Women locked to excavators, hanging from trees in Maules Creek mine protest

Protests at Whitehaven Coal’s Maules Creek mine project are ramping up with tree-clearing and construction work halted at the hands of activists.

Yesterday two women chained themselves to excavators near the site in the Leard State Forest, while a young man was suspended on a platform attached by a cable to two trees that had planned to be felled.

The action is the last in a spate of protests aiming to stop the controversial mine from going ahead, with more than eight people arrested since January 13.

Front Line Action on Coal have set up a camp in the area for more than 500 days in protest of Whitehaven Coal's Maules Creek mine project.

Yesterday the Narrabri Shire Council voted in favour of closing down the camp, citing safety concerns.

The decision means fines can be issued to the environmentalists if they fail to comply with the move-on order, which is expected to be issued in the coming days.

However activists say the order will do little to deter them from directly opposing the mine.

“I think that’s where the council is underestimating us,” environmentalist Phil Spark said.

“If they think that by moving us from there it will make us go away, then they are wrong."

“Our movement’s growing all the time and I think that determination to see it through is increasing.”

Activists say if the mine goes ahead it will destroy the Leard State Forest, affect water and force farmers off their land.

“We’ll be continuing to take action and remain in the forest until we can protect it,” a spokesperson for Front Line Action on Coal said.

Having lost a court case which would have prevented the $767 million project from going ahead, the group says it will continue its fight against the project.

“We have exhausted every legal and political avenue to make our voices heard. Whitehaven’s mine will destroy our community and our livelihood. We’ve seen this happen in mining areas all over the country – eventually the farmers will be forced to move out. My family has lived here for generations: we are prepared to fight for this place,” a local farmer said.

Traditional Owners are also opposed to the project and say Whitehaven have not properly assessed the "culturally significant forest, artefacts and cultural values".

Whitehaven have previously called protests “a nuisance” and vowed to go ahead with the development of the project.

“Our primary concern is that any protest activity is carried out lawfully and does not endanger the safety of mine employees or emergency service personnel,” the company said.

GOLD: Gowest moves Bradshaw deposit forward with milling deal

 Gowest Gold of Toronto is moving its Bradshaw gold deposit, part of its Frankfield property 32 km northeast of Timmins, forward with the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the treatment of its concentrate with United Commodities AG (UC), a Swiss company that owns the Yukon refinery in North Cobalt, ON.

The agreement calls for UC to test concentrate samples from Bradshaw, and if the deal moves forward, UC will build a new gold refinery at North Cobalt. Gowest would be invited to become co-owner of the refinery. Two years ago Gowest purchased the pressure autoclave and associated equipment that had been used at the Con mine near Yellowknife, NWT. The equipment will form part of Gowest's commitment to becoming a partner in the refinery.

Gowest also has a non-binding letter of intent with Glencore Xstrata to mill the Bradshaw ore on a custom basis at its Kidd facility, also in Timmins.

The decision to use third party processing rather than build its own plant is saving Gowest a considerable amount in preproduction costs. The project with an annual output of 94,000 oz is expected to cost approximately $60 million, a savings of at least $100 million over the cost of building a new mill and refinery.

Gowest has developed a timeline indicating that gold production from the Bradshaw deposit could begin in Q3 2015. The deposit includes 6.0 million indicated tonnes grading 4.9 g/t Au and containing 945,500 oz of gold. The inferred resource is 3.7 million tonnes grading 4.2 g/t Au and containing 536,800 oz of gold. An underground mine producing roughly 1,500 tonnes of ore daily is likely.

Macquarie deal to buy Goldman uranium desk not done

Australia's Macquarie Bank said on Friday that it had not concluded a deal to buy the uranium trading desk of Goldman Sachs after two trade sources said that the transaction had been agreed.

"Macquarie denies the deal has been done," a spokesperson for the Australian investment bank in London said.

Goldman put its uranium desk up for sale late last year. The U.S. bank acquired the desk in 2009 as part of a deal to buy the London-based trading operation of Constellation Energy.

