#Official Mining Thread

Developments in Regional South Australia. Including Port Lincoln, Victor Harbor, Wallaroo, Gawler and Mount Barker.
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SouthAussie94
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Re: #Official Mining Thread

#1381 Post by SouthAussie94 » Fri Aug 25, 2017 10:36 pm

SBD wrote:
Fri Aug 25, 2017 9:17 pm
SouthAussie94 wrote:
Thu Aug 24, 2017 6:16 pm

Copper Concentrate from their Prominent Hill mine (near Coober Pedy) is taken by rail to Port Adelaide where it is loaded onto ships and exported. I'd imagine that any processing plant would be located either onsite at the mine, or at a location somewhere near the rail line. Port Augusta? Port Adelaide? Somewhere else? Could be anyone's guess...
Most recent I can find is Q1 update which says the preferred site is near Port Augusta. Earlier thoughts had included signing an MoU with Arrium to build it at Whyalla.
Port Augusta would make sense. Rail from Prom Hill/Carra, process at Augusta, rail to Port Adelaide, export overseas (or export directly from Port Augusta)
"All we are is bags of bones pushing against a self imposed tide. Just be content with staying alive"

Views and opinions expressed are my own and don't necessarily reflect the views or opinions of any organisation of which I have an affiliation

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Re: #Official Mining Thread

#1382 Post by bits » Sat Aug 26, 2017 6:11 am

SouthAussie94 wrote: (or export directly from Port Augusta)
How?
Does Port Augusta have any export port? Is the gulf deep or wide enough to bring sizable ships that far up?
Whyalla or Port Adelaide are the realistic export ports.

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Re: #Official Mining Thread

#1383 Post by SBD » Sat Aug 26, 2017 11:54 pm

bits wrote:
Sat Aug 26, 2017 6:11 am
SouthAussie94 wrote: (or export directly from Port Augusta)
How?
Does Port Augusta have any export port? Is the gulf deep or wide enough to bring sizable ships that far up?
Whyalla or Port Adelaide are the realistic export ports.
I think they also get decent sized ships in to Port Pirie, but agree that Port Augusta and Port Paterson (where the power stations were) are too small to be useful.

Something I found online suggested the processing plant would be on the eastern side of the railway line about half way from the tomato farm to the Horrocks Pass road.

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Re: #Official Mining Thread

#1384 Post by rhino » Mon Aug 28, 2017 11:48 am

bits wrote:
Sat Aug 26, 2017 6:11 am
SouthAussie94 wrote: (or export directly from Port Augusta)
How?
Does Port Augusta have any export port? Is the gulf deep or wide enough to bring sizable ships that far up?
Whyalla or Port Adelaide are the realistic export ports.
More precisely, Port Bonython (once the new jetty is built) or Port Adelaide, although Port Pirie would also be capable. Whyalla, while technically capable, would be unlikely due to the ship not being able to be loaded at a wharf. If the concentrate has to be railed from the plant to the wharf, this double-handling at port would preclude Whyalla, IMO.
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Re: #Official Mining Thread

#1385 Post by rhino » Tue Jan 23, 2018 11:03 am

From ABC News online:

New iron ore mines to feed Whyalla steelworks and boost SA exports
A new South Australian iron ore mine has been approved to feed Whyalla's steelworks at cheaper cost, and another to boost iron ore exports from the region.

The new mining leases have been approved in the Middleback Range on Eyre Peninsula and add to Whyalla businessman Sanjeev Gupta's assets portfolio.

His company SIMEC Mining has gained approval for the Iron Sultan mine — which will feed the Whyalla steelworks — and the Iron Warrior mine, which will produce up to 1.5 million tonnes of export iron ore annually.

The ventures are expected to support a workforce of 56 as well as another 130 contractors.

They are the first approvals for the Whyalla region since SIMEC acquired Middleback Range mining leases as part of Gupta GFG Alliance's purchase of debt-laden steelmaker Arrium.

SA Mineral Resources Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the Iron Sultan mine would develop a hybrid pellet feed plant to significantly reduce the price of making steel at the Whyalla blast furnace.

"Iron Sultan will play a significant role in reducing the costs of steelmaking at Whyalla steelworks, while Iron Warrior continues South Australia's role as a reliable iron ore exporter," he said.

