ALEXANDRA EASTWOOD

Image: Phawat/Shutterstock.com

Delta Lithium (18 RICHARDSON STREET, WEST PERTH Western)has upgraded the mineral resource estimate (MRE) for its Mt Ida project in Western Australia.

The miner described the MRE upgrade as “major” as it represents an 82 per cent increase in contained gold at the project.

“This is a wonderful result for Delta shareholders, reaffirming our long-held belief that the gold system at Mt Ida has significant scale and upside,” Delta Lithium managing director James Croser said.

“The Baldock is fast becoming one of the very few, large high-grade undeveloped gold deposits in WA in excess of 500,000 ounces.”

Mining approval has already been granted for Phase 1 open pit mining at Mt Ida, with significant potential for further resource growth now being tested as drilling gets underway.

“The commencement of open pit mining has been approved, and the underground approval with the department is submitted and pending,” Croser said.

“We are investigating the best options for Delta shareholders to crystallise value from our gold, which can then be applied to further developing our core lithium business.

“The efforts of Delta’s geology team have been tireless and driven toward this success. We have already started follow up gold drilling at Mt Ida to target resource growth beyond one million ounces.”

TIM BOND

Anna Wiley speaking at Copper to the World 2024. Image: Austmine

BHP’s planned expansion of Olympic Dam could be one of the most significant investments in Australian copper infrastructure in decades.

Speaking at the recent Copper to the World conference, BHP asset president copper Anna Wiley discussed the mining giant’s aspirations for the important metal in South Australia.

“To date, we have unlocked synergies of more than $US50 million ($75 million) per year from our newly combined operations in South Australia,” she said.

“At Olympic Dam, we have invested $1.8 billion over the past five years improving the safety, stability and reliability of our surface processing facilities.

“It’s a big operation – and it’s getting bigger.”

Olympic Dam churned out 212,000 tonnes of copper in the 2022–2023 financial year, and BHP is still making discoveries at depth.

“It’s one of the amazing things about Olympic Dam – we haven’t found the bottom of it yet,” Wiley said.

What’s next?
Wiley touched on BHP’s plans for its copper portfolio in South Australia, which includes:

• Progress and completion of the Prominent Hill shaft that will haul ore to surface from 1.3 kilometres deep
• Transition to a block cave at Carrapateena following the recent commissioning of a second underground crusher this year
• Further underground development at Olympic Dam
• Ongoing studies into a smelter/refinery expansion at Olympic Dam
• A new decline at Oak Dam to complete underground exploration and pave the way for a potential underground mine development.

“In the coming years, we hope to make a final investment decision on an expansion of our existing copper refining facilities at Olympic Dam, to construct a two-stage smelter and associated refinery complex,” Wiley said.

“This has the potential to result in production of greater than 500,000 tonnes per annum of copper – and more than 700,000 tonnes of copper equivalent per annum when you include the by-products of gold, silver and uranium.

“This would constitute one of the most significant investments in copper metal manufacturing infrastructure in Australia for many decades.”

To achieve its copper aspirations, Wiley said it all boils down to partnership and collaboration.

“Investment in skills, training and innovation and a thriving METS (mining equipment, technology and services) sector that builds our collective capability to lead the next generation of technologies and systems will be critically important to South Australia across a range of sectors.”

KELSIE TIBBEN

BHP asset president copper South Australia Anna Wiley. Image: Austmine

BHP South Australian copper asset president Anna Wiley has laid out a copper-focused future for the Big Australian in her address to the Copper to the World conference in SA.

Wiley said SA is home to 70 per cent of Australia’s copper resources, one of only so many world-class copper resources remaining in the world.

“This places additional importance on ensuring we economically extract as much copper as possible from our current operations,” she told the audience.

Citing BHP’s Chile and South American operations, Wiley added the company’s South Australian foothold to the list of assets part of its plan for a future focused on copper.

It’s a plan that has been in the works for a while, culminating in BHP’s $9.7 billion acquisition of OZ Minerals last year, bringing the SA Carrapateena and West Musgrave copper projects into the BHP fold.

“Today, as BHP we operate three underground copper mines and a nationally significant smelter and refinery complex in South Australia’s far north,” Wiley said.

This includes the heart of BHP’s SA copper province, Olympic Dam, which Wiley said the company is hoping to grow with the help of additional smelting and refining plants.

“It’s a big operation – and it’s getting bigger,” she said.

“This has the potential to result in production of greater than 500 kilotonnes per annum of copper – and more than 700 kilotonnes of copper equivalent per annum when you include the by-products of gold, silver and uranium.

“This would constitute one of the most significant investments in copper metal manufacturing infrastructure in Australia for many decades.”

Wiley said BHP’s plan for growth relies on a range of elements coming together, like skills development, the mining equipment, technology and services (METS) sector, permitting and approvals, enabling infrastructure, underlying stability, and technology.

“But in one way or another they all boil down to one very important theme: partnership and collaboration,” she said.

“In recent memory it was impossible to imagine change of this pace in the mining industry, and it goes to show that amazing things can be achieved with a common ambition.

“Industry, governments, Traditional Owners, technology providers and communities working together will help bring more copper supply to market to meet global demand more quickly and more sustainably.”

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TIM BOND

Image: Ronnarong/adobe.stock.com

Kingston Resources has commenced open pit mining at its Mineral Hill gold-copper mine in NSW.

Drilling and blasting kicked off at the Pearse North prospect, along with the delivery of first oxide ore to the run of mill pad.

Mineral Hill ceased hard rock mining in 2016 under previous owners. Since then, Kingston Resources has been working hard to recommence mining, with the object of becoming a regionally significant producer.

The commencement of mining at Mineral Hill comes three weeks after the successful completion of the tailings retreatment project.

The plant refurbishment project is also well-advanced, with the company expecting to be treating pit oxide ore in July.

Kingston continues to focus on employing and purchasing local, ensuring the benefits of Mineral Hill’s success stay within the region. Over the past three weeks, the company has welcomed 15 new employees to the Mineral Hill team within mining, processing and geology sections.

The majority of these new employees are local residents of the Lachlan Shire. The recruitment process is going well with an additional 13 people expected to commence with Kingston during June and July.

“We are delighted to announce the commencement of open pit mining at Pearse North, which signifies a major step forward for the Mineral Hill project,” Kingston Resources managing director and chief executive officer Andrew Corbett said.

“The Pearse North and Pearse South open pits will be the initial stages of our return to hard rock mining at Mineral Hill, and we look forward to continuing to develop this project and delivering value to our shareholders.”