TOM PARKER

The Carrapateena operation in South Australia. Image: OZ Minerals

BHP has shed more light on its plans for South Australia after recently acquiring OZ Minerals and its Prominent Hill and Carrapateena copper mines.

“Globally, BHP has the largest copper endowment of any company, based on ownership interest,” BHP chief operating officer Edgar Basto said at the 2023 Austmine Conference.

“In South Australia we have Olympic Dam, which is one of the world’s most significant deposits of copper, gold, silver and uranium. Olympic Dam is a fully integrated processing facility from ore to metal.

“We also added to our copper assets in SA with the acquisition of OZ Minerals, bringing their mines at Carrapateena and Prominent Hill into our portfolio.”

Basto also highlighted BHP’s Oak Dam copper project in SA, where the company was recently given the green light to commence its next phase of exploration.

“Oak Dam is an exciting prospect and potential growth option,” he said. “We’re undertaking further exploration to better define the resource and inform our future planning.

“Anyone who is familiar with the geography of the Gawler Craton will at once see the opportunity that all of this presents.”

Basto said it is important to not look at these mines and projects individually but rather synergetically, with the potential to “build a copper province that could put SA on the global copper map”.

Basto will oversee the integration of Prominent Hill and Carrapateena into BHP’s portfolio, through which he has three core objectives.

“Firstly, (I’m focused on) delivering safe and reliable operations at Olympic Dam, Prominent Hill and Carrapateena,” he said.

“Secondly, (I’m focused on) integrating the BHP and OZ Minerals businesses with a focus on people and culture. And thirdly, (on) developing options to build a copper province here in South Australia.”

Basto said for South Australia to realise its copper opportunity, collaboration is needed between the local mining industry and state and federal governments to support policy choices and investments that can enable South Australia to compete on the global marketplace.

“Let me provide some global perspective,” Basto said. “According to Geoscience Australia, Australia is ranked number two in the world for copper resources but number eight in the world for mined copper production.

“Last year, BHP produced more than 1.5 million tonnes of copper globally.

“This year, we expect to produce around 200 thousand tonnes from Olympic Dam. And around 115 thousand tonnes from Carrapateena and Prominent Hill.

“Here in South Australia, we have nearly 70 per cent of Australia’s copper resources but we produce just under 30 per cent of Australia’s mined copper production.

“The Gawler Craton has huge un-tapped potential… just imagine for a moment that we can develop a mining hub centred around a smelter that brings even more of SA’s high quality copper to global customers.”

BHP is putting plenty of eggs in the South Australia basket, with a committed vision to maximise the state’s copper future.

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黄金生产公司Red 5旗下金矿产量再创纪录

黄金生产公司 Red 5（ASX：RED）旗下位于西澳大利亚东部金矿区的King of the Hills（简称KOTH）金矿于2023年4月连续第二个月实现创纪录的黄金产量。

【澳股资讯平台 – 61 Financial 5月8日讯】黄金生产公司 Red 5（ASX：RED）周一发布公告，提供了最新的运营进展。

根据更新，Red 5旗下位于西澳大利亚东部金矿区的King of the Hills（简称KOTH）金矿于2023年4月连续第二个月实现创纪录的黄金产量。

2023年4月，KOTH从40万吨矿石中生产了18,633盎司（高于2023年3月的17,550盎司），平均头矿品位为1.54克/吨，黄金回收率达到创纪录的94.2%。

Red 5旗下露天矿和地下矿山以及加工厂在该月继续表现良好。截至2023年4月底，矿山库存（ROM）估计含有45万吨矿石，品位为1.2克/吨至1.3克/吨。

公司预计，5月将是采矿业的又一个强劲月份，但由于此前已预示的破碎机和磨矿的计划维修关闭，预计该月的黄金产量将低于4月。

此外，Red 5旗下尾矿储存设施5号（TSF5）的建设于2023年4月完成，并于2023年4月29日获得最终监管批准，开始向TSF5排放。

预期方面，公司预计23财年下半年的产量指引维持在9万至10.5万盎司，全部维持成本（AISC）为每盎司1750至1950澳元。

公司股价一年走势回顾：

【更多RED公告和股价走势请点击RED个股页面】

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消息来源：

公司公告Record monthly gold production at King of the Hills