands resources that are being developed in the west of the state.
Far right: The dramatic Peruvian display won plenty of attention.
In particular the legislation must • provide a framework to achieve balanced economic, social and environmental outcomes; • provide appropriate and timely processes relating to mineral exploration and mining. The fundamental principle underlying legislation for the administration of exploration and mining for minerals in all Australian jurisdictions is that minerals are owned by the Crown. This principle enables governments to ensure that mineral production can be undertaken on behalf of all the community. While the MRDA provides the administrative framework within which mineral activities are 26
to be undertaken, the Act does not control the processes that lead to a decision to allow mining at a particular location.
As a result, the industry must manage the environmental and social impacts of mining to the standards expected in this community.
A particular mining operation can only occur if it has been granted a permit under the Planning and Environment Act 1987 or an Environment Effects Statement has been prepared and assessed under the Environment Effects Act 1978.
The MRDA amendments are proposed to ensure that viable projects are encouraged, while also safeguarding broader community and environmental interests.
Either of these approaches provides the opportunity for consultation and involvement of the community before a decision is made to allow a mine to proceed. The proposed amendments to the MRDA do not attempt to alter the approval processes that are appropriately managed under the relevant environmental and planning legislation. The MRDA was originally proclaimed in 1991 and amended in 1993. Exploration investment has increased by over 300% since 1992.
The above factors represent the main rationale for the proposed amendments, the specific objectives of which are to: • ensure that claims for compensation for loss of amenity on account of mining operations are fair and equitable and do not create a significant open-ended commercial liability for mining companies; • provide the ability to obtain compensation for mining impacts on Crown Land in specified circumstances; • improve the operation of the ‘100 metre rule’ for both the community and industry,
While these developments are encouraging, the globalisation of the mineral industry has intensified competition for exploration and mineral development investment.
• make the necessary amendments to accord with the Commonwealth Native Title Act 1993;
A significant factor in encouraging investment is the efficiency and certainty of the legislative framework within which the industry must operate. It is, therefore, necessary to provide the optimal regulatory framework for Victoria in order to maximise investment.
• improve the general quality of applications received and provide for a more competitive system of licence application.
It is important to recognise that, unlike most other areas in Australia, mining developments in Victoria have occurred and are likely to continue to occur close to settled areas. 27
• remove unnecessary impediments to lowimpact exploration activities;
• provide a more open application process, which will improve competition for licences; • provide an enhanced Mining Register of significant license documents, which is more amenable to searching by the public;
LEGISLATION
• amend the Act in accordance with the recommendations of the National Competition Policy Review of the MRDA; and • make further administrative changes to enhance the operation of the Act. One of the most significant amendments is to limit the maximum level of compensation that can be awarded by a court for loss of amenity. Under the Act, holders of a mining licence must negotiate with the owners or occupiers of affected private land to obtain consent for work to be undertaken. These negotiations generally lead to an appropriate level of compensation being agreed between the parties. However, where agreement cannot be reached, the Act provides that compensation is payable for: loss of possession of the whole or any part of the land; damage to the surface; damage to improvement; severance of the land from other land; loss of opportunity to make planned improvements and any decrease in the market value. Compensation is also payable for ‘loss of amenity, including recreation and conserva-
tion values’. Compensation disputes are heard by the VCAT or the Supreme Court. Loss of amenity also allows for a landowner or occupier to claim for losses not otherwise compensated for by the Act and where it is claimed that adequate protection has not been achieved through the planning process or through other legislation. This includes those losses that are often difficult to define and quantify. The amendments will limit the maximum amount a court can award as compensation for loss of amenity to $10,000. They will not limit compensation for other losses and damages. The amendments also limit the current liability of industry to open-ended claims made by those indirectly affected by mining activity. The current open-ended liability is a significant disincentive to mining investment in Victoria, particularly as no other industry in Victoria is similarly exposed. The amendments also provide for changes to improve the operation of the ‘100 metre rule’ which prohibits any mining activity within 100 metres of structures including homes, waterways
and farms without the consent of the land owner or special government authority. At present, the Minister may approve work within 100 metres after consulting with the Mining and Environment Advisory Committee (MEAC). The amendments will enable the Minister to approve such work after consultation with MEAC or with the local council and community, or if an EES process has been completed. This will strengthen community input into decision making and widen the consultation process. The amendments will not remove the protection provided by the 100-metre rule, and will not lead to increased mining in this zone. Other significant changes proposed include mechanisms to better manage unforeseen longterm environmental impacts by requiring that any potential long-term degradation of the environment must be addressed in a rehabilitation plan. Rehabilitation bonds may also be retained beyond the life of a project to ensure that effective rehabilitation and management is achieved, and an environmental levy may be charged.
Woodside boosts fuel cell backing
W
oodside Petroleum Ltd has boosted its investment in the Victorianbased company Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited by another $15 million.
This lifts Woodside’s total backing to $20 million as part of the company’s push to develop cleaner and more efficient energy sources for the world market. Woodside’s initial $5 million investment was made in June last year and represents a substantial endorsement of CFCL’s research. CFCL said Woodside’s substantial new investment would assist CFCL to build its emerging, globally competitive position in fuel cell research.
active commitment to CFCL. “This investment fits well with our strategies to increase gas use over other fossil fuels, decrease the potential for greenhouse emissions, improve environmental quality in other areas and provide a potentially high return on our investment,” he said. CFCL managing director Dr Bruce Godfrey said the investment would help CFCL build momentum in its first product development phase. “We now have over 90 staff and our product development program will require significant investment over the next three years in order
The CFCL program aims to develop commercial electricity generation products that provide high energy conversion efficiencies, greatly reduced greenhouse emissions, lower power generation noise levels and competitive electricity costs. The company is developing solid oxide fuel cell products that will enable customers to generate electricity on their own premises, using natural gas as the fuel source. This on-site power generation paradigm is gaining increasing attention throughout the world, particularly in the USA, and market assessment studies indicate a major global market for this type of product. Woodside managing director John Akehurst said the investment confirmed Woodside’s Fuel cells may help reduce Greenhouse emissions.
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to ensure our products can compete in the world market,” Dr Godfrey said. “We’ll continue to seek other equity investors to enable us to continue our development program in a timely manner, with Woodside’s support as a major and active investor.”
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Dinah Rowe-Roberts, Commercial Manager Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited Tel: 03 9554 2300
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