Gladiator Exercises Orusur Option

GLA Takes 80 Per Cent Interest In Uruguay Assets

Orosur Mining Inc. today announces that on 30 April 2010 Gladiator Resource Ltd. has exercised its option pursuant to the Option Agreement announced on 11 January 2010 whereby GLA may earn an interest of up to 80% in the iron ore, manganese ore and base metals ("Assets") in OMI's project area in the Isla Cristalina Belt in Uruguay. OMI retains the rights to gold, silver and diamonds over the project area.

David Fowler, Chief Executive Officer commented: "We are pleased to partner with Gladiator's management team who have significant iron ore experience. Initial field work is confirming historical results which identified the potential to define significant iron ore resources within the Isla Cristalina Belt. Gladiator has moved quickly to raise the funding to complete its work program in the coming year and we look forward to supporting them in progressing the project".

The Option has been exercised subject to the execution of a Definitive Agreement detailing the farm-in joint venture arrangements. Upon execution of the Definitive Agreement GLA will issue AU$ 100,000 worth of fully paid shares to OMI at market value, calculated over the preceding five day trading period. The execution of the option entitles GLA to commence earning the initial 20% interest in the project by spending $US 1,000,000.

GLA will be entitled to earn a 20% interest in the Assets by spending US$ 1,000,000 on work programs. GLA may, at its option, earn a further 31% by spending a further US$ 4,000,000 taking its total interest to 51%. GLA may then elect to earn a further 29% taking its interest to 80% by producing a Bankable Feasibility Study on or before 31 December, 2014.

Based on GLA's initial understanding of the resource potential of the Project area, a number of development possibilities are expected to be considered:

1. Production of iron ore concentrates

2. Production of maganiferrous iron ore concentrates

3. Production of iron ore pellets

4. Production of pig iron and ferro alloys.

Ghana's Mining Industry 'Set For Growth' - Report

Political stability in Ghana, along with clear regulatory standards, will underpin Ghana’s mining sector in 2010 giving the sector great promise for growth. So says the first quarter 2010 Ghana Mining Report by the research firm, Research and Markets.
Ghana is Africa’s second-largest producer of gold after South Africa as well as being one of the world’s largest producers of manganese ore, bauxite and diamonds and some of the major players in the gold mining industry such as Gold Fields, Newmont Ghana and AngloGold Ashanti all have a significant presence in the country.

According to the report the value of Ghana’s mining industry will more than double over a five-year period, from $0.64 billion in 2009 to $1.68 billion in 2014, with the high price of gold a significant factor in this increase.

The report’s authors took into consideration, data from the country’s statistical agencies and associations, as well the UN’s Industrial Commodity Statistics Database, the US Geological Survey and the World Bureau of Metal Statistics and then used their own proprietary econometric model to forecast future figures and trends.

Gold accounts for over 90 per cent of the country’s revenue. Exports in 2009 were US$ 2.6 billion, compared to US$2.2 billion in 2008. Gold output was 2.6mn oz (up 4% y-o-y) selling at an average realised price of US$852 per oz. Manganese revenue was up by a 69%, to US$62.34mn, while bauxite revenue was flat, at US$19.81mn.

The President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Jurgen Eijgendaal, said that 2009 would be a mixed year for Ghana's mining industry. He expects gold to perform well, while bauxite and manganese exports could fall as a result of a decline in demand.

London Mining Granted Sierra Leone Mining Concession

AIM-listed London Mining has been granted parliamentary approval by Sierra Leone to extract iron ore from mine that closed 35 years ago and which is projected to earn the West African country $5 million dollars this year, Mines Minister Alpha Kanu said on Thursday.

Mr Kanu said " it is projected that by December 2010, the company will export up to 1.5 million tonnes of iron ore and will pay to the country some $5 million" (3.6 million euros). He said this would increase to $10 million by 2011 and to $20 million by 2013.

The British company will re-open the Marampa mine in northern Sierra Leone.

Graeme Hossie, CEO of London Mining plc, said, “Today’s announcement represents a major step forward for London Mining. The cross-party support we received for the incentives package is deeply encouraging for a continuing, long term relationship between London Mining and Sierra Leone. We now look forward to commencing development of the starter operation for the tailings as well as continuing our work on an expanded operation through development of the primary ore to reached a targeted 5-8Mtpa of production by the end of 2013. The Marampa mine exemplifies LM's strategy: using simple and deliverable logistics to reach the market, Marampa is being fast tracked into production to achieve near term cash flow and will then be expanded to significant scale. We are the first mining company in Sierra Leone to have its Mining Agreement approved by Cabinet and ratified by the Sierra Leone parliament under the new mining act and we will be implementing our construction and production plans immediately.”

Mr Kanu also said the government was working on similar agreements with international diamond mining companies in which one percent of turnover would go towards development and corporate social responsibility projects, including environmental protection.

He said that in total these agreements were expected to eventually amount to "a contribution to the national budget of some $300 million."

Sierra Leone is rich in diamonds, gold, bauxite and platinum but in 2009 the whole of the country’s mining industry contributed just $5.5 million to the country’s economy.

South Africa Mining Output Shows Fall For 2009

Figures released by the South African government show that mining production declined by 6.7% year-on-year in 2009. A rise in iron ore production of 13.1% was offset by a fall of 6.7% in diamonds. Gold production also fell.

The figures, prepared by Stats SA, added that the seasonally adjusted value of mineral sales at current prices for the three months ended November 2009 increased by 847.3 million rand - or 1.5% - compared with the previous three months. This was mainly due to increases in the sales value of Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) contributing 4.4 percentage points or 2.494 billion rand, gold (contributing 1.6 percentage points or 923.1 million rand) and manganese ore (contributing 1.3 percentage points or 730.2 million rand.

