Suppliers Roundup (May 30, 2005)

HWE Mining on the block

Bankruptcy trustees in Australia are seeking buyers for the mining and contracting unit of engineering firm Henry Walker Eltin (HWE).

HWE sought voluntary bankruptcy protection earlier this year after Glencore withdrew a plan to inject A$100 million into the firm.

McGrath Nicol & Partners is seeking buyers for HWE’s mining contracting and services business, HWE Mining. Interested parties are being asked to buy HWE Mining outright or invest in the business as part of a recapitalization effort.

HWE Mining generated $600 million in revenue in 2003, making it one of the largest mining contractors in Australia. The company employs 1,700 personnel at about 20 sites. Part of HWE’s civil construction business was recently sold to Perth-based engineering firm Clough.

AMEC gets Snap Lake contract

De Beers has awarded AMEC a $38-million contract to develop the proposed Snap Lake diamond mine in the Northwest Territories.

AMEC will provide engineering, procurement and construction management services for the underground mine, which has a projected capital cost of $636 million.

The mine is expected to start up in 2007, enter full production in 2008, and continue operating for the subsequent 20 years. Minable resources are pegged at 18.3 million tonnes grading 1.46 carats per tonne. The value per carat is US$109.

De Beers acquired the property in 2000 after taking over Winspear Diamonds and buying the remainder from Aber Diamond (ABZ-T). Snap Lake will be De Beer’s first diamond mine outside of Africa.

Construction will create 450 full-time jobs.

Fugro to examine Nash Creek data

Fugro Airborne Surveys will re-process MegaTEM airborne data flown over Slam Exploration‘s (SXL-V) Nash Creek property, 25 km west of the seaport of Belldune in northern New Brunswick.

By using the conductivity-depth-transform (CDT) interpretation method on the airborne data, Fugro should provide Slam with a digital cross-section view of the flat-lying conductors in the area, some of which are 250 metres below surface.

The MegaTEM system penetrates much deeper than most airborne surveys. In 2000, Noranda (NRD-T) used it to find the Perseverance zinc deposit in Quebec’s Matagami camp.

Slam recently drilled sulphide intercepts grading up to 12.9% zinc plus lead over 15 metres in the Hayes zone at Nash Creek. Previous drilling there traced sulphide mineralization over a 2,200-metre strike length trending north from the Hayes zone. The mineralization occurs in flat-lying volcanic stratigraphy and is associated with a broad, horizontal MegaTEM conductor underlying an area 2,500 by 4,500 metres, suggesting potential for sulphides over a larger area than what is now known.