Macquarie, which is expanding its commodity trading operations, has emerged as the main candidate to buy the uranium desk.

"I understand that Goldman have sold their uranium business to Macquarie," a senior trading source said, asking not to be identified. A second trading source said the same.

The Australian investment bank is also still in the running to buy JPMorgan's physical commodity trading operations competing with two other firms, trading house Mercuria and private equity firm Blackstone, according to industry sources.

Acquiring JPMorgan's physical commodity business would propel Macquarie into the top ranks of natural resources traders among banks.

Wall Street's role in physical commodity trading has come under intense pressure in the last six months, as politicians in the United States question whether banks back-stopped by the government are taking undue risks by dealing in tankers of oil and other materials.

Morgan Stanley, another Wall Street heavyweight, in December announced a deal with Russian oil major Rosneft, which is taking on the majority of the bank's physical oil trading business.

Uranium aside, Goldman has stood out amongst the top-tier U.S. banks in commodities by saying it plans to continue to operate in physical commodity markets as this is necessary to support its clients in operations such as hedging.

Goldman held around $200 million worth of low-grade uranium stocks late last year as part of its trading operation, according to industry sources.

Goldman also has a marketing arrangement with AngloGold Ashanti, South Africa's largest uranium producer, to sell the uranium it produces as a by-product of its gold mining activities.

Union successful in fight to ban urine drug tests

Testing the urine of workers in order to detect drug and alcohol use has been banned by the Fair Work Commission which found employees at Endeavour Energy are to be tested using saliva swabs instead.

Last week the Fair Work Commission refused Endeavour Energy's bid to urine test its 2635 employees.

The commission labelled the use of urine tests “unjust and unreasonable” in a case which could have wider implications for a range of industries, including mining.

Endeavour Energy launched the latest legal action in October last year, with the matter heard in the Fair Work Commission in December. The company was attempting to vary the original decision, which required the use of oral testing, with urine based testing.

The Electrical Trades Union said the decision confirmed two previous court rulings that found the use of urine test was unfair because it could detect drug use from days earlier, rather than more recent use that could lead to impairment at work.

ETU NSW deputy secretary Neville Betts said the decision highlighted that the role of drug and alcohol testing in the workplace should be about identifying potential impairment, rather than disciplining staff for private actions taken in their own time.

“While oral testing accurately identifies recent drug use, where an individual may be impaired in their abilities, urine tests unfairly monitor workers’ private lives by potentially showing a positive result even where a substance may have been used many days prior, in a private capacity,” Betts said.

“This is the third time the courts have ruled in favour of the ETU on this issue, despite Endeavour Energy spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in an attempt to force urine testing on their staff.

“This most recent decision absolutely cements this legal precent that has wide-ranging ramifications not only for the electricity sector, but for every industry that carries out drug and alcohol testing, in particular mining, aviation, transport and emergency services.

“In recent years drug testing of employees has become increasingly common, both in the public sector and private enterprise, which is why making sure the practice is done as fairly as possible is so important.

Endeavour Energy's chief executive Vince Graham said the ruling contradicted a 2011 decision by which found in favour of a coalmining employer's right to conduct urine testing, Newcastle Herald reported.

In that case, the commission found urine testing was more accurate.

"Mine workers and electricity workers both work in potentially dangerous conditions and yet different drug testing methods have been ordered by the [Fair Work Commission]," Graham said.

Minister 'failed to act' on Maules Creek mine stop-work order

Gomeroi traditional owners say they are devastated after bulldozers began working on disputed land attached to the controversial Maules Creek mine site in northwest NSW.

They have accused the Abbott government of failing to act on an application for an immediate stop-work order on the land, which they lodged in November to try to protect burial grounds and culturally significant sites.

Traditional owner Stephen Talbott says bulldozers started working on the land, which is leased by Whitehaven Coal, last weekend.

