Drilling at Dwyka Resources’ Daguma coal project, in the Philippines, would start in August, the Aim- and ASX-listed company said at the weekend, while reporting that Australian engineering services firm Sedgman has been appointed to conclude a prefeasibility study by September.

The company said in a statement that two diamond-drilling rigs were being moved to the site, while geophysical logging equipment was being imported into the Philippines. A camp and core shed was also under construction and would be completed before drilling started.

The programme was expected to further define the resource of 150-million tons of coal within 24 months, with the intention of bringing the project into production.

“It is our objective to move the project quickly towards production. The drilling programme is an important step in verifying the size of the project’s resource, while the prefeasibility study assists us in determining the best approach to maximize the project’s value,” commented Dwyka Resources CEO Melissa Sturgess. Read more

WELL wrapped up Liverpool Plains residents turned out in force yesterday to signal their dissatisfaction with drilling work on their lands.

Aided by a cuppa, a warm fire, a loudspeaker and dozens of brightly coloured signs, Caroona landholders settled in for a long wait.

The residents blocked off landholder Tim Duddy’s property after mining giant BHP secured a legal injunction to stop Mr Duddy from blockading the property himself.

The blockade began about 7am – the time last Friday’s court order allowed BHP drillers to access the Duddy

property.
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Firefighters in California are hoping scattered showers forecast for the state’s northern mountains will help put out the last wildfires still keeping people from their homes.

Residents of Junction City were under mandatory evacuation orders for a third day as a huge blaze crept across the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

The month-old fire has spread across nearly 225 square kilometres and is 49 per cent contained.

Fire officials say cool, moist coastal air is bringing falling temperatures and a possibility of rain for later in the day. Read more

This week’s rain is just what the doctor ordered for Nova Scotia’s forests, says Rob Uttaro.
The supervisor of fire management for the Department of Natural Resources said the wet weather has lowered the fire weather index. As of Monday (JULY 21) afternoon, the entire province was listed as low.

“It’s helping,” Uttaro told the Truro Daily News on Monday as light drizzle came down in Truro. “I would like to see a little bit more and it looks like we’re going to get it.”
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Janet Greidanus , For Canwest News Service
Canada.com

COCA, Ecuador – The guide hushed us as we walked through the jungle in our rubber boots. If we were very quiet, he said, we might be able to catch a glimpse of the howler monkey whose howling we had been hearing intermittently from somewhere high in the canopy of the rainforest.

This was the third morning of our excursion into the Ecuador rainforest and the trip had already exceeded our expectations. The guide walked ahead of us with his machete, occasionally hacking away at vines that blocked our path or stopping to cut a plant or a piece of bark for us to study or taste.

Every day we had been discovering the rich biodiversity of the rainforest and we had seen more species of flora and fauna than we could possibly keep track of. We had been awed by the height of the gargantuan kapok trees, fascinated by the very long pendulum-shaped nests of oropendolos birds hanging from the branches, thrilled to see large, brilliant blue morphos butterflies, caimans, turtles, leafcutter ants, and a tapir footprint; we had tasted many fruits of the jungle and helped our guide weave baskets from the leaves of palm trees. Read more

By Ilene Cox, Redlands resident; owner of Redlands Travel Service on West State Street

In the past few weeks many Redlands Daily Facts readers have come up to me in markets and stores telling me how much they enjoyed my articles on driving across the U.S. with my daughter Erin.

I’m complimented they enjoyed the articles and decided to share my articles on Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands when I traveled with my older daughter, Heather, in August 2005.

When the girls were growing up we traveled considerably and even when they were out of college we managed to take trips to Ecuador, Tahiti, China and Russia. I have written about this trip before, but since the Galapagos Islands is my favorite travel destination, I would like to share these articles again in hopes it may entice you to plan a trip to the Galapagos Islands for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Any time of year is good – Ecuador and the Galapagos are on the equator and the weather is pretty much the same all year long. This was also a Bill Handel trip – part of our Fun and Adventure series. Read more

Ilha do Marajó is one of the largest fluvial islands in the world spanning 50,000 km² of land and comprising of 250, 000 inhabitants and extensive fazendas (farms).

The island lies at the mouth of the Amazon River in the State of Pará and travellers can organise to visit the island through various tour packages offered to Soure, the main town or the farms.

Divided into two main geographical regions, the eastern half of the island is called “regiao dos campos” known for its low-lying fields, flora and strips of forest. The western half is called “região da mata” where it is mainly rainforest, whilst lining the coast is palm trees and dense mangrove forests.

Similarly, the weather is also divided in two, with only a rainy and dry season, raining from January-June and dry from July-December. The first six months of the year are marked by the island becoming a swamp where the eastern side submerges completely under a metre of water.
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