Category: Mining
Newcrest woes bad news for Harmony Gold’s Wafi-Golpu project
Gold Calculator
Working in a gold mine is tough. There are safety considerations to keep you safe as well as security of the gold itself. There is this saying that “Security increases production”. From ore to processed mill feed to refined gold bullions for shipment. The security challengers are phenomenal at Porgera mine in the Enga Province of Papua new Guinea.
One of these challengers aside from illegal mining activities on the SML, is stopping employees and contractors from stealing the processed gold. Porgera Joint Venture has counter measures in place like electronic security systems, manpower and policies that deter theft but now and again we always come up with idiots with sticky fingers. They lose their jobs on the spot. Sometimes we can find gold bearing material concealed away somewhere inside the process plant, personal lockers, vehicles and even on their bodies.
Guys tried sticking nuggets up their arses hopping the metal detectors won’t find it. They were caught and lost their jobs. Some grow extra pair of balls between the crotch. But they got caught too. I could go on and on but that’s not what this blog post is about.
Actually it’s about calculating the value of gold that could have been stolen or smuggled out of the mine. It helps to get a grip on what workers are actually capable of smuggling for personnel gain. As a security officer this is a vital piece of information. Needless to say, I googled a whole lot of website trying to find a simple online calculator where you just punch in the weight and parts per million from the assay figures, the current gold price and the PNG exchange rate for USD and the answer smiles back at you.
But no…it wasn’t that simple. So I gathered all the conversion data, calculation formulas and hid it in an excel spread sheet. So if you don’t have one of those fancy online gold calculators, you can download it from me if you want.
This is what it looks like:
Here is an example if you want to write it on paper:
Calculation:
1.515kg x 32.150746568628 oz = 48.7083810514714 oz
48.7083810514714 oz x 6304.1 PPM = 307062.504986581
307062.504986581 / 1,000,000 = 0.307062504986581
0.307062504986581 x 1333.20 = 409.38 USD
409.38 / 0.3260 = 1,255.75 PGK
There you have it. Hope you don’t go spreading the good news. It’s a secret.
Fiji upgrades environment unit to better monitor mining — Papua New Guinea Mine Watch
Unit monitors State land and mineral resources Serafina Silaitoga | The Fiji Times | September 24, 2016 THE Mineral Resources Department has upgraded its environment unit to properly monitor and control development of State land or mineral resources. Acting director Apete Soro said the unit, under the mines’ division and part of the mineral department, […]
via Fiji upgrades environment unit to better monitor mining — Papua New Guinea Mine Watch
Two un-named mining companies hired Chinese to survey New Britain Trench — Papua New Guinea Mine Watch
Golden task for vessel’s maiden trip Echo Yang | Shanghai Daily | September 24, 2016 CHINA’S first privately funded oceanic research vessel “Zhang Jian” returned to Shanghai yesterday after its maiden voyage off the coast of Papua New Guinea in the Pacific Ocean. Hired by two mining companies in Papua New Guinea, the ship carried […]
Australian real estate investor circles Solomons ‘disaster’ gold mine — Papua New Guinea Mine Watch
The Solomon Islands environment ministry has condemned the ‘immoral’ behaviour of an Australian miner for selling an abandoned gold mine to traditional landowners for A$100. Stefan Armbruster | SBS World News| 3 September 2016 In the latest twist of the saga involving the troubled, 20-year-old operation, Chinese-Australian property developer AXF is now preparing to buy […]
via Australian real estate investor circles Solomons ‘disaster’ gold mine — Papua New Guinea Mine Watch
NZ seabed mining company slammed as ‘arrogant’ by South Taranaki iwi — Papua New Guinea Mine Watch
Jeremy Wilkinson | Stuff | 2 September 2016 Iwi have labelled a seabed mining company “arrogant” and slammed their consultation process in applying to mine offshore in South Taranaki. For the second time in as many years Trans Tasman Resources have applied for consent to annually mine 50 million tonnes of sand from the seabed […]
via NZ seabed mining company slammed as ‘arrogant’ by South Taranaki iwi — Papua New Guinea Mine Watch
Fiji Ministry clarifies on bauxite mining processes — Papua New Guinea Mine Watch
Fiji government tries to claim consent to mining from two chiefs is equivalent to free prior informed consent from ALL the landholders… Luke Rawalai | The Fiji Times | August 28, 2016 BAUXITE has only been mined at Nawailevu and Naibulu and chiefs from both areas have consented to the project, says Ministry of Land’s deputy […]
via Fiji Ministry clarifies on bauxite mining processes — Papua New Guinea Mine Watch
Bougainville’s Me’ekamui dismiss Rio share spat – Full Transcript — Papua New Guinea Mine Watch
Dateline Pacific | Radio New Zealand | 26 August 2016 The leader of Bougainville’s Me’ekamui rebel group, Chris Uma, says the spat over shares in Bougainville Copper Ltd, BCL, is of no consequence. There has been a war of words between the governments of Papua New Guinea and Bougainville after multi national miner, Rio Tinto, […]
via Bougainville’s Me’ekamui dismiss Rio share spat – Full Transcript — Papua New Guinea Mine Watch
Another environmental disaster for Australia’s world class mining industry — Papua New Guinea Mine Watch
Pump crews work at abandoned silver mine to keep toxic spill out of Murray-Darling Basin Mark Willacy | ABC News | 25 August 2016 Queensland Government officials have taken emergency action to stop massive mine storage ponds on the Queensland-New South Wales border discharging heavy metals into the Murray-Darling system, the ABC can reveal. Heavy […]
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