Performance
2008 Operating performance
Two Tier 1 greenfield discoveries, the Sulawesi nickel deposit in Indonesia and the ilmenite rich Mutamba and Chilubane heavy mineral sand deposits in Mozambique, as well as the Tier 2 Bunder diamond deposit in India, were transferred to product group evaluation teams. The Jadar lithium borate project in Serbia, thought to be the largest lithium deposit outside South America, was identified as a valuable but non core asset and is being prepared for divestment.
Order of magnitude studies commenced at the Regina potash property in Saskatchewan, Canada which Rio Tinto has sold to Vale, the Tamarack nickel-copper prospect in Minnesota, US, and at the Altai Nuurs coking coal property in Mongolia. These projects, as well as earlier stage opportunities at Amargosa in Brazil (bauxite) and Crowsnest in British Columbia, Canada (coking coal) are expected to provide the Group with the next crop of potential discoveries.
At the Simandou (iron ore, Guinea), La Granja (copper, Peru) and Resolution (copper, US) greenfield evaluation projects, inferred resources were published in the first half of 2008. Subsequent drilling at all three properties continues to return additional significant mineralisation.
In the brownfield exploration environment, drilling at the Bingham Canyon mine delineated additional copper resources and a zone of molybdenumdominated mineralisation beneath the current open pit.
At Energy Resources of Australia, the exploration programme focused on defining the Ranger 3 Deeps deposit located east of the current open pit. A similar near mine programme is now under way on the Rössing mine property in Namibia.
