World Mining Exploration News

Rambler Metals and Mining plc is pleased to announce continued high grade gold, copper and zinc drill results from its underground diamond drilling exploration and in-fill program at the Ming Mine.

Highlights include the following assay results:

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Drill Hole Sample Gold Copper Zinc
Length
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RMUG08-126A 23.20 m 4.74 g/t 0.86 % 0.55 % (more…)

THE Chinese slowdown has forced Rio Tinto to slash this year’s iron ore production by 20 million tonnes in a move that could wipe billions from its revenues.

The decision leaves BHP Billiton as the world’s only major iron ore producer yet to cut output, following last month’s decision by Brazil-based Vale to scale back shipments by 30 million tonnes.

It adds to a stream of negative news from the resources sector, with Fortescue Metals Group bringing forward a shutdown of its port and processing plant because of the global iron ore oversupply and copper, gold, zinc and lead group Oz Minerals flagging a review of its expenses.

Rio announced yesterday that it would reduce iron ore shipments from Western Australia’s Pilbara region to between 170 million and 175 million tonnes this year. (more…)

Mountain Lake Resources Inc. is pleased to announce the results of a National Instrument 43-101 (”NI 43-101″) compliant independent resource update on its Bobby’s Pond base metals Project in central Newfoundland, which substantially increases both the indicated and inferred resources on the project.
The independent resource update, prepared by Hrayr Agnerian of Scott Wilson Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. as of July 31, 2008, includes an additional 16 drill holes since the previous resource calculation (January 15, 2007) and estimates that the Bobby’s Pond Deposit contains an indicated resource of 1,095,000 tonnes of 0.86% Cu, 4.61% Zn, 0.44% Pb, 16.6 gpt Ag, and 0.2 gpt Au in addition to an inferred resource of 1,177,000 tonnes of 0.95% Cu, 3.75% Zn, 0.27% Pb, 10.95 gpt Ag and 0.06 gpt Au. Contained copper in the inferred category increased from 11.3 million pounds (lbs) in the NI 43-101 report of Jan. 2007 to 24.6 million lbs; and contained zinc in inferred category increased from 67.3 million lbs to 97.3 million lbs in the latest report. The focus of the latest drilling campaign was to expand the size of the known resource and not to try to upgrade inferred resources to indicated resources. (more…)

Canadian mining major, Inmet Mining Corporation (TSX:IMN), has joined Australian gold and
base metal explorer, Global Geoscience Ltd (ASX: GSC), with an exploration agreement over
Global’s 100%-owned Los Graceros Cu-Mo porphyry project in northern Mexico.

Global has granted Inmet a three-year option to acquire 51% of the Mexican subsidiary company
that holds the tenement over the project area.

To maintain the option, Toronto-based Inmet must spend US$2 million on exploration over the
three year period, including a minimum of $350,000 during the first year. (more…)

Nautilus Minerals Inc. has been advised by its exploration partner, Teck Cominco Limited (”Teck Cominco”), that it has discovered four new high-grade Seafloor Massive Sulphide (”SMS”) Systems on Nautilus’ prospecting licences in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Kingdom of Tonga (http://www.nautilusminerals.com/i/misc/PR_Tonga_Tenements.jpg). Laboratory testing of 17 massive sulphide samples, across the four newly discovered SMS systems, returned an average grade of 16.4 g/t gold, 8.2% copper, 12.3% zinc and 184 g/t silver (see Table 1).

Stephen Rogers, Nautilus’ CEO, commented: “The results that Teck Cominco has achieved with its first offshore mineral exploration campaign on our ground are outstanding. This is the first time that commercial exploration has taken place in Tongan waters and the prospectivity of this area has been clearly demonstrated. Building on our recent successes in Papua New Guinea (”PNG”) we now look forward to the commencement of our own program in Tongan waters when our vessel Nor Sky arrives later this week. (more…)

Wealth Minerals Ltd. is pleased to announce the results from the initial exploration work program at its Pampa Coria property in north-western Argentina.
Catena Target – Porphyry Copper-Gold
At the Catena target, 64 samples were collected from a northwest trend measuring approximately 7.5 kilometres by 2.5 kilometres. Results from these initial characterization samples returned values ranging from below detection limits to 1.46% copper, 2.26 g/t gold, 5.7 oz/t silver and 0.02% molybdenum, along with elevated lead and zinc (Figure 1). Several highlight results are tabulated below in table 1.
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Recovering minerals from the sea has long had a vague, but elusive attraction. After all, the science of hydrometallurgy is based on the chemistry of recovering metals from solution, and it is well-known that the sea contains huge tonnages of dissolved metals.

In reality, however, with the exception of near-shore diamonds and construction aggregates the economics have never panned out, as anyone with a memory that goes back to the 1970s and 1980s will recall. With earlier concepts of recovering gold from seawater having been proven to be unworkable, considerable sums were then spent on evaluating deep-sea manganese deposits, with the idea of scooping up enriched nodules that would form a sort of pre-prepared concentrate. That, too, came to nothing, although in hindsight, the techniques and equipment used proved valuable in terms of advancing deep-sea exploration.
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Since July, definite signs have emerged that Australia’s mining boom, a major factor in the country’s much touted economic growth during the past decade, has started to crumble under the weight of the world economic slowdown. Mineral export prices have begun to turn. The London Metal Exchange Index of six base metals, including copper, zinc and nickel, fell more than 20 percent from a peak of 4,400 in March to 3,400 in early August.

As a result, the Australian dollar has tumbled. After rising to near parity with the weakening US dollar in the first half of this year, it has become one of the world’s weakest currencies in recent weeks, falling well over 10 percent against the greenback.

While fluctuations in metal prices are certainly affected by speculative flows, the latest downturn is, at bottom, an expression of the markets’ reaction to what some financial commentators have called a “tidal shift” in the world economy. With the exception of China and India, all the major markets for Australian mineral and energy exports are now contracting or on the brink of recession: Japan, the US, Britain and the Euro zone. (more…)