He says an application was lodged under sections 9 and 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 in November to try to prevent that happening until the land had been properly assessed.

Documents show the application was lodged with Environment Minister Greg Hunt on November 12.

But weeks later Mr Hunt's office informed the Gomeroi people that the application had been sent to the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Nigel Scullion.

Then in mid December, Gomeroi representatives were told the application had been sent back to Mr Hunt's office and that he would be the one making the decision about the stop-work order.

They say they have not heard back from Mr Hunt, and Mr Hunt has still not made a decision on the stop-work order.

Mr Talbott says it is deeply upsetting that bulldozers have moved onto the land.

"All we ask as Aboriginal people is that they do the right thing and respect our culture and heritage," Mr Talbott said.

"Allow us to get in there and salvage what we can, do our cultural values, and capture that before they blow the guts out of it."

A spokesman for Mr Hunt said the federal government wanted to ensure that the indigenous heritage of the area remained protected.

"The minister is looking at the claims made by the Gomeroi traditional owners very carefully," the spokesman said.

"We want to ensure that Whitehaven works respectfully and constructively with the local community and traditional owners to avoid unnecessary disputes."

A spokesman for Mr Scullion said he would not comment on the issue.

The acting opposition spokeswoman for indigenous affairs, Claire Moore, said she was very concerned about the way the application for a stop-order had been handed back and forth between departments for months.

"This project was approved with the proviso that there would be processes in place between the mining company and the local community about issues such as this," Ms Moore said.

"That application was lodged in November, but there still has not been a stop-work order issued."

It comes just days after protesters blockaded the Boggabri site in their fight against the development of the Maules Creek mine.

More than 30 activists, including local indigenous people, locked themselves to heavy vehicles which are being used to build a rail line and roads for the mine.

Miners show allure as US continues to lift

Australian shares followed the lead of overseas markets and recorded a second day of gains, underpinned by data suggesting the US economy is accelerating.

The market has clawed back heavy losses from earlier in the week, fuelled by poor employment figures from the US.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index surged 63.7 points, or 1.2 per cent, to finish Thursday's session at 5309.1. The All Ordinaries rose 63.9 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 5319.4.

Overnight on Wednesday, US shares were buoyed by a rise in producer prices, as well as strong earnings from Bank of America, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average pushed 0.7 per cent higher, with the Nasdaq adding 0.8 per cent and the S&P 500 rising 0.5 per cent.

''Out of the US [earlier in the week] there was a lot of hand-wringing going on about how equity markets had a trying couple of days.

albeit at a time when liquidity is not the best,'' BlackRock Australian head of fixed income Stephen Miller said.

''My reading of the US data is that growth in the US is going to accelerate this year, tapering will occur. Equity markets aren't cheap, but in an environment when the globe is going to have synchronised growth for the first time since 2010, the prospects for getting the earnings going and supporting current equity valuations are reasonably good.''

Helped by a falling dollar, which slipped to its lowest since August 2010 at US88.13¢, miners led the market higher.

''With the Australian dollar dropping a cent, what that leads to is all the miners make significantly more money. So the miners have continued to outperform and the banks become less attractive to overseas investors,'' Market Matters principal Shawn Hickman said.

Iluka Resources added 7.6 per cent to $8.89 despite the mineral sands miner reporting that revenue for the year to December fell 28.6 per cent to $763 million.

Rio Tinto gained 2.1 per cent to $65.58 after it reported it had beat guidance on its two most important commodities, iron ore and copper.

After saying on Wednesday it would repay $US1.6 billion ($1.79 billion) in debt, shares in Fortescue Metals continued their strong run, jumping 3.8 per cent to $5.53, despite news that four incidents involving safety were being investigated by the West Australian Department of Mines and Petroleum.

''Overall, I am positive about the market but I think the banks are not the place to get the best returns this year,'' Mr Hickman said.

