GLOBAL mineral exploration activity has again declined dramatically during 2013 with little joy on the horizon for 2014. The decline suggests that by the end of the decade there will be pressure on mineral resource prices to increase owing to supply deficits because without exploration, the new deposits required to meet growing demand will not be ready.
THE mining boom is far from over, and Australia’s miners must calm down when it comes to austerity drives, says outgoing Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) chief executive Mitch Hooke. He quantified his statement to members of Melbourne Mining Club by saying that the development of emerging economies such as China had a long way to run and describing the unprecedented demand for Australia’s raw materials as a new normal.
NEWCREST Mining and Harmony Gold plan to complete a feasibility study to evaluate an underground exploration program for the Wafi-Golpu project. The exploration project is owned by the Wafi-Golpu unincorporated joint venture (JV) between subsidiaries of Newcrest (50%) and Harmony (50%), and is in Morobe province of Papua New Guinea.
AFTER entering into a five-year, US$60 million earn-in and joint venture agreement with IMX Resources in September, Hong Kong-based MMG Ltd has focused on identifying targets for a 2014 drilling program at Nachingwea Exploration Project in southeast Tanzania. Since taking over management of the project, which includes Ntaka Hill nickel sulphide deposit, MMG has been using a range of geophysical methods and geological data bases and is carrying out diamond drilling to test for mineralization down plunge of existing near surface high-grade mineralization.