Mining Intelligence and News
Australia

Prominent Hill Operation

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Australia

Prominent Hill Operation

Location: 111 km SE from Coober Pedy, South Australia, Australia

Regional Office:

10 Franklin St
Adelaide
South Australia, Australia
5000

Contacts:

Additional Resources for Suppliers & Investors

Categories

Overview

Mine TypeUnderground
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Copper
  • Gold
  • Silver
Mining Method
  • Sub-level open stoping (SLOS)
Backfill type ... Lock
Production Start... Lock
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotProminent Hill produces one of the highest grades of copper concentrate in the world.

Prominent Hill was first developed as an open-pit mine, however, mining activities are currently principally underground.

In 2023, Tuuka, the main access decline that enables shaft sinking, continued to progress. Shaft works advanced, including shaft pre-sinking with the pilot hole complete and back reaming underway. Headframe lift is anticipated in early FY2024. The installation of underground primary ventilation fans was completed.

First announced two years ago, the Wira shaft expansion is now well advanced, with It is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2025.
Related AssetsAnkata/Malu (UG) Mine, Malu (OP) Mine

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnershipInvestor's Info
BHP Group Ltd. 100 % Indirect
OZ Minerals Ltd. indirectly owns 100% interest in the Prominent Hill operation through its wholly owned subsidiary OZ Minerals Prominent Hill Operations Pty Ltd.

On May 2, 2023, BHP announced the completion of the OZ Minerals acquisition and implementation of the scheme of arrangement for BHP Lonsdale Investments Pty Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of BHP Group Limited, to acquire 100% of the shares in OZ Minerals Limited (OZL) (the Scheme). BHP Group Limited is now the ultimate parent company of OZL.

Contractors

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SourceSource

Deposit type

  • Breccia pipe / Stockwork
  • IOCG

Summary:

The Prominent Hill iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) deposit is located in the northeastern portion of the Archaean to Mesoproterozoic Gawler Craton, South Australia. Copper-gold-silver mineralisation at Prominent Hill is mostly hosted within hematitematrix breccia containing fragments of sandstone, siltstone, dolostone, and mafic to intermediate volcanic rocks. Copper mineralisation occurs as disseminations of chalcocite, bornite and chalcopyrite in the matrix of the breccia.

Mineralisation generally has a tabular geometry. Most but not all copper mineralisation is hosted in hematite breccia. Gold mineralisation is commonly coincident with copper mineralisation, but some zones of gold-only mineralisation do exist. Copper grades generally show better spatial continuity within hematite breccia than within other rock types. Barren dykes cross cut the mineralisation. Barren covering sediments overlie the mineralised basement rocks.

The current maximum extent of the reported Mineral Resource is 2,600m (east-west) by 1,400m (vertical). Multiple lenses exist within a mineralised zone having a plan width (across strike) of approximately 300-400m. Only a subset of this mineralised zone has sufficient continuity of grade to have been reported as a Mineral Resource. The upper and lower limits of the reported Mineral Resource are 100m and 1,462m respectively below the pre-mining topographic surface.

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

Production for 2023 is estimated to 12 months, as the previous owner, the OZ Minerals company, published the report for the first quarter of 2023, and the new owner, BHP company, began reporting only from 1 May 2023, after acquiring OZL on 2 May 2023.

In 2025, after depleting the remaining open-pit gold, copper and marginal stockpiles, the processing plant will be fed from underground sources only.
CommodityProductUnits20232022202120202019201820172016
Copper Payable metal M lbs  ....  Subscribe
Gold Payable metal oz  ....  Subscribe
Silver Payable metal koz  ....  Subscribe
Copper Metal in concentrate M lbs  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe226243247258
Copper Concentrate kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe234260
Gold Metal in concentrate oz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe122,703130,856126,713118,333
Silver Metal in concentrate koz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe630703

Operational metrics

Metrics202320222021202020192018201720162015
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe3,365,932 t5,132,570 t16,963,931 t17,135,805 t
Tonnes milled  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe9,807,885 t9,830,063 t9.5 Mt10.6 Mt
Annual milling capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe10 Mt10 Mt
Waste  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe951,444 t1,443,016 t
Total tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe4,317,376 t6,575,586 t25,272,373 t44,948,296 t

Production Costs

CommodityUnits202220212020201920182017
Credits (by-product) Copper USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe -0.79 / lb   -0.71 / lb  
Total cash costs Copper USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 0.76 / lb **   0.95 / lb **  
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Copper USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 0.99 / lb **   1.14 / lb **   1.2 / lb **  
C1 cash costs Copper USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 0.56 / lb **   0.73 / lb **   0.83 / lb **  
** Net of By-Product.

Financials

Units202220212020201920182017
Capital expenditures M AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 105.8   77.4   53.6  
Revenue M AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 1,041   1,066   1,023  
EBIT M AUD 367.4  
EBITDA M AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 587.4   618.2   583.1  

Heavy Mobile Equipment

Fleet data has not been reported.

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 26, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 26, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 26, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 26, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 26, 2024

EmployeesContractorsTotal WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2021
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2020
...... Subscription required 2018
...... Subscription required 2017
...... Subscription required 2016

Aerial view:

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