South Africa May Miss Out In Commodities Rebound

Commodity prices are expected to rebound strongly this year and pull the global mining industry out of the doldrums, despite uncertainty about the pace of world economic recovery, according to research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.

However, this comes amid lingering concern that challenges particular to the South African industry — such as a strong rand, higher production costs and labour wage demands — may put a damper on local prospects.

Last year, mining companies were forced to retrench and restructure their cost bases in response to plummeting demand as a result of the global recession. However, towards the end of the year some — particularly ferrochrome miners — began increasing production as demand slowly started to improve, led by Chinese buyers.

Mining and metals analyst Wonder Nyanjowa said this week that the global mining industry was likely to be buoyed by growing physical demand for commodities, the strong possibility of speculative buying and rising prices.

“This is likely to encourage miners to expand production capacity,” Nyanjowa said.

Metals such as gold, diamonds, platinum and palladium have already started to show signs of a strong rebound. Nyanjowa warned that SA may not reap the full benefits of this price recovery because of several problems.

“Many of the local challenges that adversely affected production last year, such as electricity supply shortages, a lack of skills and safety concerns, are likely to continue affecting the performance of the mining industry this year.

“In addition, the prospect of higher commodity prices, particularly in the gold, platinum and coal sectors, is likely to lead to tough wage demands from unions.”

Nyanjowa said he believed that growing concern about inflation in the developed world, a volatile dollar, threats of another recession from expansionary fiscal and monetary policies and negative real interest rates pointed towards strengthening investment demand for gold as a buffer.

“A price range of 1300- 1500/oz this year looks likely, supported by gold demand and supply fundamentals,” he said. “Investors are likely to continue turning to gold as a hedge against uncertainties in the global economy.”

However, SA’s gold production was likely to slip further this year, to about 200 tons, which should see the country drop to fourth place among the world’s gold producers, behind China, the US and Australia. Last year SA fell in the production stakes from second spot to third, behind China and Australia.

While platinum was one of the biggest casualties of the global recession, Nyanjowa expected better prospects this year, with the industry expected to recover as a result of stronger recovery in the global automotive sector, particularly in China and India.

Local coal miners, which escaped from the global slowdown with relatively minor bruises, should also remain robust.

“The bulk of the country’s coal production is consumed in the electricity generation and synthetic fuel manufacturing industries, with only a third being exported to Europe and Asia,” Nyanjowa said.

“The domestic demand for coal is set to continue growing in 2010, following expansion programmes at Eskom and Sasol that will require an additional 75- million tons of coal.”

However, SA’s production was likely to remain stagnant at about 240-million tons this year as the industry waited for new coal fields to be opened in the Waterberg basin in Limpopo.

Source: Business Day

Zinc Australia Drilling At Mount Alexander

ZINC Australia has begun diamond drilling at the Mount Alexander magnetite iron ore project in Western Australia.

According to the Perth-based explorer and developer, it plans for diamond drilling to take place at two 500m holes to determine the width, grade continuity, and metallurgical performance of the mineralisation.

Zinc Australia says the holes will be collared at the base of the steep north west face of the BIF magnetite unit and drilled approximately 560m southeast at a shallow angle to traverse the full width of the mineralisation.

Zinc Australia claims the permission for drilling six additional holes have been approved, which will follow up the resource definition drilling.

Source: drillingexploration.com.au

Indonesian Miners Aim For Increase In Production

Amidst the global economic downturn, Indonesian mining companies have set higher production targets this year primarily due to last year’s shortfalls.

Miners recently submitted production plans to the government with output increases seen in all commodities — including nickel, tin and copper whose prices have been hit hard by reduced demand.

Nickel ore production in 2009 is set at 14.6 million tons, up by 37 percent from last year. Tin output is estimated to reach 105,000 tons, up 46 percent, while copper is set at 826,370 tons, up 38 percent.

These figures are based on all miners’ production proposals submitted to the ministry last month, said Bambang Gator Ariyono, director of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s coal and mineral development division.

Despite significant increases, Bambang believes the target is nothing extraordinary.

“The figures seem to be high, but there is nothing too special about these targets. Many miners could not meet their 2008 production targets, which makes this year’s targets seem too high,” Bambang said recently.

Extreme weather and natural disasters in some big mining concessions last year were the main cause for miners’ failure to meet output targets, he said.

“Take Freeport, for example. The company could not meet its target last year because there were landslides in its mining concession,” Bambang said, adding that the government would monitor the performance of miners during the first quarter of this year for any plan to revise output targets.

Coal and minerals are expected to attract US$2.24 billion in investments this year, up from US$1.65 billion in 2008.

However, a recent study by mining industry consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) suggests that large scale investment is unlikely to come immediately to Indonesia due in part to possible legal uncertainty following the passage of a new mining law.

“There is likely to be greater uncertainty around large-scale capital projects as the new law does not offer the long-term protection of the contract of work system,” PwC’s mining technical adviser Sacha Winzenried said on Feb. 26.

PwC found that the investment spending is mainly for replacement plants and equipment to maintain existing operations instead of greenfields exploration.



Coal and minerals production

Commodities Unit 2008 2009*
Coal million tons 229.18 230
Copper thousand tons 597.07 826.37
Gold tons 58.83 99.34
Silver tons 209.00 238.61
Tin thousand tons 71.61 105.00
Bauxite thousand tons 9,885.55 14,439.32
Nickel in matte thousand tons 73.36 86.18
Nickel ore thousand tons 10,634.45 14,660.14
Granite million m3 1.71 2.50
Diamond carat 27,668.00 96,000.00
Iron Ore tons 3,965,046.64 4,609,540.54

Source: Jakarta Post