Suppliers Roundup (November 03, 2003)

China eyes HIsmelt technology

Australia-based HIsmelt, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto, has signed a licensing agreement with the Laiwu Steel Group of China to develop an iron-making plant using HIsmelt technology.

Laiwu Steel plans to build the 800,000-tonne-per-year plant in Laiwu City, China.

HIsmelt is a smelting process whereby iron ore fines and other iron-containing materials, as well as non-coking coals, are injected directly into a molten iron bath to produce high-quality iron.

The agreement represents what will be the first use of the HIsmelt process outside of Australia, where it was developed by London-based Rio Tinto more than a decade ago.

Construction of the Kwinana HIsmelt plant, which is owned jointly by Rio Tinto, Nucor, Mitsubishi and Shougang Corp., is to begin in late 2004.

Finning inks Chilean deal

Finning International has agreed to supply Antofagasta Minerals’ subsidiary, Minera El Tesoro, with $96 million in maintenance services and equipment for use in its copper mines near Antofagasta, Chile.

The deal includes six pieces of Caterpillar equipment (four 793C off-road trucks, as well as D9R and 834G tractors) worth $12 million, and a 5-year maintenance and repair contract (extendible to eight years) worth $84 million.

Finning will deliver the equipment in January.

Since 2000, six 789C trucks and other Caterpillar units have been in operation at the mine. “The sale marks the third major mining equipment sale for Finning South America this year,” says Finning International CEO Douglas Whitehead.

Met-Chem to supply concentrator

Montreal-based Met-Chem and Spanish-based Duro Felguera jointly have been awarded a US$5-million contract by Corporacion Venezolana of Guyana in Venezuela for the engineering of an iron ore concentrator.

The concentrator, which will be in the Piar iron ore district, will have a capacity of 8 million tons per year of iron concentrate.

Met-Chem Canada is a consulting engineering company established in 1969. Duro Felguera is an engineering and construction company involved in industrial and mining projects worldwide.

Wardell Armstrong forms sub-group

U.K. firm Wardell Armstrong Consulting has created Wardell Armstrong International, as part of plan to expand its expertise in the fields of minerals engineering, mining and renewable energy.

The new company will exist as a division of Wardell Armstrong Consulting and be based in Redruth, U.K.

The Wardell Armstrong Consulting Group has more than 300 employees in eight offices in the U.K., as well as subsidiaries in Scotland and China.

Turner heads firm’s mining group

Fasken Martineau, law firm to Canada’s mining industry, says Toronto partner John Turner will head up the firm’s expanding Global Mining Group.

“John Turner is considered one of the best ‘dirt’ lawyers here in Canada and abroad,” says Louis Bernier, managing partner.

A graduate of Cambridge University, Turner ran Fasken Martineau’s London office for four years. He takes over from Tookie Angus, a well-regarded mining lawyer who joined Endeavour, a mining investment firm.

Turner and Angus spearheaded Fasken Martineau’s recent move to open an office in Johannesburg. The office will be staffed by one senior partner from Canada, and Peter Stafford, a native South African, will be the resident partner.

Fasken Martineau also has offices in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

Feasibility planned for Mirador

Engineering firm AMEC E&C Services has been awarded a contract from Vancouver-based Corriente Resources to perform a bankable feasibility study on the Mirador project in Ecuador.

The study is slated for completion in mid-2004.

Mirador has an inferred resource estimate of 182 million tonnes grading 0.76% copper and 0.22 gram gold per tonne.

Data from a prefeasibility study, which is under way, will be incorporated into the new AMEC design.

The cost of the study, including associated fieldwork, is estimated at $3 million and will include a drill program to provide samples for additional metallurgical tests, confirm resource estimates, and test outlying targets such as the recently discovered Mirador North zone.

A preliminary Mirador assessment modeled a 20,000-tonne-per-day open-pit copper-gold mine using about half of Mirador’s inferred resources.

Major teams with Schramm

Moncton-based Major Drilling says its Canadian-based subsidiary, Universal Drill Rigs, has reached an agreement to market its UDR-KL rod-handling system through a network of 18 distributors associated with U.S.-based drill rig manufacturer Schramm.

Says Major Drilling CEO Francis McGuire: “This is the first time the rod handler will be marketed for sale outside of Australia.”

The UDR-KL rod handler is a hands-free, automated drill rod-handling system, and Schramm will offer it as an option on its range of drills. The unit can be fitted to most models of tophead drive rigs.

The UDR-KL is built by Australian-based UDR Group, also a wholly owned subsidiary of Major.

West Chester, Pa.-based Schramm is known for its Rotadrill brand of tophead-driven rotary drilling equipment and technology.