PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Base metals developer Heron Resources has broken ground at its Woodlawn zinc/copper project, in New South Wales.
The company on Tuesday announced that construction of the 1.5-million-tonne processing plant and associated infrastructure was expected to take 15 months to complete, with commissioning scheduled for late 2018, ahead of first production in early 2019.
Heron MD Wayne Taylor said that the ground breaking at Woodlawn marked a major milestone in the company’s journey from a developer towards becoming a long-term, low cost and profitable base metals producer.
“The commencement of construction is the culmination of many years hard work by our team and would not be possible without the support of our shareholders, financiers and the local community.”
Taylor noted that as the zinc price reached a near ten-year high, and with market fundamentals underpinning a robust price outlook, it was a strong reinforcement of the project’s timing and the need to ensure that the construction schedule is held.
Once commissioned and running at nameplate capacity, the Woodlawn processing plant would produce 40 000 t/y of zinc, 10 000 t/y of copper and 12 000 t/y of lead in concentrates.