Name: Flying Fox mine.

Location: The mine is located east of Perth, in Western Australia.

Mine Owner/s: Western Areas.

Brief Description: Flying Fox is Western Areas’ first producing underground mine and remains one of the highest-grade nickel mines in the world. The mine operates at depths of more than 1 km underground.

Brief History: Production started in 2006. The mine was previously owned and operated by Finnish company Outokumpu.

Primary Metals/Minerals: Nickel.

Secondary Metals/Minerals: None stated.

Geology/Mineralisation: The deposits lie within the Forrestania greenstone belt, which is part of the Southern Cross province of the Yilgarn craton in Western Australia. The main deposit type is the komatiite-hosted, disseminated to massive nickel sulphide deposits, which include the Flying Fox and Spotted Quoll deposits. The mineralisation occurs in association with the basal section of high magnesium oxide cumulate ultramafic rocks.

The Flying Fox orebody extends from 250 m to 1.2 km below the surface and includes discrete independent orebodies with possible extensions at depth.

Reserves: Total proven and probable reserves as at March 31, 2020, were estimated at 432 900 t grading 3.2% nickel.

Resources: Total mineral resources as at March 31, 2020, were estimated at 1.57-million tonnes grading 4.6% nickel.

Mining Method: Underground. The primary stoping method used is top-down longhole stoping, using paste-fill to attempt 100% recovery of the high-grade orebody. In the narrower sections of the orebody, modified Avoca with unconsolidated and cemented rock-fill are used.

Major Infrastructure and Equipment: Various heavy mobile equipment, including trucks and loaders.

Nickel ore is treated at Western Areas’ Cosmic Boy concentrator. The concentrator comprises a three-stage crushing circuit, followed by a single closed-circuit ball mill and a system of flotation tanks and a thickening/filtration system.

Prospects: The Flying Fox low-grade mine plan has been fully costed and could extend the mine life by up to 12 months. The processing options for the low-grade ore are being reviewed and will be finalised in the June 2020 quarter.

Contact Details:
Western Areas
Tel +61 8 9334 7777
Email info@westernareas.com.au
Website https://www.westernareas.com.au