"Approval of these two mines demonstrates the commitment of the new owner to develop its South Australian iron ore assets and create a more sustainable steelmaking business."
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Re: #Official Mining Thread

#1386 Post by rev » Wed Nov 28, 2018 2:26 pm

Impressive copper exploration results revealed by BHP point to SA’s copper renaissance
Cameron England, Business editor, The Advertiser
November 28, 2018 6:00am
Subscriber only

It could be bigger than Olympic Dam
BHP: Mining giant marks 30 years at Olympic Dam

IN terms of copper deposits, South Australia is often referred to as “elephant country”.

But until two decades ago, we’d only discovered one elephant — the world’s largest polymetallic ore deposit at Olympic Dam, which a group of renegade explorers at Western Mining Corporation discovered in a high-risk exploration program in 1975.

It was more than two decades later, in 2001, that exploration minnow Minotaur Resources discovered the Prominent Hill deposit — now a mine which produces more than 100,000 tonnes of copper per year.

Then in 2005, one-man band Rudy Gomez found the Carrapateena deposit just west of Lake Torrens, which is currently being developed into a $916 million mine by Adelaide mining company OZ Minerals.

In the space of three decades we’ve gone from one major copper mine to three, factoring in Carrapateena’s start up next year. And the impressive copper exploration results revealed by BHP yesterday — an intersection of 180m at a grade of more than 6 per cent about 1km below the surface — indicate we could be on a path to more.

But why has it taken so long for South Australia to capitalise on its resources riches in this area?

Copper has a storeyed history in South Australia. While the myth is that Australia’s wealth was initially derived “riding on the sheep’s back”, in SA the “Monster Mine” at Burra, discovered in 1845, and other mines at Kapunda, Moonta, Wallaroo and Kanmantoo provided the early wealth for the young colony and also a significant proportion of the world’s copper supplies.

These early copper projects were near or at the surface, meaning mining and discovery was straightforward.

The difficulty in modern times is that, to mix metaphors, the low-hanging fruit has all been plucked, and SA’s geology means that while more massive copper deposits are suspected to exist, they are hidden hundreds of metres under a cap of rock and dirt.

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Existing South Australian copper mines. Picture: OZ Minerals

Paul Heithersay, chief executive of the State Government’s Department for Energy and Mining, has for many years used a graph which shows the dramatic difference in size between the Olympic Dam deposit — which is estimated can be mined for up to another 100 years — and other copper deposits, such as Prominent Hill, which have been discovered.

The graph shows that in other areas around the world, copper deposits exist on a continuum. Where one elephant roams, there are likely to be more.

But in SA, the size of Olympic Dam, the discovery of which was based on exploration theories considered radical at the time, sits by itself in terms of sheer magnitude.

The reason is obvious — it is very difficult to discover minerals under 400-1000m of rock. But it has been done.

Paul Heithersay, chief executive of the State Government’s Department for Energy and Mining, has for many years used a graph which shows the dramatic difference in size between the Olympic Dam deposit — which is estimated can be mined for up to another 100 years — and other copper deposits, such as Prominent Hill, which have been discovered.

The graph shows that in other areas around the world, copper deposits exist on a continuum. Where one elephant roams, there are likely to be more.

But in SA, the size of Olympic Dam, the discovery of which was based on exploration theories considered radical at the time, sits by itself in terms of sheer magnitude.

The reason is obvious — it is very difficult to discover minerals under 400-1000m of rock. But it has been done.In 2005, after 17 years of trying to find partners to help him fund the drilling of exploration holes at his Carrapateena prospect in the state’s Far North, Rudy Gomez bet his life savings on two drill holes which would punch more than 600m into the rock.

It was a good bet. Mr Gomez eventually reaped more than $100 million when he sold the project.

It has long been rumoured that BHP had come across some interesting exploration results somewhere in the state’s Far North.

While those rumours were probably just that, the company’s announcement yesterday is sure to fire up other explorers keen to test their exploration theories. Share prices have already started to move based on this theory.

Mr Gomez himself has other projects on the go. And small, listed companies, such as Argonaut Resources, are also preparing to drill.

All of this activity could be a boon for the state.

The previous Labor government instigated the state’s copper strategy, which aims to boost copper production in SA to one million tonnes a year over the next 20 years. We have a way to go.

