MINING WELCOME 欢迎采矿 - The ASIA Miner

FIRST ore has been processed at Hillgrove
Resources’ flagship Kanmantoo Copper Project
in South Australia, bringing the mine into
production for the first time in 35 years. Construction
was essentially completed in the
first week of November and the company is
now producing its first concentrates.
The first throughput has been from stockpiled,
crushed, low-grade ore to test the plant
and optimize performance. The facility is now
working on 300,000 tonnes of higher grade
ore of between 0.7-0.9% copper. The first
shipment of concentrate is expected to leave
Port Adelaide in early 2012.
The $135-million open-cut project includes
a crushing facility, tailings storage dam and
ball mill. Hillgrove has also manufactured 450
haulage and storage containers for the shipping
of concentrate from Port Adelaide.
Hillgrove’s managing director Drew Simonsen
says, “The achievement of this milestone
changes the company from ‘developer’ to
‘producer’ status. The combination of a producing
mine at Kanmantoo, continuing exploration
successes in the immediate vicinity of the
pit suggesting a Life-of-Mine extension is very
probable, and our portfolio of highly prospective
Indonesian exploration properties sets the
company up for a strong growth trajectory.”
Kanmantoo is about 55km from Adelaide,
in the Adelaide Hills. Its initial annual throughput
will be 2.4 million tonnes, producing
80,000 tonnes of concentrate, 20,000 tonnes
GEOLOGICAL dating of selected samples
from Tasman Resources’ Vulcan iron oxide
copper gold uranium (IOCGU) project has estimated
the average age of mineralization at
1590 million years. This is essentially the
same geological age as other significant
nearby IOCGU deposits, including Olympic
Dam, Prominent Hill and Carapateena.
Tasman’s executive chairman Greg Solomon
says the dating confirms Vulcan is part of a significant
family of ore deposits and with further
investigation could prove to be a major deposit
itself. The dating program is being funded and
technically coordinated by the South Australian
Government through its PACE 2020 initiative,
which is the government’s plan for accelerated
exploration of potential mineral deposits and the
Vulcan in significant family of ore deposits
of copper metal and 10,000 ounces of gold
per year, over a 6 year mine life. Hillgrove will
ramp up production through to June 2012.
Kanmantoo’s general manager Cam Schubert
says the mine is almost at full staff capacity
with 75 employees on site. “These are
certainly exciting times for the Kanmantoo
copper mine. One of the most pleasing aspects
of the project to date has been the opportunity
to grow our workforce as we head
towards sustainable operations.”
Kanmantoo has been intermittently mined
since the 1840s and has recorded production
of 39,000 tonnes of copper metal. Hillgrove
acquired the old copper mine pit in 2004 and
says it remains one of the most under-explored
and prospective metal provinces in
The processing facilities at Hillgrove Resources’ Kanmantoo project in South Australia.
development of mining operations. The $30.9
million, seven-year funding program is under
the direction of the Primary Industries and Resources
Department and includes support for
drilling programs and new geological surveys.
The Vulcan project secured PACE funding
in May 2011 to assist Tasman in understanding
the local geology as well as helping to
guide further drill programs and exploration
for high grade mineralization within the deposit
area. Greg Solomon says the funding
will help place Vulcan and its host rocks in a
regional geological framework.
Initial results at Vulcan confirm measurement
of rhenium and osmium isotopes in molybdenite
which occurs as part of the IOCGU mineralization
in most drill holes to date.
Australia
Australia, showing great potential for coppergold
and silver-lead-zinc mineralization.
Since then the company has worked to
confirm a resource estimate, complete a feasibility
study and rehabilitation plan as well as
the design and construction of the new mine
and nearby roads. The tailings storage facility
has been constructed using best practice environmental
guidelines with a clay liner,
drainage networks and decant pipeline with
a HDPE lining on top.
The mine’s proximity to a capital city has
helped to keep construction on schedule. It
has access to low cost grid power, treated
waste water from the nearby town of Mount
Barker and is 3km from the highway that links
the area with export facilities at Port Adelaide.
Kanmantoo transforms Hillgrove into a producer
Tasman is also about to start drilling at its
highly prospective Lucas Hill IOCGU target in
South Australia, about 150km south of Vulcan.
The basement-sourced gravity anomaly
appears to be larger in area and of comparable
strength to the Carapateena deposit,
which is about 50km northeast.
Greg Solomon says geophysical modeling
indicates that the source of gravity and magnetic
anomalies at Lucas Hill is likely to be a
significant body of quite dense material. “The
body becomes more magnetic at depth.
Drilling will consist of an initial two drill holes
and further drilling will depend upon results.
Aboriginal heritage clearance has been obtained
for these initial drill holes and drilling
will begin in mid-January.”
January/February 2012 | ASIA Miner | 23