Construction of the Carrapateena copper mine launched in Australia
Construction is officially underway on the Carrapateena Mine, a new copper mine in South Australia.
Oz Minerals launched the construction of the mine this week, which is located 160 kilometres north of Port Augusta at the top of Spencer Gulf.
Construction has technically been ongoing for the past few months, but the official launch was delayed due to a state-wide electricity blackout during September.
The construction of the mine is expected to take just over two years and recent work has indicated that there is a potential 20+ mine life.
Carrapateena
The Carrapateena is an iron-oxide copper gold deposit and is one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in Australia.
Currently in pre-feasibility stage, Carrapateena has a base case of 4.0 Mtpa of copper iron ore. Oz Minerals is expected to announce the results of the study before the end of 2016.
Oz Minerals will be using he sub-level caving method for mining at the site.
With construction officially underway OZ Minerals anticipated over 1000 jobs will be created during construction and operation of the project.
The company strives to develop strong relationships and engagement with the traditional owners, such as the Kokatha Aboriginal Corporation, as well as local communities and pastoralists.
Oz Minerals
OZ Minerals was formed in 2008 by the merger of two Australian non-ferrous metals mining businesses - Oxiana and Zinifex.
Based in Adelaide, Oz Minerals has two prominent operation projects – Carrrapateena, and the aptly titled Prominent Hill.
Prominent Hill produces over 100,000 tonnes of copper every year, with around 1,200 employees and contractors employed at the site.
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