While we have about 68 per cent of Australia’s copper resources, most of that tied up in Olympic Dam, we produced only about a third of the nation’s copper in 2015.

In that year, copper production was 284,314 tonnes. While BHP has plans, some solid and some still on the drawing board, to expand Olympic Dam, hitting that target will involve the development of a number of new mines.

But the global demand for copper is there, and the potential lies within SA to find and produce more of the metal, which is integral to developing economies as they consume more power, cars and electrical goods.

And GFG Alliance is also planning to build a copper smelter in SA.

The state’s second copper boom could be in the making.

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business ... bdaaee5a75

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Re: #Official Mining Thread

#1387 Post by rhino » Tue Jan 15, 2019 1:58 pm

Great Australian Bight seismic testing gets green light
Oil and gas testing is set to take place in the Great Australian Bight this year, after the national petroleum regulator granted permission to exploration company PGS.

Environmental groups have slammed the decision to allow seismic testing near Kangaroo Island and Port Lincoln, while the tuna industry has questioned whether it is even likely to go ahead.

Seismic testing involves firing soundwaves into the ocean floor to detect the presence of oil or gas reserves.

For oil companies, it is the first step to learning more about oil and gas resources beneath the ocean floor, and how they could be developed.

The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) granted permission for the testing to be done over a 30,100-square-kilometre area, located 80 kilometres from Port Lincoln and 90 kilometres west of Kangaroo Island.

The testing is set to take place between September and November.

The fishing industry has long had reservations about the impact seismic testing would have on the local tuna industry.

PGS has been ordered not to interfere with or displace pygmy blue whales, southern bluefin tuna, and southern right whales.

Southern Bluefin Tuna Industry Association spokesman Brian Jeffriess questioned if PGS would actually go ahead with the work, despite getting the green light.

"It's been approved but with such strict conditions on sightings for example of blue whales, of disruption to the pattern of southern bluefin migration," Mr Jeffriess said.

"It's impossible to see how it can proceed, economically."

The Wilderness Society has slammed the permit, saying the practice can deafen whales and even kill smaller marine animals.

"It's obvious that blasting massive amounts of noise constantly for months on end through a water column in a space where animals communicate and navigate and live by sound and sonar, it is obvious that this is going to have a terrible impact on those animals," the environmental group's Peter Owen said.

"I fail to see how you can actually approve this type of seismic activity in the middle of one of the most significant whale nurseries in the world.

"It's totally unacceptable."

The Greens say the seismic testing is the first step to drilling in the Great Australian Bight.

"Why on Earth would we be wanting to sink oil wells in the Great Australian Bight, put our marine life and beaches at risk and make climate change worse," senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

"We've got to be getting out of fossil fuels and transitioning to a clean, green economy."

There has been little research into the impact of seismic testing in Australia, but Western Australian researchers have found noise from seismic air guns significantly increased mortality in scallops.

Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association spokesman Matthew Doman maintained testing is sustainable.

"We have a very long track record of conducting seismic in Australian waters without impact on the marine environment," he said.

"Our energy mix is changing, the role of renewable energy is increasing … our industry is very much a supporter of that.

"But we will use a lot of oil and a lot of gas for decades to come."

He said there had not been any wells drilled in the bight in the past 15 years.
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Re: #Official Mining Thread

#1388 Post by PeFe » Thu Jun 20, 2019 11:34 am

Carrapateena gold-copper mine, north of Port Augusta, to be significantly powerd by renewables.
From Renew Economy
Copper and gold turns to renewables, OZ Minerals to power site with solar, wind and storage

Image

Leading mining company OZ Minerals will use commercial scale solar PV, wind and battery storage to help power its Carrapeteena Copper-Gold Mine, located to the north of Port Augusta, as part of a significant shift in the mining sector towards using clean energy technologies to power remote mining operations.

OZ Minerals will partner with SunSHIFT to deploy a pilot-scale hydbrid energy system, that includes 250kW of solar PV capacity, a 10kW wind generator and a 250kW lithium ion battery storage system.

As part of the project, electric vehicle charging facilities for light vehicles used at the mine site will also be incorporated in to the renewables and storage solution. A traditional diesel generator unit will also be included to supplement the supply of power to the site.

