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coPPeR sPotLIGHt
Prominent Hill
Current Expansion Plan
Throughput 4 mtpa 6 mtpa
Mine life 10 years 11 years
Copper production 55-65,000 tpa 55-65,000 tpa
Gold production 107-117,000 ozpa 107-117,000 ozpa
AISC $US1.75-1.95/lb 10-15% lower opex
Mining method Decline Decline/shaft hoisting
Capex N/A $450 million
Carrapateena West Musgrave
Current Expansion Plan PFS
Throughput 4.25 mtpa 12 mtpa Throughput 12 mtpa
Mine life 20 years 25 years Mine life 26 years
Copper production 70,000 tpa 110-120,000 tpa Copper production 32,000 tpa
Gold production 85,000oz 110-120,000oz Nickel production 26,000 tpa
AISC $US0.75/lb $US0.55/lb AISC $US0.90/lb
Mining method Sub-level caving Block caving Mining method Open pit
Capex N/A $1.2-1.3 billion Capex $1.1 billion
[but] our comfort in nickel has been grow- have been frustrated by the growing COVID “Carajas is faced with challenging opera-
ing quarter-on-quarter,” he said. “It seems problem in the Latin American country. tional conditions and we expect the chal-
to be where the market is moving on nickel The company’s Carajas operations pro- lenges to continue for some time,” Cole
as well and everything we are learning duced 1,878t copper and 1,469oz gold at said.
suggests it has a good, robust future. AISC of $US2.44/lb in the March quarter. The company has also run aground on
“However, the size of the copper mar- It represents a fourth successive quarter regulatory issues at its Centro Gold asset,
ket is very different to nickel and nickel is of AISC increases (up from $US1.44/lb in but Cole remains hopeful the $3 billion in-
more volatile historically. So, having Suc- March 2020) and production shortfalls. vestment in the country will pay off.
coth against that nickel volatility is a benefit. With the pandemic ravaging much of Bra- “The value proposition still exists; Carajas
When you have a third open pit with a dif- zil – there have been more than 392,000 is still highly prospective, and Brazil has the
ferent commodity mix you can create the deaths, second only to US – Cole doesn’t skills to develop those projects and there is
maximum value. expect conditions to improve in the short no mid-tier sector to speak of,” he said. “We
“And, for a very small investment [$12 term. review frequently all our investment deci-
million to increase the resource to indicated “The situation is as bad as ever and de- sions and COVID has added a very differ-
status] we can actually quantify that option.” teriorating and we expect operational im- ent overlay so I don’t think we will be making
While outside forces are benefitting Oz pact,” he said. any rash decisions on that.”
on the domestic front, they are having the Some 20% of the company’s employees – Dominic Piper
opposite effect in Brazil where operations, have contracted COVID with the first fatality
development plans and exploration efforts reported in April.
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Page 26 JUNe 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