Woodside Petroleum advised it would write down as much as $US400 million on oil and gasfields in Western Australia. But some of that would be offset by up to $US250 million in benefits from the petroleum resource rent tax, which helped lift shares 2.7 per cent to $38.63 on expectations of a dividend rise.

Qantas added 1.4 per cent to $1.11 despite two of its biggest rivals forming a new alliance. Singapore Airlines announced a tie-up with Air New Zealand that is expected to put further pressure on Qantas' unprofitable international arm.

Minerals Council calls for changes to mining community funding

The New South Wales Minerals Council is calling on the State Government to reconsider the eligibility criteria for what constitutes a mining affected area under its Resources for Regions funding program.

Currently the RfR program filters investment into the State’s mining regions based on royalties raised in the local government area or mining truck movements.

The Minerals Council is proposing mining employment be added as an assessment indicator, saying it will ensure more mining affected communities receive funding to support infrastructure projects.

“NSWMC suggests that once an LGA has reached a threshold number of employees, or percentage of regional employment generated directly and indirectly by mining, it should be considered to be mining affected,” Minerals Council chief executive Stephen Galilee stated.

Since being introduced in 2012 mining communities like Muswellbrook and Singleton in the state’s Hunter Valley have received $26.5 million in funding for hospital upgrades, road improvements and streetscape renewals.

But other areas affected by mining miss out on funding as they do not meet the current eligibility criteria, the Minerals Council explains.

“Examples of ineligible LGAs include communities such as Cessnock, Parkes, Maitland, Broken Hill, Gunnedah and Lake Macquarie - all communities with a significant mining workforce,” it said.

“In Maitland and Cessnock, for example, more than one in every three employees is supported by mining, but these areas are not able to apply for additional infrastructure funding through the program.”

Neil Young’s anti-oil sands stance ignores the facts, says Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall

REGINA — Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall said Wednesday musician Neil Young’s comparison of the oil sands to Hiroshima is insensitive and ignorant of the facts.

Wall says he believes Young lost a lot of credibility by making the comments before a concert in Toronto on Sunday.

Young held a news conference during which he compared the landscape at a Fort McMurray industrial site to the devastation caused by the atomic bomb in Japan.

Wall says he disagrees with how Young is characterizing the industry, but adds it’s a free country and Young is welcome to speak his mind.

The premier acknowledges more needs to be done for the environment, but he also suggests that Canada’s record is better than any other oil-exporting country in the world.

Young is doing a four-city concert tour to raise money for an Alberta First Nation living downstream of the oil sands and is to perform Friday in Regina.

The debate comes as a new poll adds to evidence that a push by likes of Young and other celebrities, environmental groups and aboriginal activists opposed to big oil projects may be affecting public opinion.

According to a poll released Wednesday by Nanos Research Group, public support in Canada for TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline is waning, a development that could embolden opponents of the project.

Canadian support for the $5.4 billion link between Alberta’s oil sands and U.S. Gulf Coast refineries has declined to 52% in December from 68% in April, while opposition has increased to 40% from 28%. The survey of 1,000 Canadians taken between Dec. 14 and Dec. 16 has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, according to the Ottawa-based agency.

President Barack Obama’s government is weighing whether to approve TransCanada’s plans. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a strong proponent of the pipeline, a key part of the country’s plans to find new markets for its oil.

The Canadian government “has to be concerned about the erosion of approval in Canada, not just in terms of its impact in Canada but also in terms of the U.S.,” Nik Nanos, president of Nanos Research and Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, said in an interview. “This has implications for the anti-Keystone movement in both countries.”

Keystone is becoming a barometer for many environmental groups on Obama’s commitment to addressing climate change.

The U.S. State Department is overseeing the review of the pipeline because it crosses an international border. The agency is preparing a final version of an environmental review that will assess whether Keystone would contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, which many scientists believe are warming the planet.

A State Department official said today the agency will give the public more time to comment on the pipeline, which could delay the final decision.

A Bloomberg National Poll in December showed support in the U.S. was at 56% of respondents. That survey also found that 58% said they want Canada to take steps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions as a condition for approval.

