Zinc Lead Australia
Installing ground support at George Fisher mine
in Australia.
Final approvals were received in September 2010 for an AUD274 million expansion of George Fisher underground mine to increase production by 28% by 2013. Since Xstrata acquired the asset in 2003 George Fisher zinc reserves have increased by 126% to become one of the largest known zinc reserves in the world.
The AUD130 million Black Star Open Cut Deeps development announced in March 2010 will extend the life of the open cut by four years to 2015 at current production rates. The project is expected to add 15 million tonnes of ore to the production profile at a rate of 4.5 million tonnes per year.
AUD35.5 million was also approved for secondary and tertiary surface crushers to be constructed at George Fisher North. This will reduce operating costs and ensure there is crushing capacity available for the increase in production in 2013 from George Fisher.
At McArthur River, a feasibility study will be completed in 2011 for the expansion of the mine to 5.5 million tonnes per annum rate in 2014. This doubling of production capacity will supplement the required throughput needed for the future European plants that will use Xstrata’s proprietary hydrometallurgy technology.
In February 2011, Xstrata Zinc announced it had acquired the remaining 25% interest in the Lady Loretta joint venture held by Cape Lambert Lady Loretta Pty Ltd for AUD30 million ($30 million), subject to conditions. The acquisition increases Xstrata Zinc’s ownership of the Lady Loretta assets to 100%.
Zinc Lead Europe
An industrial scale demonstration plant at San Juan de Nieva utilising Xstrata´s proprietary hydrometallurgy technology was commissioned in 2010 to treat McArthur River Mine bulk concentrates, currently processed predominantly by imperial (ISF) smelters. This will allow the viability of the process to be assessed on an industrial scale, which is expected to be operating in 2015.
At Nordenham, the construction of the Xstrata’s Proprietary Hydrometallurgy Technology Demo Plant is expected to be completed in early January 2011. The plant is an alternative route for processing bulk concentrate from McArthur River. This development will increase the zinc production by 20,000 tonnes in 2011.
Exploration efforts in Ireland have identified significant zinc mineralisation at the Pallas Green property near Limerick. A EUR7 million exploration programme was carried out in 2010 in conjunction with a 23.6% joint venture partner to define and increase economic reserves and initiate baseline studies and confirmed the potential of this project. A EUR13 million extensive exploration and delineation programme associated with a pre-feasibility study is planned for 2011.
Zinc Lead Americas
Building on the success of the Perseverance mine, work is progressing on the Bracemac-McLeod project, five kilometres east of the Matagami concentrator. This project was approved in July 2010 at a capital cost of $151 million (CAD159 million) after completing the feasibility study in the second quarter of 2010. Development started immediately and progressed as the necessary permits were received. The mine is expected to commence production in the first quarter of 2013.
A CAD5 million programme will be carried out in 2011 to discover new resources and potentially extend the life of the Matagami camp. Two new exploration programmes were initiated in 2010, one on the Mattabi-Sturgeon Lake property in north-western Ontario and one on the Puisseaux-Selbaie property west of Matagami.
