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Australia
Bauxite Hills Mine

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 Location:
19 km W from Mapoon, Queensland, Australia

  Regional Office:
Level 2 | 247 Adelaide Street
GPO Box 10955
Brisbane
Queensland, Australia
4000
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Fax+61-7-3221-4811
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  • Overview
  • Owners
  • Geology
  • Mining
  • Processing
  • Production
  • Reserves
  • Costs & Financials
  • Personnel
  • Filings & News

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Overview

StageProduction
Mine TypeOpen Pit
Commodities
  • Bauxite
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Mine Life2037
August 14, 2020 - The period of closure would likely extend from early-September to April 2021.

Mining operations are not undertaken at the Bauxite Hills Mine during the December – March wet season shut-down period.
Latest NewsMetro closes Bauxite Hills early     August 14, 2020


Owners & OPERATOR

Source:
CompanyInterestOwnership
SAB Mining Group (operator)
Metro Mining Ltd. 100 % Indirect
SAB Bauxite Operations was contracted by Metro Mining Ltd to conduct the clearing, Strip mining, crushing and barge loading of the bauxite.

Deposit Type

  • Bauxite


Summary:

The deposit type is lateritic bauxite derived from the weathering of aluminous sediments in a tropical to sub-tropical environment.

The Bauxite Hills area forms part of the Weipa Plateau and is underlain by rocks of the Carpentaria Basin. The oldest rocks intersected by drilling in the area are grey-black marine shales, which have been assigned to the Cretaceous Rolling Downs Group. This is up to 250 m thick and is underlain by sandstones of the Helby Beds. These rocks are a source of artesian water. The bauxite deposits generally consist of a single bauxite layer, 0.5 m – 3 m thick, that is underlain by a kaolin horizon.

The bauxite deposits are overlain by lateritic overburden and topsoil. Under the bauxite there is often a cemented ironstone and a kaolin clay layer. Kaolin, sandy clays and minor quartz sand deposits occur beneath the bauxite layer and extend beyond the bauxite areas, beneath the Namaleta Creek flood plain.

Bauxite occurs over the majority of the plateau areas. It is pisolitic in form and is generally covered only by a thin layer of soil, but in the western parts of the project area bauxite is sometimes found beneath sand dunes at depths of up to 6 m. The bauxite passes down into an iron rich horizon (ferricrete) and then into mottled, bleached Bulimba Formation sandy clays. Bauxite pisoliths generally form 55-80% of high-quality bauxite, with the remainder being sand, silt and clay. The pisoliths are well rounded, and generally 5 to 20 mm in size, although larger pisoliths of up to 30 mm do occur in the bauxite horizon. Larger, irregular shaped pisoliths and concretions are typical of the underlying ironstone horizon and form a visual marker of the base of the bauxite.

Most of the bauxite is loose and free flowing although a proportion is cemented. The aircore drilling method used for exploration is efficient at drilling through thin layers of cemented bauxite, so from the exploration drilling alone it is difficult to make any accurate assessment of the proportion of cemented bauxite in this deposit. Mining experience in Weipa and Andoom has demonstrated that cemented bauxite is typically a small percentage of the total bauxite in this region.

The geological interpretation is grade-based using a threshold of =45% total Al2O3 and =15% total SiO2 for BH1 and BH2 and of =45% total Al2O3 and =20% total SiO2 for BH6 (including the old Gulf Alumina areas), to define economic bauxite. The continuity of the geological interpretation is confirmed with a reasonable degree of confidence. The data points are spaced at 80 m in a nominal grid pattern for almost the entire BH1 deposit and at 160 m in a nominal grid pattern over the BH2 and BH6 deposits. The data points for the Gulf Alumina area are more variable but generally less than 400 m on a nominal grid. Information from other deposits in the Weipa area provides additional confidence in the geological model.

The regional geological setting has been well known since discovery of the Weipa deposits, 80 km to the south. The considerable drilling already completed has given confidence in the local geological setting although it is noted that the definition of bauxite is essentially a chemical one, initially guided by lithological logging.

The deposit type is lateritic bauxite derived from the weathering of aluminous sediments in a tropical to sub-tropical environment. The mineralisation within the Bauxite Hills Mine forms part of the Weipa Plateau, a widespread area of aluminous laterite on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula that includes Rio Tinto Alcan’s Weipa, Andoom and Amrun bauxite deposits.

