PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Diversified metals miner Independence Group has cut its 2016 exploration spend by A$20-million on the back of continued weak base metals prices.

The company reported on Thursday that it would rationalise and prioritise exploration activities, with the funding and execution of the Tropicana and Nova brownfield exploration programmes remaining a priority.

Exploration activities at the Long nickel operation, in Western Australia, had been suspended, given the low nickel price, and had resulted in 30 job cuts this month.

Regional exploration expenditure would also be scaled back at the Jaguar zinc mine, and work would be carried out on a campaign basis using a Perth-based exploration team.

This decision would also result in nine roles being made redundant.

Furthermore, greenfield exploration expenditure would be rationalised to focus on in-ground expenditure on three projects that deliver belt-scale opportunities, including the Fraser Range/Tropicana belt, Lake Mackay and Bryah basin projects.

“The changes we have implemented demonstrate our commitment to actively manage and prioritise the allocation of capital across the business during very challenging commodity markets,” said Independence MD Peter Bradford.

“Some of the decisions have been difficult ones, given the quality within the portfolio of brownfields and greenfields opportunities, and we deeply regret the impact these changes will have on some of our people.”

Bradford said that the company remained committed to discovery, and was deliberately preserving optionality and technical capacity within the company.

Meanwhile, capital allocation on growth activities during 2016 would be prioritised towards the development of the Nova nickel project, and Independence’s contribution to the debottlenecking of the Tropicana gold joint venture, to increase processing capacity to more than seven-million tonnes a year.