Canadian oil-sands developers are counting on Keystone XL to lift heavy crude prices by connecting them to the U.S. Gulf Coast, the world’s largest refining center, as they double production by 2025. Keystone would ship about 830,000 barrels a day.

Environmentalists are trying to block the line because they say it would encourage oil-sands development, which releases more of the carbon dioxide that scientists say is warming the planet than extracting some conventional crudes.

A glut of oil caused by a lack of transportation options for Alberta production has led to Canadian heavy crude selling last year for an average $24.46 a barrel less than the U.S. benchmark.

Other proposed pipeline projects for Albertan oil include Enbridge Inc.’s Northern Gateway pipeline to the Pacific coast that also faces opposition from environmental and aboriginal groups and a separate TransCanada pipeline to transport oil to eastern Canada.

Canada’s government has been staging a public relations battle with opponents of the nation’s oil industry for years.

The Nanos poll also found that 94% of Canadians have heard of the project, up from 92% in April. Of those surveyed, 48% had a positive impression of the project, down from 60% in April.

Mining sector: Increase in gold output lifts Orosur

Orosur Mining (LON:OMI), the South America-focused gold producer and explorer, gains 12.6% to 11.4p as it confirms a 6% hike in gold production to 14,829 oz.

Net Income after tax for its fiscal second quarter was $3.5m, from $1.2m. The company's net cash position increased by $5.4m in the first half of this fiscal year.

Drill results from Kibo Mining's (LON:KIBO) Imweru gold project in Tanzania fail to impress the market despite coming in ahead of expectations with the shares down 5.6% at 4.25p.

The drill programme - which was completed in late November - comprised 21 drill holes for a combined total of 3,265 m of reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling (DD).

Gold mineralisation was intersected in 19 of the 21 holes drilled.

Kibo says new mineralised zones were intersected which have not been incorporated in the previous resource estimate and should contribute to an increase in the updated resource estimate.

Mineralisation remains open down dip and along strike.

The company is now awaiting completion of an independent update of the existing resource statement, prior to carrying out a phase 2 drill programme.

Chief executive Louis Coetzee said: "The drill results from Imweru exceed our expectations and confirm not just the continuation of the Imweru mineralised zones between previously drilled locations but new mineralised zones at depth. These results improved our confidence levels in the potential to significantly increase both the quality and quantity of the current resource on the project. 

"We now look forward to producing an updated JORC-compliant resource estimate before proceeding to the next development phase of the project"

Thor Mining (LON:THR) slipped 0.7% to 0.303p after it said upgraded gold assays from the Spring Hill, south of Darwin in Australia, are significant but it is not possible to extrapolate from them and and estimate any potential changes to historical results.

"We are selecting a further set of assays from the 2013 drilling program where values of between 1.0 & 2.0 g/t have been returned, and we will carry out screen fire assays on those," said executive chairman Mick Billing in a statement.

The company said following receipt of the final fire assay results from the 2013 drilling program, 55 samples with fire assays results greater than 2.0g/t were selected for follow up screen fire assay.

"When gold mineralisation includes substantial coarse gold, there can be instances of upgraded values on re-assaying using the considerably more exhaustive screen fire assay process," Billing said.

Of the selection, 18 samples were either downgraded or returned the same value, with the remaining 37 samples returning improved gold values.

A review of historical assays from drilling programs in the early 1990's showed that of approximately 3,500 assays of intersections with gold values greater than 0.5 g/t, only 156 were subject to screen fire assays. Information in respect of any upgrade from original fire assays is not available. 

Rambler Metals and Mining (LON:RMM) slips 1.3% to 28p despite announcing it has delivered about 6,608 wet metric tonnes of copper and gold concentrate from Goodyear's Cove, NL Canada. 

The Company's internal sampling estimates an average grade for the shipment of 28.28 per cent copper, 7.36 grammes per tonne gold and 51 grammes per tonne silver. 

