Mining Engineering’s Weekly Rundown: Episode 8

Welcome to Mining Engineering’s Weekly Rundown, where we break down the latest news shaping the mining industry. As usual, we’re diving into a few major headlines that are striking the sector.

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First off, Minnesota Public Radio reported that a controversial provision that would open land adjacent to the Boundary Waters in Canoe Area and pave the way for Twin Metals Minnesota to advance its copper and nickel mine was removed from the “Big, beautiful” budget bill that is being considered by Congress. The provision called for the return of two federal mineral leases to Twin Metals Minnesota which is seeking to open an underground copper mine on the shore of Birch Lake outside Ely. The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources had included the provisions in the budget reconciliation bill. A U.S. House rules committee stripped the language from President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” It was one of several provisions taken out for not complying with the budget reconciliation process, because it deals with policy and not strictly budgetary items.

Secondly, Canadian miner Allied Gold could look at alternative options for a power supply deal at its Sadiola Mine in Mali following a surge in gold prices and the emergence of new opportunities, its CEO told Reuters. The gold miner signed an agreement in February with UAE-based Ambrosia Investment, giving Ambrosia a 50 percent stake in the mine in return for installing a new power supply system that would have improved the mine’s costs. Allied Gold was also supposed to receive $500 million, with approximately $250 million in upfront cash consideration from Ambrosia.

Allied Gold CEO Peter Marrone said the deal may close in June, but if it does not, it is because other options have become available to the company.

Finally, Weir has been selected by Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, to supply the tailings transport solution for the Talabre tailings dam expansion project in the Atacama region of Chile. The brownfield expansion project will combine the thickened tailings streams from three major mines in the area: Ministro Hales, Chuquicamata and Radomiro Tomic. The expansion is expected to have a total productive life of 20 years, and handle a slurry thickened to ca. 70 percent solid content – creating the opportunity to reuse process water and increasing the safety and stability of the storage facility.

The Weir solution includes a combination of GEHO positive displacement pumps and Warman centrifugal pumps to handle the large volume and high solid content of tailings from the three mines. underlining the benefits of this technology for large scale, energy-efficient tailings transportation. 

For full details on these stories and more, visit our online magazine at me.smenet.org