Modern Mining July 2015

MINING News

Realising possibilities...

Pickstone-Peerless gold mine heads for production Vast, the AIM-listed resource and development company, reports that strong progress is being made in advancing the Pickstone-Peerless gold mine in Zimbabwe into production in August 2015. The mine is being commissioned, with an estimated annualised gold production of around 10 000 ounces expected from the targeted initial mining rate of 10 000 tonnes of ore per month from the opencast oxide gold cap. The first two blasts, one at the Pickstone opencast pit and the other at the Peerless opencast pit, have taken place. The crushing circuit, consisting of a primary crusher, two secondary crushers and a cone crusher, is complete and has been commissioned. This has released additional construction personnel who will now be allocated to the milling circuit and the carbon-in-leach/carbon-in-pulp tanks. The elec- trowinning and gold production facility is complete. 

...frommine to market.

The primary crusher at Pickstone-Peerless, which has now been commissioned (photo: Vast).

Rio Tinto has completed the sale of its 78 % interest in Murowa Diamonds and its 50 % interest in Sengwa Colliery Ltd to RZ Murowa Holdings Limited. It says it believes that the future of these assets can be best managed by entities with existing interests in Zimbabwe. RioZim Limited, an independent Zimbabwean mining company listed on the Zimbabwean Stock Exchange, already holds a 22 % interest in Murowa Diamonds and a 50 % interest in Sengwa and will assume the overall management of both entities. Rio Tinto Diamonds and Minerals Chief Executive Alan Davies said: “Rio Tinto remains committed to the diamond industry and is focused on operating its two world-class underground mines whilst obtaining the approvals for its advanced diamond project in India.” The Murowa diamond mine is an open-pit mining operation located near Zvishavane in south-central Zimbabwe. Production from Murowa began in 2004 and the mine reportedly produced 344 000 carats in 2014.  Rio Tinto completes sale of its Zimbabwean interests

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2015/04/20 10:43