This is the fifth shipment, as part of an off-take agreement with Transamine Trading SA (Transamine'), and brings the total delivered to approximately 32,300 wmt to date. 

Following the shipment, the Company still has over 3,274 wmt of concentrate in storage at its Goodyear's Cove Storage Facility. 

Fed to Release Plan to Limit Banks’ Commodities Activities

The Federal Reserve is poised to take a preliminary step toward limiting banks’ involvement with physical commodities amid congressional scrutiny, according to three people briefed on the discussions.

The Fed is planning to release as soon as today a notice seeking information on ways to curb ownership and trading of commodities such as oil, gas and aluminum by deposit-taking banks, said the people, who requested anonymity because the talks are private. Lawmakers have said dealing in commodities could create conflicts of interest and lead to market manipulation by deposit-taking institutions.

A Senate Banking subcommittee has set its second hearing on the issue for tomorrow. Senator Sherrod Brown, the Ohio Democrat who leads the financial institutions and consumer protection panel, has been a leading voice in raising concerns over the potential for abuses when banks own and trade both physical commodities and instruments tied to them.

The Fed is weighing whether to extend legal and regulatory exemptions that allow banks to participate in the commodities markets, a person briefed on the process said in October. Barbara Hagenbaugh, a Fed spokeswoman, declined to comment.

U.S. law restricts banks from owning non-financial businesses unless they get special exemptions. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley were the two biggest U.S. securities firms until they converted into bank holding companies in 2008. A 1999 law “grandfathers” any commodities operations the two companies had before Sept. 30, 1997.

‘Snooze Button’

“When, during the crisis, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs were converted to banks, to give them access to the Fed window and prevent them from being victims of liquidity runs, the Fed was tasked with considering which of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs’s commodity businesses would be grandfathered,” said Joshua Rosner, managing director at Graham Fisher & Co. “It looks like senior staff at the Board will probably use Wednesday’s Senate hearing as another chance to hit the snooze button.”

The Fed said in July that it’s reconsidering a 2003 decision to grant some lenders, such as Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., permission to expand into raw materials.

Banks have already announced plans to exit parts of the business. Bank of America Corp. said on Jan. 7 that it would exit power and natural-gas markets in Europe. Morgan Stanley agreed in December to sell a unit that stores and transports oil products to a subsidiary of Moscow-based OAO Rosneft. The sale of the global oil merchanting business is expected to be completed this year, New York-based Morgan Stanley said in a statement.

Exiting Businesses

JPMorgan, whose commodities units are overseen by Blythe Masters, said in July it may exit businesses after the Fed announced its review. The largest U.S. bank could sell or spin off holdings including warehouses, stakes in power plants and trading in materials such as gas and coal. The New York-based company said it will continue trading commodity derivatives as well as storing and trading precious metals.

The Fed is soliciting comments and other input before regulators take a position on a potential rule. The Fed has issued such preliminary notices before, including for a credit- ratings rule in 2010 and capital rules in 2003. After gathering outside views, the agency could then propose a rule and open that for comments, too, before issuing a final version.

Commodity trading revenue at the 10 largest global investment banks fell 18 percent in the first nine months of 2013 to $4 billion, industry analytics firm Coalition Ltd. said in a report this month.

--With assistance from Michael J. Moore in New York. Editors: Maura Reynolds, Anthony Gnoffo

Rio pays $1.31 billion for Turquoise Hill

Mining giant Rio Tinto has paid more than $1.31 billion for 510 million Turquoise Hill shares under a rights issue, clearing the slate as it develops the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia.

Rio said the $CAN1.292 billion ($1.31 billion) purchase represents 50.8 per cent of the shares offered under the rights offering of $CAN2.53 per share.

"Turquoise Hill will be using a portion of the funds it receives under the rights offering to repay all amounts outstanding under the $US1.8 billion ($A1.99 billion) interim funding facility and the $US600 million ($A664.53 million) secured bridge funding facility each provided to Turquoise Hill by Rio Tinto," Rio Tinto said in a statement.

