American Pacific & Rio Tinto: Top Mining News This Week
17 August
After completing more than 2,000 metres of drilling at its Madison Copper-Gold Project in Montana, American Pacific Mining is preparing for phase two of the company’s drilling programme.
The mining company is in its opening phase of a 15,000 metre copper-gold project in Montana, US.
Out of every American Pacific project in Madison, this is its largest coordinated drill programme.
14 August
Tomago Aluminum and Rio Tinto have agreed a long-term power deal to provide an assured supply through 2038.
Australia’s largest aluminium smelter will fund the new agreement with US$778.39m worth of investments across the next 12 years.
This includes a 10 year power purchase agreement for renewable electricity supply to the Tomago Aluminium which begins in December 2028.
18 August
OceanaGold will acquire the Katanning gold project in Western Australia before 2027 after buying Ausgold for around US$549m.
This is the Canadian company’s first location in Australia, expanding on its existing mines in the US, New Zealand and the Philippines.
The deal will provide Ausgold shareholders with immediate premiums of 28% to the last closing price.
Gerard Bond, CEO of OceanaGold, says: “This marks our first acquisition in Australia, and we are excited to build on the great work done by the Ausgold team to further optimise the development of the Katanning project for the benefit of both OceanaGold and Ausgold shareholders.”
19 August
The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Critical Minerals and Energy has announced plans to invest more than US$160m into recovering critical minerals.
The organisation says it will focus on recovering key elements including scandium, copper, antimony and rare earth elements by funding nine projects.
This funding is part of DOE’s wider investment plan, designating US$1bn to scale mining, processing and manufacturing technologies across the US critical minerals supply chain.
20 August
Mining companies are continuing to implement digitalised platforms to improve efficiency and profitability.
According to Gartner, the process mining software market grew by 39.5% to US$871.6 million in 2023.
There are multiple factors behind successful mineral extraction including specified routes for each mine, precise scheduling and strategic long term planning.
Technology companies can simplify these requirements through optimisation systems that offer real-time data into an integrated system.
Mining Digital has ranked 10 of the top mining optimisation platforms that are helping transform the industry.
