The mine operation and mining fleet will encompass three operational areas:
-Mining of ore and waste rock;
-Haulage of ore to the Plant Site and back-haulage of residue to the Mine Site;
-Placement and encasement of residue in-pit and back-filling to allow for remediation activities.
Laterite ore is recovered from the deposits using free digging, open pit mining techniques utilising hydraulic excavators and Moxy mine trucks. A mixed ancillary fleet will be available to support load & haul, stockpile management, rehabilitation and in-pit dumping of waste and residue from the processing plant at Condobolin.
Mining will be conducted on a campaign basis. At full production, stage 1 ore mining will comprise 23,300 tonnes per annum, and stage 2 at 46,600 tonnes per annum.
Mining will generally be undertaken in a manner that will complete the excavation of individual cut-backs prior to any dispatch of feed to the plant. The plant feed will then comprise a blended parcel of similar grade material being fed over a period of time, up until depletion of that cut-parcel, after which a new cut-back is commenced and fed. This process is suited to campaign mining and will allow periodic supervision of grade control, which will minimise mining supervision and overheads. As the plant expansion stages are implemented and throughput increased, the ore mining will approach a continuous operation, however the campaigns of cut-back development will c ........