The company said the acquisition of additional common shares under Turquoise Hills rights offering conformed with its agreement with Turquoise Hill in August.


Rio Tinto said it does not plan to acquire additional securities of Turquoise Hill.

In August last year Rio agreed to provide $US600 million in bridging finance to Turquoise Hill Resources to refinance outstanding amounts under a $US225 million short-term funding facility.

In October Rio said copper production at Oyu Tolgoi was producing at design capacity as it ramps up to full capacity.

Rio shares were 48 cents, or 0.76 per cent, lower at $63.03 at 1125 AEDT.

Paladin upgrades Manyingee resource, more infill drilling planned

Uranium miner Paladin Energy has reported an updated mineral resource estimate for its Manyingee deposit, in Western Australia, which increased the inferred resource by about 10.2-million pounds.

The Manyingee deposit is now estimated to host about 8.37-million tonnes of indicated resource and 5.4-million tonnes of inferred resource, at a cutoff grade of 850 parts per million for 15.7-million pounds of indicated uranium oxide (U₃O₈) resource and 10.7-million tonnes of inferred resource.

MD John Borshoff told shareholders on Monday that the deposit was earmarked as the next new project development for Paladin, but would not be considered for development until the uranium was sufficiently incentivising.

However, he pointed out that additional infill drilling was planned for later in 2014, which would allow for the conversion of a portion of the current inferred resource into the indicated category.

In addition, the drilling would also be targeted at identifying representative areas of mineralisation suitable for in-situ recovery processing in order to select an ideal location for a field leach trial.

The completion of the field leach trial, after gaining all the necessary approvals, was the next major step in further defining the potential of the Manyingee deposit, said Borshoff.

Four US states confirm pollution from fracking

By Kevin Begos

In at least four states that have nurtured the nation's energy boom, hundreds of complaints have been made about well-water contamination from oil or gas drilling, and pollution was confirmed in a number of them, according to a review that casts doubt on industry suggestions that such problems rarely happen.

The Associated Press requested data on drilling-related complaints in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Texas and found major differences in how the states report such problems. Texas provided the most detail, while the other states provided only general outlines. And while the confirmed problems represent only a tiny portion of the thousands of oil and gas wells drilled each year in the US, the lack of detail in some state reports could help fuel public confusion and mistrust.

The AP found that Pennsylvania received 398 complaints in 2013 alleging that oil or natural gas drilling polluted or otherwise affected private water wells, compared with 499 in 2012. The Pennsylvania complaints can include allegations of short-term diminished water flow, as well as pollution from stray gas or other substances. More than 100 cases of pollution were confirmed over the past five years.

Just hearing the total number of complaints shocked Heather McMicken, an eastern Pennsylvania homeowner who complained about water-well contamination that state officials eventually confirmed.

"Wow, I'm very surprised," said McMicken, recalling that she and her husband never knew how many other people made similar complaints, since the main source of information "was just through the grapevine."

The McMickens were one of three families that eventually reached a $1.6 million settlement with a drilling company. Heather McMicken said the state should be forthcoming with details.

Over the past 10 years, hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has led to a boom in oil and natural gas production around the nation. It has reduced imports and led to hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue for companies and landowners, but also created pollution fears.

Extracting fuel from shale formations requires pumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of water, sand and chemicals into the ground to break apart rock and free the gas. Some of that water, along with large quantities of existing underground water, returns to the surface, and it can contain high levels of salt, drilling chemicals, heavy metals and naturally occurring low-level radiation.

But some conventional oil and gas wells are still drilled, so the complaints about water contamination can come from them, too. Experts say the most common type of pollution involves methane, not chemicals from the drilling process.

Some people who rely on well water near drilling operations have complained about pollution, but there's been considerable confusion over how widespread such problems are. For example, starting in 2011, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection aggressively fought efforts by the AP and other news organizations to obtain information about complaints related to drilling. The department has argued in court filings that it does not count how many contamination "determination letters" it issues or track where they are kept in its files.