Leading mining company OZ Minerals will use commercial scale solar PV, wind and battery storage to help power its Carrapeteena Copper-Gold Mine, located to the north of Port Augusta, as part of a significant shift in the mining sector towards using clean energy technologies to power remote mining operations.

OZ Minerals will partner with SunSHIFT to deploy a pilot-scale hydbrid energy system, that includes 250kW of solar PV capacity, a 10kW wind generator and a 250kW lithium ion battery storage system.

As part of the project, electric vehicle charging facilities for light vehicles used at the mine site will also be incorporated in to the renewables and storage solution. A traditional diesel generator unit will also be included to supplement the supply of power to the site.

The South Australian Government welcomed the announcement, and hopes that the project can serve as a model for future remote mining projects to integrate renewables and storage to supplement diesel powered generation.

“Low cost, reliable power is vital for our mining industry and this power plant will help forge the path to a cheaper and cleaner energy future,” SA energy minister van Holst Pellekaan said.

“The remote location of mines often means they operate completely off-grid and are heavily reliant on diesel-fuel powered generators.”

“OZ Minerals’ power plant will demonstrate the commercial value of a wind and solar PV asset at a remote mine site, and thereby enhancing the feasibility of mines in the development phase.”

Full article : https://reneweconomy.com.au/129887-2-67306/

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Re: #Official Mining Thread

#1389 Post by Bob » Fri Oct 18, 2019 2:55 pm

Oz Minerals on track for November production at Carrapateena

http://theleadsouthaustralia.com.au/ind ... rapateena/

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Re: #Official Mining Thread

#1390 Post by Jaymz » Sat Dec 21, 2019 9:43 pm

From The Advertiser...

OZ Minerals’ Carrapateena mine produces first saleable copper
South Australia’s new, $980 million under-construction mine has produced its first saleable copper concentrate – a much-awaited milestone for OZ Minerals.

Valerina Changarathil, The Advertiser
December 20, 2019 12:16pm

SA miner OZ Minerals has produced first saleable copper concentrate at its under-construction Carrapateena mine, 160 kms north of Port Augusta.

The much-awaited milestone comes after OZ Minerals hit a production hurdle last month due to a ‘wrong part’ being supplied by a vendor.

That delay led to project development cost of Carrapateena at first concentrate to be upgraded to between $950 million and $980 million, instead of the previous $920-950 million.

However, achievement of the concentrate production milestone met the commitment made to the board when it first approved the project in August 2017.

Carrapateena is the second major project for OZ Minerals in SA, which currently owns and operates the Prominent Hill mine near Coober Pedy.

“Over 280,000 tonnes of development ore is stockpiled on the surface as the mine now enters a faster circa 12-month ramp-up towards reaching a 4.25 million tonne per annum throughput rate by the end of 2020, dependent upon the cave performing as expected.”

Shares rose more than two per cent to $10.88 in afternoon trading on Friday.

OZ Minerals chief executive Andrew Cole said the milestone “represents the collaboration, support and hard work of a great many people including our operations and construction teams and the large number of contractors involved.”

“The project has generated over 1000 direct jobs from construction through to production as well as many thousands of indirect benefits to South Australia,” Mr Cole said.

“Our key operational focus remains on underground development as we ramp-up the mine.

“The streamlined mine design with an expanded footprint will improve cave establishment, reduce risk during the ramp-up phase and may enable future annual throughput expansion opportunities as we continue to assess options to expand capacity above 4.25Mt annually.”

OZ Minerals is undertaking a block cave expansion scoping study to increase the life and production capacity of Carrapateena from 2025.

“Exploration also continues around Carrapateena to improve our understanding of the broader province potential,” Mr Cole said.

Production for 2020, as the ramp up progresses, is expected to be in the range of 20,000 to 25,000 tonnes of copper and 35,000 to 40,000 ounces of gold.

Longer term and more detailed guidance will be released with the fourth quarter report at the end of January.

Mining Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan said the OZ team should be proud of their efforts.

“The scale of the mine, coupled with its remoteness is a testament to the women and men who have brought life this operation in such a short period of time.

“Oz Minerals with help from its construction partners and local community have delivered a safe and socially and environmentally responsible mining project that will deliver benefits for the South Australian economy for decades to come,” he said.

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