Integra Mining (ASX: IGR) achieved a gold production milestone of 100,000 ounces in early January at its Randalls Gold Project located 60-130 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie in Australia’s most prolific goldfield.

First gold was poured from the project in September 2010 and Integra ramped up to first commercial production in March 2011.

Managing director Chris Cairns said another significant milestone has been achieved by Integra’s operations people.

“This follows on from having been voted the Gold Mining Journal’s ‘Gold Miner of the Year’ for 2011. It is great to see the site based personnel receiving the well-deserved recognition of their industry peers,” he said.

Integra continues to unleash the potential of the Randalls project with assays last week from follow up diamond drilling at the Imperial prospect returning high grade gold-copper intersections including 6.2 metres at 13.43 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 1.5% copper.

Highlights also included an interval of 2 metres at 31.1g/t gold and 1.3% copper.

Mineralisation at the prospect is open along strike to the north where shallow WMC-era reverse circulation drilling intercepted 2 metres at 1.8g/t from 52 metres, and to the south where there is no reverse circulation drilling for some 200 metres.

Randalls has a JORC Resource of 30 million tonnes at 2.6g/t for 2.5 million ounces of contained gold.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

CONGA GOLD PROJECT IN PERU IN STALL MODE BUT HOPEFUL TO PROCEED

The Wall Street Journal reports Peru on Friday announced a programme of social and infrastructure investments in its poor Cajamarca region aimed at winning over local protesters who have brought to halt Newmont Mining’s $4.8 billion Conga project over environmental concerns.

Protestors, led by Cajamarca’s Maoist governor Gregorio Santos, say Conga will destroy the environment by transforming four high Andean lakes into reservoirs for mining operations.

In December the government was forced to declare a state of emergency after boulders were used to block exits from the regional capital of more than 200,000 inhabitants, schools, hospitals and business were closed and dozens injured in clashes with police.

The Wall Street Journal reports Peru’s new Prime Minister, Oscar Valdés, who was elevated to the position after a cabinet shake-up prompted by the Conga crisis said late Thursday that he thought work on the project which was stopped in November could restart by March:

On Friday, René Cornejo Diaz, the housing minister, was sent to Cajamarca to tout the federal government’s program to invest 4.3 billion soles, about $1.6 billion, in infrastructure and expanded antipoverty programs in Cajamarca.

But Cajamarca leaders, including the governor, Gregorio Santos, didn’t seem likely to be swayed by government largess. “The position of the regional government is clear, Conga is not going ahead,” Máximo Léon, a top adviser to Mr. Santos, said in a telephone interview.

Conga has gold deposits worth about $15 billion at current prices and would be the biggest investment ever in Peru mining.

Conga has turned into a political nightmare for President Ollanta Humala who took office last year and who has on many occasions publicly backed the project. The bitter dispute is seen as a test case for scores of conflicts triggered by mining investments in the country.

At least 200 communities nationwide in Peru have organized to stop mining or oil projects, usually over environmental concerns or to demand direct economic benefits in rural towns.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

ASSESSMENT – Peru has a very rich precious metals background. This diverse nation in the Andes, once a victim of Spanish looting, is now the biggest silver producer in the world, the second largest copper and zinc producer and the sixth largest gold producer. The wealth of its mineral deposits stems from  dramatic landscapes consisting of soaring mountains, winding valleys, stark deserts, mysterious jungles and isolated coastlines. More than 7% of global mining exploration occurs on this unforgiving terrain, where historical production collides with modern geological technology. The Peruvian mining industry represents about 60% of the country’s export earnings.  Earnings from mining are expected to grow 6% annually through 2011-13.

But with a landscape as diverse as this, miners have to pick and choose locations carefully.

Ancash & Cajamarca Regions

Two regions which should be on the radar of eager gold and silver investors are the Ancash and Cajamarca in northern Peru. Both Ancash’s and Cajamarcas’ economies are largely made up of gold, silver, copper, zinc & precious metals mining.

Gold and silver production and exploration in these regions are a clear example of the investment and muscle needed to survive in the Peruvian Andes. This high-elevation, mineral rich area, which has been on the list of eager juniors for decades, currently persists mainly on the activity of the world’s two biggest gold miners:

Minera Yanacocha – Newmont Mining

Newmont Mining’s [NMC – TSX] legendary Yanacocha mine is a joint-venture project with Peruvian Company Buenaventura and the International Finance Corporation, which own 43.65% and 5%, respectively. Yanacocha is the largest gold mine in Latin America and is not only considered to be the second largest gold mine in the world, but also one of the most profitable.

The Yanacocha consists of three active open pit mines, with production having exceeded 26 million ounces (US$7 billion) since the mine opened in 1993. Located only 48 kilometres from city of Cajamarca, the mine produced 1.5 million ounces in 2010 and has reported 5 million ounces of gold reserves as of December 2010.

Considering Newmont’s recent stock rocketing in the past six months, buoyed by positive third-quarter results and ongoing production and exploration around the globe, the Company’s stock price may scare away smaller investors. Then again, the recent dip below $70 could also be seen as a gift by many who believe gold is about to go parabolic in the face of worldwide currency destruction.

