Silvercorp Metals has completed an underground diamond drilling and tunnelling program at its TLP mine in the Ying mining district of Henan province.

Additional drilling programs at Asia Now Resources’ Beiya and Habo projects in Yunnan province have confirmed positive intercepts in a small number of holes. 25 core holes were drilled at Beiya and 4 core holes and one trench were completed at Habo. 

Galaxy Resources has achieved a solid month of production at its Jiangsu lithium carbonate plant in China since the operation re-started in February. For the month of March the plant produced 425 tonnes of lithium carbonate. 

China Gold International Resources and its controlling shareholder China National Gold Group Corporation have deployed machinery and team members to help free the bodies of mine workers buried at Ze Ri Mountain in the Tibet Autonomous Region after a major landslide which is believed to have cost 83 lives. The landslide occurred on March 29, dumping about 2 million cubic metres of rock and debris over an area 3km in length near Si Bu village. 

Ongoing infill and step-out drilling has led to the discovery of several new mineralized veins, including an intersection of 33.29 metres @ 151 grams/tonne silver, 0.68% lead, 1.51% zinc and 0.3% tin at Silvercorp Metals’ GC project in Guandong province. Other highlights include 3.5 metres @ 460 grams/tonne silver, 1.2% lead, 2.95% zinc and 0.86% tin, and 3.76 metres @ 609 grams/tonne silver, 0.41% lead, 0.56% zinc and 0.03% tin. 

Galaxy Resources has secured a three year supply of spodumene from a Western Australian mine to feed its Jiangsu lithium carbonate plant in China. 

Galaxy Resources has achieved commercial production of 99.9% purity lithium carbonate at its Jiangsu plant. The plant is the fourth-largest in the world, and recent adjustments and improvements have resulted in production of the higher specification product, with the operation originally designed to annually produce 17,000 tonnes of battery grade (99.5%) lithium carbonate. 

Conditional approval has been given to New Pacific for acquisition of the RZY silver-lead-zinc project in Qinghai province. The acquisition will involve the company acquiring a majority interest in Silvercorp Metals’ wholly-owned subsidiary Fortress Mining for a payment of US$3.5 million. 

Majestic Gold says gold production at its Song Jiagou gold mine increased in the December quarter for a total of 4813 ounces from 456,487 tonnes of ore.

Asia Now Resources will carry out a strategic evaluation at its Beiya Gold-Copper Project in Yunnan province after independent exploration at the site has identified poor rock mass and quality. 

Galaxy Resources has recommenced operations at its Jiangsu lithium carbonate plant, after receiving clearance for repair works to affected pipes which exploded in November last year. 

A major Chinese germanium producer has purchased Sparton Resources’ production assets within the Lincang district for Can$2.16 million. The purchase by Yunnan Lincang Xinyuan Germanium Industry Stock Company includes Sparton’s Huajun mining licence and associated infrastructure. The Huajun germanium/coal production facility is China’s fourth largest.

Minco Gold says it will sell non-core Chinese projects to generate working capital for its primary assets. The company completed a detailed review of its Chinese properties in 2012, which pointed to a renewed focus on its core Longnan projects in Gansu province. Three drill holes at the site were completed late last year with assay results yet to be received.

Galaxy Resources is replacing some of the fibreglass pipes at its Jiangsu lithium carbonate plant with stainless steel sections to ensure the risk of another freak fatal explosion is minimized. 

Minco Silver says it has the funds to put the Fuwan silver project into commercial production this year. The company says it will continue to advance the permitting process, with a revised environmental impact assessment and water monitoring survey report submitted to the Chinese environmental protection authority. 

Eldorado Gold Corporation has fallen just 631 ounces short of its 2012 production target of 660,000 ounces of gold, with almost half of the total production achieved at its Chinese operations. 

China’s National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) is fast tracking its uranium mining exploration in Australia, Africa and Central Asia in a bid to meet growing demand for the element. In the wake of the European debt crisis, the state-owned energy company says it has good opportunities to expand its foreign mining operations. 

Canadian explorer New Pacific Metals will acquire an 80% interest in Silvercorp Metals’ subsidiary Fortress Mining for a payment of US$3.5 million. The sale agreement also gives New Pacific the option of acquiring the remaining 20% of the company within two years for US$5 million, after capital expenditure of US$15.9 million at its RZY silver-lead-zinc project in Qinghai province.