Name: Prominent Hill mine.
Location: Prominent Hill is located 650 km north-west of Adelaide and 130 km south-east of the town of Coober Pedy, in the Gawler Craton of South Australia.
Controlling Company: OZ Minerals.
Brief History: The Prominent Hill copper/gold deposit was discovered in 2001 by Adelaide-based Minotaur Exploration and was a stand-out greenfield discovery in Australia.
OZ Minerals moved to 100% ownership of Prominent Hill in early 2005 and began mining at Prominent Hill in 2006. First production of copper concentrate was in February 2009.
In 2010, the OZ Minerals board approved construction of the Prominent Hill Ankata underground project. Project development started in November 2010 and first ore from stoping was produced in the first quarter of 2012.
Malu underground is the third mining front to be developed at Prominent Hill. In December 2013, the OZ board approved the development of the underground mine. First production from stoping was achieved in early October 2014, as forecast.
Brief Description: Prominent Hill produces some of the world's highest-grade copper concentrates. It comprises the Malu openpit mine and the Ankata underground mine.
Geology/Mineralisation: The Ankata undergound operation mines the deep extensions of thick, mineralised hematite breccias characteristic of Prominent Hill Shear Zone mineralisation and adjacent ore doians, and extensions of hematite-altered copper/gold-bearing breccias directly beneath the eastern gold zone and eastern margin of the Malu opencut pit.
Reserves: Total combined proven and probable ore reserves as at June 2013 were 66.5-million tonnes, grading 1% copper, 0.6 g/t of gold and 2.7 g/t of silver.
Resources: Total copper/gold mineral resources as at June 2013 were 155-million tonnes, grading 1.3% copper, 0.5 g/t of gold and 2.9 g/t of silver.
Products: Copper/gold concentrate.
Mining Method: Openpit and underground.
Major Infrastructure and Equipment: The mine includes a grinding and flotation processing plant, a permanent village and a haulage road, power lines and a bore field.
Prospects: Malu underground is expected to ramp up to full production in the fourth quarter of 2015. Consequently, the development of Malu underground is expected to result in the combined production from Prominent Hill from 2015 to 2018 of more than 105 000 t of copper and more than 105 000 oz of gold in 2015, increasing to more than 120 000 oz/y of gold from 2016 to 2018.
Contact Person: GM, Prominent Hill operations Brian Kilgariff.
Contact Details:
OZ Minerals,
tel +61 8 8229 6600,
email brian.kilgariff@ozminerals.com, and
website http://www.ozminerals.com.