Pierina – Barrick Gold

Not to be outdone by its competitor, the world’s largest gold producer, Barrick Gold Corp. [ABX – TSX], has two key mines in the regions: Alto Chicama & Pierina. Of the two, the Pierina’s mine life has recently been extended to the end of 2014 due to the rising gold price and increased interest in Peru’s gold possibilities. An open-pit operation, Pierina produced 191,000 ounces of gold at $434 per ounce in 2010 and recorded proven and probable mineral reserves as of December of 791,000 ounces of gold. Considering that Barrick recently reported record net earnings of 45% to CAD $1.37 billion for the 3^rd quarter, investors should look for future exploration and increased production in the Ancash region.

Much like Newmont, investors may hesitate on following such a high-priced stock. But judging from Barrick’s recent price volatility, a result of the volatile yet upward-moving gold price, there are plenty of opportunities to catch the stock on the dips.

Yanamina Gold Project – Coronet Metals

For those with shallower pockets and hopes for higher gains, Coronet Metals [CRF – TSX.V] offers an alternative to the nearby majors that may add another producing mine to the Ancash region. A junior gold exploration and development company, Coronet is presently developing its Yanamina Gold project, which Coronet recently purchased from Latin Gold Limited. Yanamina is an advanced-stage project with an initial inferred and indicated resource of approximately 286,000 ounces of gold grading between 1.6 and 2.0 grams/tonne and 1,400,000 ounces of silver grading on average of 8 grams/tonne.

The project represents an ideal opportunity to catch the attention of the two previously mentioned majors, as it is an open pit, heap leach gold operation. Exploration on the area has revealed a low sulphidation epithermal Au-Ag deposit, with indicated ounces mentioned above, and substantial upside potential. Coronet reports good existing infrastructure in the region, along with an proposed mine life estimate of 8+ years.

On top of the development of the Yanamina project, Coronet has also recently announced an agreement to evaluate re-processing up to 950,000 of gold tailings in Peru. The project is located 16 km below the Yanamina project and will give Coronet the opportunity to demonstrate its adherence to corporate social responsibility and best practices in the area. Mr Joel Dumaresq of Coronet says, “ This low-capital project could move Coronet into gold and silver production with the objective of generating sufficient free cash flow to cover the Company’s overhead. The contractors are already approved and completion of due diligence is targeted for Q1, 2012.”

2011 And Beyond

As the Yanamina gold project and the re-processing of gold tailings unfold, expect to hear a growing buzz of expectation from the Ancash region.

As the global gold hunt heats up in the face of financial calamity, well-placed juniors such as Coronet may deliver significant rewards to schrewd punters

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

CHINA TO WIND DOWN SMALL GOLD MINES

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) is putting together new standards for the gold industry which will raise the startup barriers, and entities with daily gold processing capacity of less than 50 tons will have to get out of the industry, the Shanghai Securities News said on Tuesday.

Local governments, Reuters reports, have already received orders to shut small gold miners down.  The industry ministry is planning to go even further, by closing mines with a daily gold processing capacity of below 100 tonnes and halting approvals for small ore processing companies.

In addition, large gold miners will be encouraged to expand overseas in order to increase resource supplies.

China, the world’s largest bullion producer, currently has no limits on gold production and production is determined by the gold producers, adds the report.

The record-high prices over the past two years has encouraged miners to boost gold output at all costs, including dubious & dangerous practices that have heavily polluted rivers and soil and, according to Reuters, caused cancer-related deaths to soar in soeveral areas.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

Australias Perth Mint announced that it minted a one-tonne gold bullion coin that is worth over $55 million.

It is the world’s largest gold bullion coin. The previous record holder was held by the Royal Canadian Mint, which produced its own large coin.

Dimensions of the coin are 80 centimetres wide and over 12 centimetres thick.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

Various articles on commodities from mining magazine

$25 million spent in Albania by Tirex Resources going a long way

Receives unanimous community support for mining permit applicationsSubmits all required mining application documentation

security nightmare

getting back 17,000 gold bars

Speaking at the Diggers & Dealers conference in Kalgoorlie Australia, Robert Friedland, executive chairman of Ivanhoe mines made big claims for the new mine his company is constructing in Mongolia together with major shareholder Rio Tinto.

Oyu Tolgoi is now one third complete and on track to produce more than 1.2 million pounds of copper and 650,000 ounces of gold each year and, according to the brash Canadian, would have a life of more than a century.

Oyu Tolgoi will also help turn Mongolia into the world’s fastest-growing economy with staggering GDP growth of 35%. Just to make sure no-one has any misconceptions of the grand scale of the project Friedland boasted that Oyu Tolgoi has 14,200 builders, easily overshadowing the largest construction project in the US, the new World Trade Center with only 2,300. And just to top things off he said Ivanhoe is worth at least double the $15.6 billion valuation the market is affording it at the moment.

The Australian quotes Friedland as saying the company is spending about $US75 per second in the development of the mine adding that this equated to about $US9 million ($8.3m) a day.

London South East reports Friedland believes the project is being undervalued: based on the 1.4 times net asset value that top gold miner Barrick Gold paid for copper miner Equinox Minerals earlier this year, Ivanhoe would be worth between $34 and $46 a share.

Ivanhoe last changed hands at $23.87 in early morning trade in Toronto on Wednesday. The stock has a market valuation of $15.6 billion and had been trading in a relatively narrow range this year with net gains in 2011 of just under 4%

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha