Queensland has reveal the world’s first mobile mine gas laboratory for mine emergency. Stirling Hinchliffe, the state’s mines minister, said the automatic mobile laboratory was developed by the Safety in Mines Testing and Research Station (SIMTARS), which also formed new blasting strategy last year.

Mine disasters such as the Pike River incident in New Zealand show how the presence of dangerous mine gases can hinder rescue or recovery efforts after an underground mine collapse or explosion,Hinchliffe said.Ultra fast mine gas sample and analysis can vastly improve decision-making and save lives during a mine tragedy.

It’s important to have the aptitude to replace a mine’s own gas monitoring system if it is damaged, destroyed or inadequate in an emergency. According to the minister, the $600 000 mobile mine gas station can provide gas monitoring in a few hours, rather than a fortnight like Pike River.

The lab comes with a 20 point tube package gas monitoring system and ultrafast gas chromatograph, which allows it to carry out continuous routine analysis of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and oxygen levels at 20 dissimilar sites around a single coal mine.

The ultrafast gas chromatograph also extends the real time analysis capability to include hydrogen, nitrogen, ethylene, ethane and acetylene,Hinchliffe added.This will supply critical information about gas notice, ratios and flammability needed for informed decisions about when it is safe to re-enter the mine.

This new age group model considerably improve our emergency response capacity and is the only one in the world with a fully automated gas monitoring system that can restore a mine’s full system,he stated. The mobile lab will be situation at the Dysart Mines Rescue Station to give it closer access to the Bowen Basin’s subversive coal mines.

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Expressing concern over the planned restrictions on export of certain grade of coal by the Indonesian government, India Saturday said it would try to find a resolution through bilateral talks.

We have taken up it with the external affairs and the finance ministry’s to solve the tax issue with the Indonesian government,union Coal Secretary Alok Perti said at the 4th Asian Mining Congress International display here.We would try to find a solution through two-sided talks,Perti added.

Indonesia had plans to impose export duty on coal and minerals to discourage export without value addition and encourage base metal and coal downstream industry development. There were also talks to export coal above than 5,600 kilocalories (kcal) from the country.

India’s power sector is unsurprising to get impacted by this as currently coal imports from Indonesia are higher. Perti conversant that the prime minister’s office (PMO) was working towards a co-ordination among coal, power and environment ministries to addition the aim for additional manufacture of coal by the Coal India Ltd(CIL) for the 12th Five Year Plan period.

The PMO is working towards it. If surroundings issues are sorted out, we would be able to augment the traditional additional production target of 100 MT for the 12th Five Year Plan period announce by the state-run coal major, he said.I believe it can be 160 MT, if environment issues are sorted out,he added.

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McEwen Mining Inc.is pleased to announce that the beforehand announced business combination, pursuant to which US Gold Corporation acquire Minera Andes Inc. and was renamed McEwen Mining, has been effectively finished and closed today.

The Combination was carried out by way of a plan of agreement under the Business Corporations Act(Alberta), which was conservative by the shareholders of both US Gold and Minera Andes on January 19, 2012 and the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta on January 20, 2012.

Shares of McEwen Mining will commence trading on the NYSE and the TSX, subject to final exchange approvals, under the symbol “MUX” on Friday January 27, 2012. Holders of Minera Andes shares will receive 0.45 of a open to discussion share of McEwen Mining – Minera Andes Acquisition Corp. for each one (1) Minera Andes share held.

These exchangeable shares of McEwen Mining – Minera Andes Acquisition Corp., will also start trading on the TSX on January 27, 2012 under the symbol “MAQ”. The negotiable shares of McEwen Mining – Minera Andes Acquisition Corp. are convertible on a one-for-one basis at any time into shares of McEwen Mining. McEwen Mining will have an aggregate of 267,084,203 shares of common stock outstanding and issuable upon the swap over of negotiable shares.

Minera Andes and US Gold will continue trading in the ordinary course on January 25 and 26, following which Minera Andes will delist from the TSX and OTC and US Gold will carry on to trade as McEwen Mining.

If you are a US Gold shareholder or hold your Minera Andes shares through a broker or other mediator, no action is necessary by you. If you hold your Minera Andes shares in certificate form, you will need to follow the procedure set out in the letter of imbursement provided to you along with the organization information circular of Minera Andes, dated December 13, 2011.

