Overview
Stage | Production |
Mine Type | Open Pit |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
|
Production Start | ... |
Mine Life | 2032 |
In 2019 EQ Resources began recommissioning of the Historical Mt Carbine Mine.
Open cut mining activities kicked off with the inaugural blast undertaken on 24 June 2023, promptly followed by the commencement of ore deliveries.
The operation successfully transitioned from primarily utilising material from the low grade stockpile to processing primarily tungsten-rich open cut ore.
Expansion (Phase 2) focused on the activities and works required to dewater and commence mining of the open pit as well as the crushing and screening plant and processing plant to be upgraded to further reduce operating costs and increase the tungsten recovery.
It is planned to continue to drill to the west as well as evaluate underground mining to supplement the depletion of the open pit in-situ ore. This will be the subject of further study. |
Source:
p. 44,55,88
Company | Interest | Ownership |
Mt Carbine Quarrying Operations Pty Ltd.
(operator)
|
|
Indirect
|
Mt Carbine Retreatment Management Pty Ltd.
(operator)
|
|
Indirect
|
EQ Resources Ltd.
|
100 %
|
Indirect
|
The Mt Carbine project is located on two leases: ML4867 and ML4919.
Mt Carbine Quarries Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of EQ Resources Ltd., is the authorised holder of mining leases ML 4867 and ML 4919. All operations on the Mt Carbine site are carried out by either Mt Carbine Quarrying Operations Pty Ltd or Mt Carbine Retreatment Management Pty Ltd (MTCRM) based on their operational areas. Mt Carbine Quarrying Operations Pty Ltd is 100% owned by EQR. Mt Carbine Retreatment Management Pty Ltd which is an unincorporated Joint Venture (JV) between EQR and CRONIMET Australia (Pty) Ltd (CRONIMET).
Contractors
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Summary:
The Mt Carbine mine site is located within the Siluro-Devonian Hodgkinson sedimentary province. The thick sedimentary sequence was complexly folded and regionally metamorphosed prior to and during extensive granitic intrusions in the Carboniferous and Permian.
Within the permit north-north-west trending Hodgkinson Formation turbidite and siltstones are intruded by the Mareeba Granite dated at 277My, and the Mt Alto Granite, dated at 271±5My (Bultitude et al., 1999). Contact metamorphic aureoles marked by formation of cordierite Hornfels surround the granite intrusive and numerous acid to intermediate dykes intrude the metasediments. In the western portion of the tenement, a prominent metabasalt-chert ridge is a significant Hodgkinson formation stratigraphic component.
Mineralisation
The Mt Carbine tungsten deposit consists of a number of vertical to sub vertical sheeted quartz veins ranging in width up to 7m but averaging around 50cm. Only about 20% of the quartz veins are mineralised due to an early barren quartz event and a later mineralising quartz event. Economic minerals are the tungsten minerals of scheelite and wolframite mineralisation that occur in the ratio of 1:4 respectively.
A typical section through the canter of the deposit has over 35 quartz veins ranging from 10cm to 7m in width with 5-8 zones of overprinting mineralised quartz veins of 10 -150cm widths. These high grade veins containing rich quartz - feldspar tung ........
Summary:
The Mt Carbine mine is a surface operation, with two sources of tungsten ore available – an in-situ open pit resource and a historical low-grade stockpile. Ore Reserves are 5.93Mt at 0.28% WO3 and 9.77Mt at 0.075% WO3 for open Pit and LGS respectively.
EQ Resources made some remarkable progress FY 2023 in bringing the Andy White open pit up to a mineable proposition. Mining started in June 2023 and the first fresh rock went through a processing plant that had previously only treated low-grade stockpiled ore as part of a well-planned and executed commissioning process.
Description
The planned open pit is essentially a deepening by 95m of the current historical open pit from a 315m RL down to a 220m RL pit floor.
Extraction from both sources will be undertaken by conventional excavator and truck fleets. Selective ore mining practices will be employed in the in-situ open pit, with bulk ore mining of the LGS occurring due to local grade variability and lack of historical records.
Life of mine (LOM) schedule: Following regulatory approvals, a four-year contract mining operation of the in-situ reserves will be undertaken, with supplementary LGS feed at an increased rate for a further five years. Upon depletion of the in-situ reserves, ore feed will revert solely to the LGS.
It is planned to continue to drill to the west as well as evaluate underground mining to supplement the depletion of the open pit in-situ ore. This ........
Source:
p.9,10
Source:
- subscription is required.
Flow Sheet:
Summary:
- subscription is required.
Source:
- subscription is required.
Production:
FY2022 and FY2023 Production Data: low grade stockpile processing.
Commodity | Units | 2023 | 2022 | Avg. Annual (Projected) | LOM (Projected) |
Tungsten
|
kt
| ...... | ...... | 2.1 | 31 |
All production numbers are expressed as concentrate.
Reserves at May 15, 2023:
A cut-off grade of 0.075% WO3 has been applied for calculation of the Reserve within the low-grade stockpile.
A cut-off grade of 0.05% WO3 has been applied in the open pit geological model, however after loss and dilution calculations are completed, the final feed grade to the processing plant is as low as 0.08%.
Mineral Resources are reported inclusive of Mineral Reserves.
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
Probable
|
15.7 Mt
|
WO3
|
0.152 %
|
2,393,150 mtu
|
Indicated
|
30.94 Mt
|
WO3
|
0.21 %
|
6,343,868 mtu
|
Inferred
|
11.51 Mt
|
WO3
|
0.28 %
|
3,271,100 mtu
|
Total Resource
|
42.45 Mt
|
WO3
|
0.23 %
|
9,614,968 mtu
|
HME Type | Model | Size | Quantity | Status | Leased or Contractor | Ref. Date | Source |
Dozer (crawler)
|
.......................
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.......................
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Required
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Nov 9, 2022
|
p.44
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Required
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Nov 9, 2022
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p.44
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Excavator
|
.......................
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11 m3
|
.......................
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Existing
|
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Sep 30, 2023
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p.2
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.......................
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Required
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Nov 9, 2022
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p.44
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Required
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Nov 9, 2022
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p.11
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.......................
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.......................
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.......................
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Required
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Nov 9, 2022
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p.44
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.......................
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.......................
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.......................
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Required
|
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Nov 9, 2022
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p.44
|
- Subscription is required.
- Subscription is required.