Week in Review: The Biggest and Best Stories of the Week
General Electric Aims to Rival Caterpillar in Sustainable Mining Train Race
Global company General Electric (GE) (NYSE:GE) is leading the rat race in providing railroad locomotives that comply with the tougher US emission standards to the mining industry. The company’s early success is giving equipment manufacturer Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) a run for its money.
REPORT: Australia Gains Control of Gold Mining Industry
Australian owned mining companies account for approximately 50 percent of gold mining operations in Australia, according to a recent report by mining consultancy Surbiton Associates.
The shift in control is contributed to foreign investors selling off their stake in Australian mines, giving local companies more control of the country’s $12-billion gold mining industry.
[VIDEO] Volvo Showcases Futuristic Excavator Concept
The mining industry is adapting to new concepts and Volvo is showcasing what the future of excavators may soon look like.
The automaker teamed up with Swedish industrial design house ‘Prospective Design’ to develop the excavator of the future. The two teams talked with equipment operators to learn what features and functions they would like to see on a machine --whether they were possible or not. What they came up with is one part space age and another part primordial.
Randgold Resources Remains Loyal to Sustainable Community Efforts in Mali
Randgold Resources (LSE:RRS) is continuing to provide life-changing benefits to local communities in which it operates.
At the company’s Loulo-Gounkoto gold mining complex, the largest of its kind in Mali and one of the largest in Africa, Randgold Resources is continuing its commitment of sharing the value it creates with its stakeholders, including the people of its host countries.
Newmont Mining to Invest $1-Billion in Merian Gold Mine in Suriname
US-based Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM) says it will invest up to $1 billion to develop a new gold mine in the South American nation of Suriname.
Under the banner of Surgold, the Merian mine will produce an average of 300,000 to 400,000 ounces of gold annually. Higher grade ore and throughput in the early phases would propel annual production to an average of 400,000 to 500,000 ounces of gold per year in the first five years.
Top 10 Mining Mergers and Acquisitions of All-Time
#10-AuRico Gold Purchases Northgate Minerals
On August 29, 2011 AuRico Gold Inc. purchased Canada-based Northgate Minerals for $1.49 billion. The deal combined the two companies into one leading intermediate gold producer with five operating gold mines, and three gold development projects in Mexico, Canada and Australia.
The company is now 62 percent owned by AuRico shareholders with the other 38 percent inhabited by Northgate’s shareholders.
BHP Billiton Plans to Build Pilot Processing Plant at its Olympic Dam
Mining company BHP Billiton is planning to build a pilot processing plant at its Olympic Dam mine in South Australia’s Far North.
The company, which has already applied to the Federal and State Governments for approval on the expansion, is set to run a three-year trial for a potentially cheaper way of processing copper and uranium.