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Xstrata Coal South Africa (XCSA) is pleased to proclaim that it has ended the sale of its Spitzkop and Tselentis collieries and behind coal assets, located in Mpumalanga, South Africa, to the Imbawula Group (Imbawula) for a secret amount. The transaction has effect from 1 January 2012.

Imbawula has acquire, as a going concern, the Spitzkop and Tselentis opencast and underground mining operations, all supporting infrastructure, including land, movable assets, buildings and coal beneficiation plants.In addition, Imbawula Mining has obtain prospect and mining rights in the area which support the long term operation of this business.All affected XCSA employees will be transferred to Imbawula and the represented unions have been consult.

Murray Houston, XCSA Chief Operating Officer, commented:I consider this contract is a positive outcome for Xstrata Coal, Spitzkop and Tselentis employees and the operations’ many stakeholders. We have a long and established relationship with the executive and shareholders of Imbawula. I am pleased that we are move ownership of these two collieries to a growing coal producer.

Imbawula is gaining a highly competent team of employees and the company has an ongoing commitment to working correctly and safely. From our perspective, the disposal of these assets allows us to focus on our core portfolio of large produce complexes, including the ongoing development of our existing and future resource base.

Mr Pius Mokgokong and Mr Yacoob Mansoor, directors of Imbawula stated:Our group owns and operates various other coal mines in the region and this acquisition is a compelling and natural fit.We have an recognized management team in place and this transaction will deliver significant synergies for our group over a relatively short time frame.

While this acquisition supplements our resources to support our core business, which is the supply of coal to Eskom, it also offers diversification away from Eskom with exposure to the export markets.

Xstrata Coal will purchase export coal from us over a ten year period at a market connected price. The benefits derived from this attainment ensure that Imbawula will be the pre-eminent BEE coal mining company in this area, and the employees will be working in an surroundings filled with opportunity.

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Aurizon Mines was down 1.82% today despite proclaim a record year for gold produce and strong growth prospects.The Vancouver-based Company said it achieved a record 163,845 ounces in 2011 from its Casa Berdi gold mine in Quebec just under its targeted 165,000 ounces but up 16% from 2010.

The mine process 693,123 tonnes at a standard gold grade of 8 grams per tonne, with annual recovery averaging 91.3%. Aurizon spent $71 million at Casa Berdi on shaft deepen, tackle infrastructure and sustaining capital.

It anticipates 2012 gold manufacture to be in the neighbourhood of 155,000 to 160,000 ounces. The gold grade is predictable to be 7.5 g/t and ore production is expected to be similar to 2011 at 2,000 tonnes per day. Cash costs for the year are unsurprising to be about US$600 per ounce.

Aurizon is budgeting $16.7 million this year to deepen the West Mine production shaft a further 285 metres to provide admission to three lower zones. Another $24.7 million will be spent on mining equipment replacement, structure of a paste backfill plant and tailings ponds expansion.

“We are very satisfied with the improvement in gold production at Casa Berardi in 2011, up 16% from 2010, and location a record for annual ounces wrought for the mining company,” said George Paspalas, President and Chief Executive Officer.

“An estimated $210 million in cash at year end, continued strong cash flow from Casa Berardi into the future, and an undrawn $50 million credit facility provide Aurizon with the suppleness to fund capital and investigation projects whilst maintain a strong financial position.”

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Some community members are concerned about plans to expand a diamond exploration project on South Baffin Island.  Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. owns and operates the Chidliak project near Iqaluit. The company wants endorsement from regulators to bring in more workers, more equipment and set more trails to support the next phase of its investigation work. But people who hunt and travel in the area are worried.

Rebekah Kanayuk of Pangnirtung, Nunavut, said her family used to hunt caribou in the area but does not any longer. She blames Peregrine Diamonds for scaring caribou away as the company’s helicopters go to and from the Chidliak possessions.

Kanayuk’s concerns are echoed in other letters to the Nunavut Impact Review Board, which protest that the Chidliak project threatens wildlife and the surroundings. In a letter to the mining company, the board states it has received commentary about the scheme from 25 people in Pangnirtung.

