News
24 May 2013, Kiruna to be Rebuilt
Our team have enjoyed working out of Kiruna, Sweeden, this last year but the town isn’t going to be the same in the future. Bloomberg reported this week that up to 65% of Kiruna’s appartments and 35% of the entire town are going to be demolished to make way for new mine developments. A new town center will be constructed several kilometres away.
Unlike recently in New Zealand when protesters came out in force after De Grey Mining announced the commissioning of two exploration drill holes on farm land, there is evidently no such resistance in Kiruna. The residents of Kiruna understand that their quality of life and the very existence of the town is completely dependent on mining activity so developments like this are embraced as positive for the community. So long Kiruna, it has been nice knowing you as you were.
18 April 2013, All that glitters
Rigging or not the gold price drop still hurts. Especially anyone with feasibility study with $1,500 per ounce in their models. Most miners and early stage explorers will be able to adjust to the new playing field and get on with it, but companies with projects being developed with gold prices on the wrong side of the ledger will be painfully exposed.
18 March 2013, Review: RSC on the 2013 PDAC
On the first week of March RSC’s Senior Consultant Geologist, Dr. Ronald Worl, attended the PDAC in Toronto. The event was run professionally and successfully with an array of international booths and several good technical sessions.
Stand out sessions included a talk by McCuaig of the Centre for Exploration Targeting and one on Australian Au-Cu deposits. The Keynote session was on “Risk and Reward in Mining Exploration and Development” where personal friend of Dr. Worl, Donald Singer gave a very well-researched and well-presented session on “How should mineral exploration risks be evaluated?.
Being a geological consulting company RSC’s approach to the conference was to focus on booths of companies with projects in selected geographic areas. We also made sure that we met up with companies and government representatives who had travelled from our end of the world to attend the event. Overall, it was a successful conference for RSC and will once again have it as a must attend on our 2014 calendar!
11 March 2013, RSC Director and Consulting Geologist to attend the AMC 2013
The 2013 Asia Mining Congress is kicking off tomorrow, March 12th, in Singapore. The event, which attracts global mining industry attention, is in its 9th year and runs over three days attracting well over 2,000 industry professionals. Included in speakers, exhibitors and attendee are geological service providers, exploration service providers, international mining consultancy companies, geological suppliers, governments and trade commissions, and investor advisors and corporate brokers. The congress is believed to be Asia’s most influential mining investment and capital conference. RSC’s director and consultant geologist Rene Sterk is attending the event. The ACM is targeted at professional networking for investment in the mining industry. Rene is looking forward to the event this year and hopes to see you there.
07 March 2013, One small step for WIMNZ, one giant leap for Women in Mining in NZ
To celebrate National Woman's Day Women in Mining New Zealand (WIMNZ) held an event last Friday evening in Wellington, New Zealand. WIMNZ which was established in 2012 by like- minded woman in the industry to support and develop New Zealand woman’s roles both nationally and internationally. With frequent events in Dunedin and Wellington WIMNZ hopes to extend their membership, raise awareness and show support to women in all areas of the mining industry. Here is a snap of the ladies from last week. Far right is Michelle Fitz-William and Geena Kumar who are both members of the establishment committee.
07 March 2013, PDAC Attended by Geological Service Providers
Yesterday, the PDAC in Toronto was wrapped up for another year. RSC’s Senior Consultant Geologist, Ron Worl, has been attending the event which was keenly attended by explorers and providers of geological services alike. As a key player in the Geology and Exploration Services arena it was important that we show our face. Ok, it’s a long way from home base but there’s a huge amount of activity happening in Canada and it has an impact on the industry worldwide.
Arlene Drake, an exploration analyst with Natural Resources Canada spoke at the PDAC about Canada’s exploration spend. Drake was reported to say that in 2012 gold accounted for 46% of Canada’s exploration spend and base metals just 19%. Canada, the country with the biggest exploration budget, is expected to spend around $3 billion (CAD) in 2013 which is a fall of about 14% from 2012 levels. That’s not great news for many geological consulting companies. RSC’s view is that this will bring about some rational thinking in the industry where contract geologists and consultants refocus on the basic principles that generate the most value for exploration clients: understand the geology, understand data limitations and pay attention to quality control.
