Going deep for a rich #copper deposit, @RioTinto & @BHPBilliton pioneering #sensors & #AutonomousVehicles tech to data integration

Mining a Mile Down: 175 Degrees, 600 Gallons of Water a Minute

Steven Norton STEVEN.NORTON@wsj.com

June 7, 2017 10:31 p.m. ET

SUPERIOR, Ariz.—One of the world’s largest untapped copper deposits sits 7,000 feet below the Earth’s surface. It is a lode that operator Rio Tinto RIO 2.11% PLC wouldn’t have touched—until now.

Not that long ago, anabundance of high-grade copper could be mined out of shallower openpits. But as those deposits are depleted and high-grade copper becomestougher to find, firms such as Rio have been compelled to mine deeperunderground.
 ...
Advances in mining technology are making that possible—just as developments in oil and gas drilling heralded the fracking revolution. Now, using everything from sensors and data analytics to autonomous vehicles and climate-control systems, Rio aims  to pull ore from more than a mile below ground, where temperatures can  reach nearly 175 degrees Fahrenheit.
....
A 15-minute elevator ride 6,943 feet down Resolution’s No. 10 mine shaft leads to a dimly lighted cavern where warm water falls from the rocks like rain. Electrical gear buzzes constantly, and a  network of pipes pumps water out of the shaft at the rate of 600 gallons a minute. A ventilation system cools the area to 77 degrees.

Over the next few years, Rio plans to deploy tens of thousands of electronic sensors, as  well as autonomous vehicles and complex ventilation systems, to help it bring 1.6 billion tons of ore to the surface over the more than 40-year projected life of the mine.

 

Data coming from those sensors will be fed into analytics engines that will help monitor tasks  ranging from  underground blasts to the movement of autonomous vehicles.

...

Rio hopes analytics will help to break down organizational silos. Rather than one person viewing data about a specific part of the mining process, information from across the mine can be sent to a single place where experts can obtain a more holistic view of operations.

“It is taking a lot of the decision-making out of the hands of the operator and putting it into a group of specialists who can manage the whole system,” Mr. Stegman said. ..

Read the rest of the article here:Mining a Mile Down: 175 Degrees, 600 Gallons of Water a Minute:

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#Gold Stocks: Focus on Leadership

Focus on Leadership Within the Gold Industry from Paradigm Capital 

Highlighting leadership names within the gold industry. Common characteristics include price above the 200-day moving average, relative uptrend versus the TSX Global Gold Index, and 50-day moving average > 200-day moving average. With Gold coming into converging resistance along the 2017 highs and 2011 downtrend, we continue to recommend sticking with leadership names.

 

 

Intermediate Producers:

-          Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd.

-          Centerra Gold Corp.

-          IAMGold Corp.

-          Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd.

-          OceanaGold Corp.

 

Junior Producers:

-          Alio Gold Inc.

-          Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd.

 

Royalty Co's:

-          Franco-Nevada Corp.

-          Aurico Metals Inc.

 

Developers:

-          Sabina Gold & Silver Corp.

-          Victoria Gold Corp.

 

 

 

Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd.:

 

 

 

 

Centerra Gold Inc.:

 

 

 

 

IAMGold Corp.:

 

 

 

 

Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd.:

 

 

 

 

OceanaGold Corp.:

 

 

 

 

Alio Gold Inc.:

 

 

 

 

Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd.:

 

 

 

 

Franco-Nevada Corp.:

 

 

 

 

AuRico Metals Inc.:

 

 

 

 

Sabina Gold & Silver Corp.:

 

 

 

 

Victoria Gold Corp.:

 

 

#Gold & #Silver #COT

Net Commitments of gold futures traders indicate that large speculators (hedge funds and money managers) increased slightly their long positions. Net commercial gold traders extended slightly their short exposure. Nothing special to read into these figures

(attachment 1).

 

The Gold Barometers reveal that gold stocks are not overbought and physical gold and silver is in neutral territory as it is already for weeks (attachment 2).

 

The KITCO Gold Survey shows that Wall Street is outright bullish for this week with nobody bearish. The graphic for Retail Investors (Main Street) has not been published due to technical problems (attachment 3).

 

Net Commitments of silver futures trades show large speculators added to their long positions and net commercial silver dealers increased their short positions. Yes, they have now expanded for three weeks but the outstanding positions are not at an extreme (attachment 4).

 

The gold hourly chart indicates gold had a good week as it closed on Friday in New York 4:00 p.m. at US$ 1'278 per ounce for a weekly gain of US$ 21 (attachment 5). Almost all the gain was due to a weak (relative to expectations) U. S. employment report last Friday (attachment 6).

 

The Arca Gold Bugs Index (HUI) (attachment 7) indicates that this index, which is composed mostly of larger gold stocks, lost 1.7% to 191.51 percent last week.

 

The 2-year HUI chart (attachment 8+9) shows that

gold stocks are still far away from a top in August 2016 when investors were extremely bullish and the index reached 286 points. HUI is now trading around 33% lower from that top. We remember that period very well because we were calling gold stocks at that time extremely overbought.