Many of the submissions state that Peregrine is operating on traditional hunting grounds where people in the community have spent a lot of time all through their lives. In a letter to the board, Andrew Nakashuk, 37, from Pangnirtung, said he and his family used to hunt for caribou in the area. He writes, “The last four years I have not catch any caribou from that area, but I had to go a lot additional south and it is a lot more hazardous to go down there because of the site and distance,” he said.

Nakashuk said he tried to get Peregrine to cover the cost of the extra fuel needed to get to more southern hunt grounds, but said they refused, citing there was no case law in that condition. In another letter to the board, Billy Etooangat writes that he and his family have used the area in Chidliak Bay to hunt for caribou and beluga for decades.

He said that since Peregrine began explore the area in 2009, he has noticed caribou have abandoned the area. Both Nakashuk and Etooangat wrote that they spend a substantial amount of money to hunt, casing the cost of gas, bullets and food.

They wrote that country food is essential to their lifestyle, and they note it is very unsatisfactory to go home empty-handed after a hunt. The Nunavut Department of Environment and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association have also uttered concerns. Peregrine Diamonds respond with its own letter to board, delineation how it’s working to diminish the mining project’s impact and stating its willingness to contribute to research in the area.

The public has another week to respond to Peregrine’s submission, after which the board will decide whether it supports the company’s bulk sampling program. Peregrine said bulk sampling is the next step in determining whether Chidliak can hold up an inexpensively viable mine.

The company recently said that even if approved, the work could be belated until next year. Peregrine recently took over full ownership of the Chidliak project, after BHP Billiton decided to sell its 51 per cent stake. Peregrine said it will complete a full analysis of its exploration program before decide how and when to carry on.

CHINESE trader Guangdong Guangxin Holdings has signed an $89 million deal to boost its interests in Australian base metals by buying a quarter of the Mineral Hill copper and goldmine in NSW and a 15 per cent stake in mine owner KBL Mining. The Chinese state-owned GMR, which is the major investor of zinc miner Kagara and gold traveler Mungana, also will get the right to buy, at a 25 per cent discount, KBL’s copper production from the mine.

The deal is the latest example of China taking advantage of a dearth of wisely priced funding for smaller miners from normal sources. If it goes ahead, it will boost the Chinese state-controlled speculation in KBL, which until last month was called Kimberley Metals, to 24 per cent.

Investors reacted positively to the agreement, sending KBL shares 4c — 17 per cent  higher yesterday, to a three-week high of 27c, in their biggest one-day percentage move for the stock since it was spun out of CBH Resources early last year.

KBL executive chairman Jim Wall said Mineral Hill had always been short of capital and the funds would be used to mine deeper copper income at the mine near Condobolin, in central NSW, and fund exploration.

Institutions zipped up their pockets a long time ago. Most won’t invest in asset with a market cap of less than $200m, so there is very little risk money because the European fiasco has made the markets very nervous,he said.

In turn, there is a lot of interest from China. What we are seeing happen in the market has predominantly been in iron ore and coal but copper is also extremely significant for expansion in China.Under a memorandum of framework co-operation signed between the pair, Guangdong will pay $80m for a 25 per cent interest in Mineral Hill and the right to purchase all of KBL’s subsequent three-quarter share of the mine’s copper concentrate at a 25 per cent discount to London Metal Exchange prices.

Mr Wall said most of the $80m was forward payment for the copper concentrate discount, rather than the mine stake, but he would not provide a split. Guangdong also will take a 15 per cent stake in KBL by paying $9.2m for 33 million new KBL shares at 28c each, which is a 25 percent best to the weighted average share price during the past six months.

This will dilute KBL’s biggest shareholder, China’s state-controlled lead company Henan Yuguang, to about 9 per cent. Mineral Hill started production in September and is ramping up to an predictable annual production of 5000 tonnes of copper in concentrate, 21,000 ounces of gold and 255,000 ounces of silver.

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Canada-based RX Exploration has applied for a working permit to expand gold and silver mine northwest of Helena after authoritarian officials became concerned the company was approaching the limits of its accessible permit.

The company made the request Thursday to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to get bigger operations at the historic Drumlummon Mine.This is a big step toward moving forward,Bob Taylor, the company’s chief working officer, told the Independent Record.

The mining company has been operating under a Small Miners barring statement, SMES that allows it to concern five acres and remove up to 10,000 tons of ore. But the Lewis and Clark City-County Board of Health in a letter to the state Department of Environment articulated concern about the permit.