Steve Forde, a spokesman for the Marcellus Shale Coalition, the leading industry group in Pennsylvania, said in a statement that "transparency and making data available to the public is critical to getting this historic opportunity right and maintaining the public's trust."

When the state Environmental Department determines natural gas development has caused problems, Forde said, "our member companies work collaboratively with the homeowner and regulators to find a speedy resolution."

Among the findings in the AP's review:

- Pennsylvania has confirmed at least 106 water-well contamination cases since 2005, out of more than 5,000 new wells. There were five confirmed cases of water-well contamination in the first nine months of 2012, 18 in all of 2011 and 29 in 2010. The Environmental Department said more complete data may be available in several months.

- Ohio had 37 complaints in 2010 and no confirmed contamination of water supplies; 54 complaints in 2011 and two confirmed cases of contamination; 59 complaints in 2012 and two confirmed contaminations; and 40 complaints for the first 11 months of 2013, with two confirmed contaminations and 14 still under investigation, Department of Natural Resources spokesman Mark Bruce said in an email. None of the six confirmed cases of contamination was related to fracking, Bruce said.

- West Virginia has had about 122 complaints that drilling contaminated water wells over the past four years, and in four cases the evidence was strong enough that the driller agreed to take corrective action, officials said.

- A Texas spreadsheet contains more than 2,000 complaints, and 62 of those allege possible well-water contamination from oil and gas activity, said Ramona Nye, a spokeswoman for the Railroad Commission of Texas, which oversees drilling. Texas regulators haven't confirmed a single case of drilling-related water-well contamination in the past 10 years, she said.

In Pennsylvania, the number of confirmed instances of water pollution in the eastern part of the state "dropped quite substantially" in 2013, compared with previous years, Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Lisa Kasianowitz wrote in an email. Two instances of drilling affecting water wells were confirmed there last year, she said, and a final decision hasn't been made in three other cases. But she couldn't say how many of the other statewide complaints have been resolved or were found to be from natural causes.

Releasing comprehensive information about gas drilling problems is important because the debate is no longer about just science but trust, said Irina Feygina, a social psychologist who studies environmental policy issues. Losing public trust is "a surefire way to harm" the reputation of any business, Feygina said.

Experts and regulators agree that investigating complaints of water-well contamination is particularly difficult, in part because some regions also have natural methane gas pollution or other problems unrelated to drilling. A 2011 Penn State study found that about 40 percent of water wells tested prior to gas drilling failed at least one federal drinking water standard. Pennsylvania is one of only a few states that don't have private water-well construction standards.

But other experts say people who are trying to understand the benefits and harms from the drilling boom need comprehensive details about complaints, even if some cases are from natural causes.

In Pennsylvania, the raw number of complaints "doesn't tell you anything," said Rob Jackson, a Duke University scientist who has studied gas drilling and water contamination issues. Jackson said he doesn't think providing more details is asking for too much.

"Right or wrong, many people in the public feel like DEP is stonewalling some of these investigations," Jackson said of the situation in Pennsylvania.

In contrast with the limited information provided by Pennsylvania, Texas officials supplied a detailed 94-page spreadsheet almost immediately, listing all types of oil and gas related complaints over much of the past two years. The Texas data include the date of the complaint, the landowner, the drilling company and a brief summary of the alleged problems. Many complaints involve other issues, such as odors or abandoned equipment.

Scott Anderson, an expert on oil and gas drilling with the Environmental Defense Fund, a national nonprofit based in Austin, notes that Texas regulators started keeping more data on complaints in the 1980s. New legislation in 2011 and 2013 led to more detailed reports and provided funds for a new information technology system, he said.

Anderson agreed that a lack of transparency fuels mistrust.

"If the industry has nothing to hide, then they should be willing to let the facts speaks for themselves," he said. "The same goes for regulatory agencies."