Tag: Oz Minerals

OZ Minerals has allocated an additional $6m-$9m in capital expenditure for its Prominent Hill mine this year, after deferring funding earlier in 2020 due to uncertainties posed by COVID-19. Located in one of the world’s most mining-friendly locations, Prominent Hill possesses highly competitive fundamentals. The large copper-gold mine, located 650km north west of Adelaide and 130km south-east of Coober Pedy in South Australia, delivers a high grade resource, with the ore processed using conventional methods. The underground decline development at Prominent Hill will allow OZ Minerals to begin mining the western side of the Malu orebody in a bottom-up sequence. It will also open up the pathway to bottom-up mining from deeper underground from mid to late 2021. According to...

Carrapateena: Copping it sweet PRODUCTION at one of Australia's biggest copper mines is set for a solid rise. The OZ Minerals-owned Carrapateena already has the potential to produce 65,000t of copper and 67,000oz of gold a year over its expected 20-year lifetime. The iron-oxide–copper–gold (IOCG) underground mine, located about 160km north of Port Augusta in South Australia, produced its first concentrate at the end of December 2019, targeting 4.25Mtpa throughput rates by end 2020 and 4.7-5Mpta from 2023. OZ Minerals chief executive Andrew Cole said the company remained confident in the long-term demand for copper from traditional sources as well as from the rapidly expanding focus on carbon reduction. “The company is planning to continue its investment in growing Carrapateena,”...

BHP’s Olympic Dam mine. Image: BHP. SOUTH Australia’s mining industry is seeing a renaissance with numerous new projects and the completion of several major developments. WITH more than $1 billion committed to the development of mining and mining infrastructure across South Australia, the mining industry is continuing to be an important economic contributor. South Australia Mineral Resources and Energy minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan said that mining was one of the key pillars of the State’s economy. “The resources sector already supports jobs and business opportunities in this State and increasing the number of mines through exploration and expanding the ability of existing mines to increase production and mine-life will further broaden the critical role the sector plays in the...

Carrapateena airstrip. All images: OZ Minerals   BY JESSICA CUMMINS   ON the back of a productive year, OZ Minerals remains focussed on developing one of Australia’s largest copper gold resources, Carrapateena, with first concentrate scheduled in 2019.   As the Adelaide-based miner moves its Carrapateena project towards production, a number of key activities remain on the table. After injecting $85 million into the project during the September quarter, the miner saw the completion of its first ventilation raisebore and commenced development on the crusher level. OZ Minerals chief executive Andrew Cole said flights to the site had begun and construction of all 556 rooms at the Tjungu accommodation village were also completed. “The mineral processing plant and non-processing infrastructure construction is continuing...

The Carrapateena mine will enter production in 2019. Image: OZ Minerals.   BY ELIZABETH FABRI   THE South Australian resources sector has had a strong year. But dwindling exploration points to a far greater issue for the State, as it looks to ramp up production and continue the search for the next Olympic Dam-style deposit.   More exploration is needed in South Australia: that is the message Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) chief executive Warren Pearce had for delegates at the recent South Australia Resources and Energy Investment conference (SAREIC) in Adelaide. “Greenfields mineral exploration, the heartbeat of mining, is flat lining in South Australia,” Mr Pearce said. “Nationally mineral exploration has been rebounding since 2016, but the...

Prominent Hill mine. Image: OZ Minerals.   BY ELIZABETH FABRI   WITH a history dating back to the 1800s, the South Australian resources sector is a continued force in Australian mining, boasting a portfolio of world-class projects and new exploration prospects for the next generation of mining.   South Australia is a proud mining region, with many noteworthy accolades to its name. To begin, the State is home to the world’s largest known uranium deposit and Australia’s largest underground mine, Olympic Dam. It also hosts 68 per cent of the country’s copper resources, 80 per cent of its uranium resources, 28 per cent of the economic gold resources, and more than 14 billion tonnes of iron ore. In 2016, the region...

The 20-metre deep box cut being constructed at Carrapateena. By Elizabeth Fabri MOMENTUM is building across the OZ Minerals portfolio as works advance on the second decline at Prominent Hill, and construction begins at the highly anticipated Carrapateena project. In September, OZ Minerals began works on the Carrapateena decline, pushing the miner another step closer to delivering first concentrate in late 2019. On 30 September a host of industry officials, including South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill, visited the site to celebrate the discovery of one of the country's largest undeveloped copper deposits. “Carrapateena has compelling project economics and by starting the decline now, we are further de-risking the project and creating more shareholder value,” OZ Minerals managing director and chief executive Andrew...

The Whyalla steelworks operation. Image Arrium. Photography Sean Kelly.     By Elizabeth Fabri HOME to 68 per cent of the nation’s copper and 25 per cent of the world’s known uranium, South Australia’s resources industry is an irrefutable force. Additional state government support, which aims to kick-start investment and sector growth, reflects its importance. South Australia, affectionately known as the ‘Copper Kingdom’, has been a key contributor to Australia’s mining industry as far back as the 1800s, and today boasts the world’s largest uranium deposit and the country’s largest underground mine, Olympic Dam. In 2014/15 the State’s minerals and petroleum sector had a gross value of product at $5.958 billion and regionally the industry contributed a gross regional product of $6.377bn....