We question the suitability of allowing RX to operate under a SMES instead of require the company to apply for a full-scale operating permit,the board stated in its letter. Also, the DEQ’s Hard Rock Mining plan said the mine had prolonged to 4.71 acres.

If the new permit is issue, it would allow the corporation to extract up to 255,000 tons of ore a year and operate around the clock for 340 days per year. The permit covers 614 acres, though company official said they expect to disturb only 52 acres.

If the permit is approved, the corporation expects to increase manufacture to between 500 and 750 tons of ore per day.That 500 tons is predictable to be the target manufacture rate for the life of the mine, but RX may consider increasing or decreasing that as searching continues,the company said in the permit.

The company said it expect the mine to last for seven years at that rate. But Herb Rolfe, the DEQ’s Hard Rock Op Permit manager, said he expects the mine to function longer as mining companies start with short periods and then expand with exploration.

Rolfe said it will be at least eight months before officials make a decision on the permit. The agency has 90 days to review the permit, and then an additional 90 days to write an Environmental Assessment or more involved Environmental Impact Statement. A 30-day public comment period follows, and then another 30 days for the agency to issue its Record of Decision.

The company, which employees about 100 people at the mine it has been exploring since 2009, has been removing about 170 tons of ore per day, getting better about $2 million in precious metals. The mine twisted 65,000 ounces of silver and 4,000 ounces of gold between June 1 and Sept. 30 of this year.

The mine started in the 1880s and fashioned $29 million in gold and silver when gold sold for $20 an ounce. But it flooded during an ownership dispute. Officials with RX searching said modern mining techniques and new technologies will allow them to reach gold and silver they believe remains in the mine.

Plans to get that gold and silver include building a processing plant near the mine where ore would be crushed, mixed with water and chemicals and put through a centrifugal process. Currently, ore is hauling to another position to be milled. Taylor said it could be cheaper to mill the ore closer to the mine. The company said mine tailings would be put in a lined landfill below the mill and covered.

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Westmoreland Coal Company announced today that it has agreed to acquire Chevron Mining Inc.’s Kemmerer mine in the Hams Fork Region of southwestern Wyoming for $179 million plus roughly $14 million in working capital.

It is anticipated that the purchase price will be funded through a combination of cash consideration of roughly $74 million, plus the assumption of approximately $118.0 million in certain liabilities, including post departure medical, pension, black lung, and asset retirement obligation liabilities.

Over the last five years, Kemmerer has shaped, on average, 4.7 million tons of high-quality sub-bituminous coal for sale to the adjacent Naughton power station, as well as various industrial customers located in the adjacent geographic region.

The transaction includes approximately 118 million tons of coal reserves as of December 31,2011, enough for 20 years of production; a skilled and stable workforce; recently installed stateof-the-art coal preparation and loadout facilities; strong customer commitment; and an expansive fleet of well maintained mining equipment.

Additionally, considerably all of Kemmerer’s projected production for 2012 through 2016 is committed and priced under existing sales contracts. “Strategically, the Kemmerer mine fits well with our existing mine mouth operation,” said Keith E. Alessi, Westmoreland’s President and CEO. “The mine has a expand base of stable customers, both usefulness and industrial. Under Chevron’s stewardship, the mine has been well managed and its capital equipment is in excellent situation.

“We will look for extra strategic acquisitions as we carry on to deliver premium value in the coal industry through close association with world class customers. We anticipate this business to be cash flow positive straight away upon closing and in line with our strategic plan to de-leverage over time. The gaining will allow us to influence our already efficient corporate platform, and we hope to close the transaction by January 31, 2012.”

“We view the Kemmerer workforce, which totals around 290 people, as a core component of the contract. The employees of Kemmerer will be a tremendous addition to our mining company and we look forward to welcoming them to the Westmoreland family,” said Alessi.“These skilled employees share our core values of uncompromised security and environmental fineness.”

Consummation of the transaction is subject to certain customary conditions and approvals and has already been accepted by the Board of Directors of Westmoreland and the appropriate governing bodies at Chevron Mining Inc. Gleacher Company acted as financial advisor to Westmoreland. There can be no assurance that the transaction will be finished or that the anticipated reimbursement of the transaction will be realized.

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