Mining

There’s a ceasefire in the US-China tariff war and Aussie mining stocks are loving it

There’s a ceasefire in the US-China tariff war and Aussie mining stocks are loving it

News that the US and China has called a 90-day ceasefire in their escalating trade war has been a bit of a shining light for several ASX-listed small cap miners after months of pain.

US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping over the weekend agreed to place new tariffs on hold for the next three months while they continue talks.

The White House said President Trump had agreed not to raise US tariffs on $US200 billion ($271.5 billion) worth of Chinese imports from the current 10 per cent to 25 per cent on January 1, 2019 as previously planned.

Image Resources ramps up production at Boonanarring

Image Resources ramps up production at Boonanarring

Image Resources has commenced production ramp-up at its Boonanarring mineral sands project in the North Perth Basin, Western Australia.

The announced ramp-up is intended to help the project towards its feasibility study (FS) target of 500 dry tonnes of ore per hour within the next six months.

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Western Australia leads rise in exploration spending

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Western Australia leads rise in exploration spending

Mineral exploration is trending up, with 3.6 per cent growth to $561.4 million in the September quarter, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

This represented the industry’s highest level of spending in five years. Spending was also up 25.7 per cent year on year.

WA's newest lithium mine officially opens, with plans to expand already in motion

WA's newest lithium mine officially opens, with plans to expand already in motion

The lithium train shows no sign of slowing in WA as the state's newest mine officially opens, with plans already in motion to expand the Pilbara operation.

The first shipment from Pilbara Minerals’ Pilgangoora lithium-tantalum project left the mine on October 2 but was officially opened by WA Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston on Friday.

Located 120 kilometres south of Port Hedland, the mine will produce 330,000 tonnes of lithium a year and about 300,000 pounds of tantalum.

The Pilgangoora project’s workforce peaked at more than 800 during construction, but now there are about 200 operational staff on-site and in Perth.