Rinehart’s Hancock weighs $3.3 billion iron ore mine project
Hancock acquired a 51% interest in the Mt Bevan project from Legacy Iron Ore Ltd. and Hawthorn Resources.
IBM is ramping up its provision of services and equipment to the Australian resources sector as rising costs compel miners to seek to cheaper and more efficient operating methods.
Fairfax reports that IBM is boosting its provision of ICT solutions for miners in the wake of plunges in commodities prices and higher operating costs.
Under the harder market conditions miners are increasingly turning to sophisticated high-tech methods such as modelling systems, supply optimization tools and communications technology to make a difference to the bottom line.
According to IBM’s natural resources director Murray Bruce mining companies are now acquiring more equipment and expanding processing and transportation capability to increase the pace and efficiency of operations.
The company has aggressively expanded its team of experts in Australia in an effort to establish itself as the key provider of computerized solutions for the country’s stalwart mining states of Western Australia and Queensland.
One major project slated for completion in the near-term is a customized simulation of Crosslands Resources’ shovel-to-ship supply chain for its Jack Hills mine in Western Australia, which sits atop a 3.89 billion-tonne iron ore deposit and has an expected life span of four decades.
