22 October
Mexican gold producer Fresnillo reduced its gold output estimate for 2020 from between 785,000oz and 815,000oz to between 745,000oz and 775,000oz, considering Covid-19 induced curbs at its mines. The miner said that it decreased the number of mine workers at its Herradura gold mine to contain the spread of coronavirus and safeguard its staff. The silver production forecasts remained intact at between 51 million oz and 56 million oz.
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Australian rare earths miner Lynas reported increased production of neodymium praseodymium (NdPr) in the September quarter, while rare earth oxide (REO) output recorded an almost twofold increase. The NDPr output for July-September quarter rose to 1,342t from 775t in the June quarter and REO production increased from 2,579t to 4,110t during the same period.
India’s National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) has postponed plans to deploy a 20t crawler in light of the pandemic. The crawler would carry equipment for mining minerals in the sea. The crawler was to be sent for mining trials at 6,000m depth into the Central Indian Ocean Basin. The institute has already tested the crawler and pumping system independently at 3,400m in the ocean.