The bauxite deposits generally consist of a single flat-lying pisolitic bauxite layer, 0.5 m – 3 m thick, which is underlain by a kaolin horizon. Within the resource area the average bauxite thickness is 1.6 m. The bauxite deposits are overlain by lateritic overburden and topsoil. Under the bauxite deposits there is often a ferruginous cemented layer and a kaolin clay layer. Kaolin, sandy clays and minor quartz sand deposits occur beneath the bauxite layer and extend beyond the bauxite areas.

The mineralisation within the bauxite plateaus is flat lying and tabular in form. The Mineral Resource has the following surface area, average bauxite thickness and average overburden thicknesses:
- BH1: Area 6.8 km2. . Bauxite thickness 1.7 m. Overburden 0.6 m.
- BH2: Area 3.1 km2. Bauxite thickness 1.6 m. Overburden 0.5 m.
- BH6/Gulf Alumina: Area 39 km2. Bauxite thickness 1.4 m. Overburden 0.76 m.


Mining Methods

  • Truck & Shovel / Loader


Summary:

The Bauxite Hills Mine is a simple mining operation. Free-dig bauxite is mined by front-end loaders then trucked on dedicated haul roads to the port infrastructure.

The bauxite is then screened to a maximum product size of 100mm and fed into the Barge Loading Facility (BLF) and into barges.

Tugs tow the barges down the Skardon River and out to an anchorage point beyond the river mouth where ocean going vessels are loaded with bauxite.

Mining operations are undertaken in the dry season only; a notional 8-month period from April to November.

Metro Mining’s Scania fleet consists of nine V8 powered trucks, one R-620 and eight R-730s, which work around the clock day-in, day-out.


Crushing and Grinding


Processing


Summary:

Product Type - Direct Shipping Ore


Production:

CommodityUnits202020192018
Bauxite M wmt  ......  Subscription required ^  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
All production numbers are expressed as ore. ^ Guidance / Forecast.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Operational Metrics:

Metrics2018
Daily mining rate  ......  Subscription required
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Reserves at July 15, 2019:

CategoryTonnage CommodityGrade
Proven 77.4 M wmt Al2O3 49.4 %
Probable 32.1 M wmt Al2O3 47.7 %
Proven & Probable 109.5 M wmt Al2O3 48.9 %
Measured 78.1 M dmt Al2O3 50.3 %
Indicated 39.8 M dmt Al2O3 49.1 %
Inferred 20.3 M dmt Al2O3 45.4 %
Total Resource 138.2 M dmt Al2O3 49.3 %

Commodity Production Costs:

CommodityUnits2019
Cash costs Bauxite AUD  ......  Subscription required
Total cash costs Bauxite AUD  ......  Subscription required
Operating margin Bauxite AUD  ......  Subscription required
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Financials:

Units20192018
Capital expenditures M AUD  ......  Subscription required
Revenue M AUD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Operating Income M AUD  ......  Subscription required
Gross profit M AUD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax Income M AUD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax Income M AUD  ......  Subscription required
Operating Cash Flow M AUD  ......  Subscription required
Subscription required - Subscription is required


Heavy Mobile Equipment:

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required May 20, 2020
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Staff:

Total WorkforceYear
Subscription required 2019
Subscription required 2018

Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2018
................................... Subscription required 2018
Annual Report 2017
Feasibility Study Report 2015
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

News:

NewsDate
Metro closes Bauxite Hills early August 14, 2020
Metro considers closing Bauxite Hills early for wet season July 31, 2020
Metro off to ‘an excellent start’ at Bauxite Hills April 15, 2020 April 15, 2020
Metro Mining gets funding approval for Bauxite Hills expansion April 8, 2020
Metro Mining awakens Bauxite Hills from hiatus April 7, 2020
Metro Mining to resume shipping in April 2020 March 24, 2020
Metro shifts down a gear at Bauxite Hills January 23, 2020
Scania trucks power Metro Mining operations November 26, 2019
Metro Mining receives boost for Bauxite Hills expansion November 12, 2019
Metro considers Bauxite Hills mine life extension July 17, 2019
Metro resumes Bauxite Hills operations following production delays June 12, 2019
Metro lifts production at Bauxite Hills after resuming operations April 15, 2019

Aerial view:

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