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Australia

Kanmantoo Mine

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Overview

Mine TypeUnderground
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Copper
  • Gold
  • Silver
Mining Method
  • Open stoping
  • Bench stoping
  • Transverse open stoping
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SnapshotThe Kanmantoo mine operated as a series of open pits from 2010. The Kanmantoo open cut mining was completed in May 2019 and the processing of ore stockpiles completed in March 2020.

In 2020 was commenced exploration and economic studies to evaluate the potential for an underground operation to be developed. In mid-2023 the underground commenced development with a single decline towards the base of one of the pits.

Operations restarted in 2023 with underground mining commencing in May 2023 and first copper production in February 2024.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Hillgrove Resources Ltd. 100 % Indirect
Hillgrove Copper Pty. Ltd. (operator) 100 % Direct
Hillgrove Copper Pty Ltd (Hillgrove), a fully owned subsidiary of Hillgrove Resources Limited owns and operates the Kanmantoo Copper Mines.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • Epithermal
  • Vein / narrow vein
  • VMS

Summary:

The pelitic meta-sedimentary rocks of the Cambrian Kanmantoo Group in the Adelaide Geosyncline are host to numerous copper, gold, lead, zinc, silver, pyrite deposits over a 300km N-S strike length of which Kanmantoo is the largest. The copper-gold deposits at Kanmantoo are hosted within meta-pelites that are regionally thermally altered to andalusite – sillimanite grade schists. The mine sequence is characterised by an abundance of andalusite dominant schists interbedded with quartz biotite schists. The Cu-Au mineralisation is emplaced post peak-metamorphism and syn to post peak deformation of the Delamerian Orogen from magmatic fluids in a structurally controlled shear system.

Within the Kanmantoo mineralised system four mine areas now have Mineral Resource Estimates – Kavanagh, North Kavanagh, Nugent and Emily Star.

Structural studies conducted by Hillgrove denote that the main controls on mineralisation are the north-south striking anastomosing shear zones and the north-east to north-north-east striking cross-shears and tension veins. This strong structural control is evident throughout the entire Kavanagh deposit.

The dip of the Kavanagh mineralisation is generally steeply dipping (70° to 80°) towards the East.

Geologic domains of the alteration envelope were predominately modelled on chlorite, sulphur and copper content with a moderate influence from structural knowledge gained during mining.

Dimensions
The Kanmantoo MREhas a north-south strike length of 500 metres, over a zone approx. 200m wide and over a depth of 500 metres below the Giant and Nugent Open Pits. Emily Star has a north-east strike length of about 350 metres, over a zone approx. 30m wide and a depth of 180 metres below the open pit. The NE and HW mineralisation domains each have a NW strike of about 200 m, 30 m width and between 160-200 m below the open pit.

All zones are open to depth and along strike.

Kavanagh Mineralisation The various Kavanagh Cu-Au mineralised zones are hosted within Biotite Chlorite Garnet Schist (BCGS) and/or Garnet Andalusite Biotite Schist (GABS) with sulphide distribution controlled by the structural fabric, both as finely disseminated sulphides along the S2 fabric and as massive sulphide veins. The sulphide mineralisation is dominated by coarse grained pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite with minor bismuthinite, pyrite and rarely free gold.

The Kavanagh Cu-Au mineral zones of intense sulphide veining and sulphides vary between 3 to plus 20 metres in width with haloes of lower density sulphide veining up to 10 to 20 metres in width.

The various Kavanagh lodes are characterised by their local alteration styles and mineral assemblage. For example, the East Kavanagh mineralisation is often associated with strong gold and bismuth endowment, whilst West Kavanagh has minimal gold and bismuth and has a higher ratio of pyrrhotite to chalcopyrite compared to Central Kavanagh.

The Nugent Cu-Au mineral zone strikes NE-SW (~040° direction) dips sub-vertically toward the south-east, with the mineralisation following the shear corridor and hosted within a silicified BCGS zone. The Nugent alteration system shows a significant increase in silica in comparison to the Kavanagh systems, both as a pervasive overprint and as defined quartz veins, with sulphide and gold mineralisation generally confined to zones of structurally complex quartz veining in a silica rich variety of the BCGS.

The Kavanagh mineralised lodes are generally within a broad sulphide alteration zone, within which there is localised variation in the concentration of copper sulphides. In contrast, the Nugent zone is generally a single zone of sulphide alteration of varying width and intensity of copper-gold. While both mineral systems have, on average, a consistent overall geometry, within the mineral zone, the higher grade portions can vary in length along strike and plunge.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

The Kanmantoo Open cut mining was completed in May 2019 and the processing of ore stockpiles completed in March 2020.

Underground mining commenced in May 2023. Declared commercial production on 1 July 2024.
CommodityProductUnits2018201720162015LOM (Projected)
Copper Metal in concentrate M lbs 5033303896
Gold Metal in concentrate koz 66.8126.812
Copper Concentrate kt 95676075
Silver Metal in concentrate oz 161,592110,551104,042114,399

Operational metrics

Metrics20232018201720162015
Annual milling capacity  ....  Subscribe3 Mt
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe5,728 kt3,915 kt2,839 kt3,542 kt
Waste OP  ....  Subscribe7,557 kt14,388 kt17,350 kt12,332 kt
Total tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe13,285 kt18,303 kt15,171 kt20,892 kt
Tonnes milled  ....  Subscribe3,324 kt3,427 kt3,197 kt4,104 kt

Production Costs

CommodityUnits20182017
C1 cash costs Copper USD 2.09 / lb   2.33 / lb  

Financials

Units20182017
Revenue M AUD 202.4   127.1  
After-tax Income M AUD 29.5   -14.1  
EBIT M AUD 27.6   4.4  
EBITDA M AUD 44.3   16.2  

Required Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNamePhoneProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Nov 7, 2024
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....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Nov 7, 2024
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EmployeesContractorsTotal WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2018
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2017

Aerial view:

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