MMG Opens $22-Million Copper Open Pit Mine at Golden Grove

MMG opened on Monday its new copper open pit mine at its Golden Grove operations. The $22-million project is expected to produce 235,000 tonnes of copper concentrate containing 59,600 tonnes of copper metal in concentrate at 25 per cent copper from 2012 to 2014.

It is located over the existing underground workings at Golden Grove's Gossan Hill mine and would add about 3.3 million tonnes of copper ore reserves to the overall production profile of the grove. The processing plant's current capacity of 1.8 million tonnes per year of ore is also expected to be maintained throughout the project.

"The current underground deposit at Golden Grove takes the operation's mine life through to approximately 2016, but to maximise the full potential of the site it is important we make every effort to identify any prospective future ore supply nearby," MMG Golden Grove General Manager Pierre Malan said in a statement.

Full scale production of the project is expected to start in January 2012 and would likely extend Golden Grove's operations by two more years, until 2019.

"The open put will supplement production from our current underground mining operations and support our mine life extension, which reinforces out commitment of continuing to be a major local miner and provider of employment in the Mid West region for foreseeable future," Mr Malan added.

Western Australian (WA) Minister for Mines and Petroleum Norman Moore drilled the first hole at the ground-breaking ceremony.

MMG's Golden Grove operation is part of the Scuddles and Gossan Hill underground mines. The mining firm considered expanding into open pit mining for sometime, but placed the project on hold in 2009 during the global financial crisis.

The mine was initially established by Pitts Aztec Mining in 1990 and was sold to Normandy Mining, Newmont, Oxiana and OZ Minerals, and subsequently to MMG. The project appears to have hurdled environmental concerns, although WA plans to establish a nature reserve in the region, which could include parts of MMG's existing mining leases.