Overview
Stage | Construction |
Mine Type | Open Pit |
Commodities |
- Nickel
- Copper
- Cobalt
- Gold
- Silver
- Palladium
- Platinum
|
Mining Method |
|
Production Start | ...  |
Mine Life | 24 years (as of Jan 1, 2022) |
West Musgrave is set to be one of the world’s largest, lowest cost, lowest emissions copper-nickel projects.
A final investment decision was taken in September 2022 with construction commencing in the December 2022 quarter (prior to the acquisition of OZ Minerals by BHP). Initial project activities focused on the continued recruitment of project execution and operations readiness personnel, procurement of certain long-lead items, execution of key contracts and critical path on-site activities. Site activities have progressed safely, including the commencement of bulk earthworks to establish key infrastructure such as the minerals processing plant and living hub. Other key activities include quarry operations, mobilisation and commissioning of concrete batch plant facilities as well as installation of the construction village and facilities. |
Source:
p. 28,211
BHP owns 100% of the West Musgrave Project, having acquired it as a part of OZ Minerals.
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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Deposit Type
- Magmatic
- Breccia pipe / Stockwork
Summary:
The Nebo-Babel deposits are both hosted by a sub-horizontal, tube-shaped mafic intrusion which is classified as a gabbronorite. The mafic intrusion has a known extent of 5 kilometres, trends in an easterly direction, has a gentle 15 degree dip to the south and, in the case of Babel, a less than 10 degree plunge toward the southwest. Babel and Nebo are separated by the steeply-dipping, north-south trending Jameson Fault. Babel occurs to the west of the fault and Nebo occurs to the east.
Babel consists of three main lithostratigraphic units, which are variably textured leucogabbronorite (VLGN) that forms the outer shell around mineralised gabbronorite (MGN), and barren gabbronorite (BGN) in the core of the intrusion. At Nebo, the main lithostratigraphic units are VLGN that forms an outer shell of the intrusion around barren gabbronorite, and oxide-apatite gabbronorite, which occurs in the core of the intrusion at the eastern end.
The Nebo-Babel deposits contain two main styles of mineralisation: disseminated gabbronorite-hosted sulphides, which represent the bulk of the mineralisation, and massive and breccia sulphides, which are a comparatively minor component of the overall sulphide inventory.
Interpretation and wireframes have been constructed for lithology (including dykes), weathering and estimation grade domains. Mineralisation is intimately associated with the brecciated contact of the gabbronorite intrusive into the surrounding orthognei ........

Summary:
The West Musgrave Project considers the Babel and Nebo deposits. Both deposits are near surface and most suitable to be mined by open pit mining methods. The pits will be mined with multiple pushbacks, using large-scale mining equipment and with mining costs expected to be minimised through the use of automation in the area of autonomous haulage, autonomous water truck and semi-autonomous drilling. Mining is proceeding in a sequence from two initial starter pits, stage 1 and 2, supplying pre-strip development waste for ROM pad construction and ore for process plant commissioning. Production will subsequently be ramped up for full-scale ore processing, with the open pits expanded and deepened.
The deposits are near-surface and easily accessible by open pit mining with a pre-concentrate mining and initial ore stockpile for processing plant commissioning, some of which will be free dig. Processing rates have been thoroughly examined and an optimised rate of 12 Mtpa ramping up to 13.5 Mtpa has been selected. Stockpile strategies and in-pit dumping of waste have all been optimised to minimise operating cost and maximise mill feed grade.
Mining continues to be conventional drill, blast, load and haul with an owner-operator workforce implementing an autonomous fleet from day one.
Babel will be mined for the first two years to access higher grade, near-surface mineralisation, with Nebo to begin mining from year two.
A site layout was devel ........

Source:
Source:

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Flow Sheet:
Summary:

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Projected Production:
Commodity | Units | Avg. Annual |
Nickel
|
t
| 27,000 |
Copper
|
t
| ......  |
All production numbers are expressed as metal in concentrate.
Operational Metrics:
Metrics | |
Annual mining rate
| ......  |
Annual processing capacity
| ......  |
Stripping / waste ratio
| ......  |
* According to 2022 study.
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Reserves at September 23, 2022:
The Mineral Resource has been reported at a NSR cut-off of A$13/t.
The cut-off used for the plant feed inventory and Ore Reserve estimate was an NSR based cut-off. The cutoff used was A$21/t, represents the mill limited break-even cut-off plus an A$8/t increased above the breakeven cut-off.
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
Probable
|
270 Mt
|
Nickel
|
0.31 %
|
840 kt
|
Probable
|
270 Mt
|
Copper
|
0.34 %
|
920 kt
|
Probable
|
270 Mt
|
Cobalt
|
120 ppm
|
|
Probable
|
270 Mt
|
Gold
|
0.06 ppm
|
|
Probable
|
270 Mt
|
Silver
|
1 ppm
|
|
Probable
|
270 Mt
|
Palladium
|
0.09 ppm
|
|
Probable
|
270 Mt
|
Platinum
|
0.1 ppm
|
|
Measured
|
91 Mt
|
Nickel
|
0.31 %
|
280 kt
|
Measured
|
91 Mt
|
Copper
|
0.36 %
|
320 kt
|
Measured
|
91 Mt
|
Cobalt
|
120 ppm
|
|
Measured
|
91 Mt
|
Gold
|
0.06 ppm
|
|
Measured
|
91 Mt
|
Silver
|
1.1 ppm
|
|
Measured
|
91 Mt
|
Palladium
|
0.09 ppm
|
|
Measured
|
91 Mt
|
Platinum
|
0.08 ppm
|
|
Indicated
|
240 Mt
|
Nickel
|
0.29 %
|
710 kt
|
Indicated
|
240 Mt
|
Copper
|
0.31 %
|
770 kt
|
Indicated
|
240 Mt
|
Cobalt
|
120 ppm
|
|
Indicated
|
240 Mt
|
Gold
|
0.05 ppm
|
|
Indicated
|
240 Mt
|
Silver
|
0.89 ppm
|
|
Indicated
|
240 Mt
|
Palladium
|
0.09 ppm
|
|
Indicated
|
240 Mt
|
Platinum
|
0.07 ppm
|
|
Inferred
|
59 Mt
|
Nickel
|
0.32 %
|
190 kt
|
Inferred
|
59 Mt
|
Copper
|
0.35 %
|
210 kt
|
Inferred
|
59 Mt
|
Cobalt
|
120 ppm
|
|
Inferred
|
59 Mt
|
Gold
|
0.06 ppm
|
|
Inferred
|
59 Mt
|
Silver
|
0.35 ppm
|
|
Inferred
|
59 Mt
|
Palladium
|
0.1 ppm
|
|
Inferred
|
59 Mt
|
Platinum
|
0.08 ppm
|
|
Total Resource
|
390 Mt
|
Nickel
|
0.3 %
|
1,200 kt
|
Total Resource
|
390 Mt
|
Copper
|
0.33 %
|
1,300 kt
|
Total Resource
|
390 Mt
|
Cobalt
|
120 ppm
|
|
Total Resource
|
390 Mt
|
Gold
|
0.06 ppm
|
|
Total Resource
|
390 Mt
|
Silver
|
0.85 ppm
|
|
Total Resource
|
390 Mt
|
Palladium
|
0.09 ppm
|
|
Total Resource
|
390 Mt
|
Platinum
|
0.08 ppm
|
|
Source:

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Corporate Filings & Presentations:
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