PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Hydraulic mining operations have started at the Century zinc mine, in Queensland.
“This is a fantastic achievement by the New Century team and our business partners to deliver the restart of operations at Century both on time and budget,” said ASX-listed New Century Resources MD Patrick Walta on Thursday.
“We are now focused on the next phase of the Century development, ramping up operations to become one of the world’s top zinc producers.”
The restart required a capital investment of some A$50-million and a further A$13-million in working capital will be required.
The restarted Century operation will initially consist of a tailings operation at the project area to treat the 78.9-million tonnes of resource at the project, which is estimated to contain some 2.38-million tonnes of zinc, 370 000 t of lead and 31.5-million ounces of silver.
The project has an estimated production capacity of 264 000 t/y of zinc and three-million ounces a year of silver over an initial ore reserve mine life of just over six years.
New Century has said that in-situ mineral resources also provided potential for mine life extensions, with the company currently engaging in exploration across its 1 800 km2 tenement package.