Mining Intelligence and News
Australia

Thalanga Operation

Click for more information

Categories

Summary

Mine TypeOpen Pit & Underground
StatusClosing / Closed
Commodities
  • Copper
  • Lead
  • Zinc
  • Gold
  • Silver
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
  • Longhole stoping
Backfill type ... Lock
Production Start... Lock
SnapshotThalanga is an open-cut and underground mine with an onsite processing plant and mine industrial area, a large exploration core yard, a large tailings storage facility, several evaporation and process water dams and a wetland.

The site was disclaimed by liquidators in December 2022 after a fall of ground in the Far West underground and other various operational and compliance issues.

As of 2024, Queensland Government is actively managing Thalanga as an abandoned mine site under the Abandoned Mine Lands Program.

Completed works: site maintenance (water management, security, clean-up), evaporation of contaminated water, earthworks to restore tailings and dumps, underground make-safe works, removal of hazardous waste and dangerous goods.

Planned works: water treatment and management, earthworks for retention, decommissioning hazardous infrastructure, closure planning, clean-up and revegetation, wildlife-friendly portal closure, stakeholder engagement.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Red River Resources Ltd. Indirect
Red River Resources Limited announced that Michael Ryan, David McGrath and Kathryn Warwick of FTI Consulting (Australia) Pty Ltd (FTI) have been appointed administrators, joint and several, of Cromarty Resources Pty Ltd (Cromarty) a wholly owned subsidiary and owner and operator of the Thalanga Mine.

Deposit type

  • VMS

Summary:

The Thalanga Operation is located in the highly prospective Cambro-Ordovician Mt Windsor Volcanic Belt which contains a number of known polymetallic (copper-lead-zinc +/- gold-silver) volcanic hosted massive sulphide (VHMS) deposits and gold deposits.

The West 45 deposit is located 1.7km west of the Thalanga Plant and it is ~1.4km by unsealed road from the portal to the run of mine (ROM) ore pad.

The Far West deposit is located ~500m from the ROM pad at the Plant, to the west of and directly adjacent to the historically mined Thalanga West deposit. Far West sits within existing mining leases. Much like West 45, Far West is a VHMS deposit which is of polymetallic nature and contains zinc, lead, copper, gold and silver.

The Waterloo deposit is located approximately 40km to the SSW of Charters Towers and ~50km east from the Thalanga mine. As with the West 45 and Far West deposits, Waterloo is a VHMS deposit which contains zinc, lead, copper, gold and silver. Red River intends to mine Waterloo and truck the ore to the Thalanga Plant for processing.

The Liontown polymetallic volcanogenic hosted massive sulphide deposit is located 40km southwest of Charters Towers in North Queensland. It is accessed by the Flinders Highway and the Gregory Developmental Road. Red River acquired the Liontown Project in 2014 with the acquisition of the Thalanga Base Metal Operations.

Mineralisation in the Liontown Horizon is developed in the basal siltstone unit of the hangingwall sequence, with the most consistent mineralisation lying immediately above the pumice breccia. Mineralisation is developed as multiple zones of stratiform, laminated, semi-massive and rarely massive sulphide. The Liontown host rocks comprise a footwall sequence of dacitic pyroclastics termed pumice breccia, which has been strongly silicified and chlorite altered.

Reserves

Lock

- subscription is required.

Mining Methods

Lock

- subscription is required.

Heavy Mobile Equipment

Lock

- subscription is required.

Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Lock

- subscription is required.

Processing

Lock

- subscription is required.

Commodity Production

During the quarter 2020, approximately 13,000 tonnes of historic gold tailings were reclaimed from the Liontown Project site, trucked to Thalanga Operations and processed through the mill to produce 475 DMT tonnes of gold concentrate grading 62.3 g/t Au, 197 g/t Ag and 12.8% Cu.
CommodityProductUnits20222021202020192018
Copper Concentrate kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe4.61.5
Lead Concentrate kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe136.9
Zinc Payable metal M lbs  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Zinc Concentrate kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe3317
Gold Concentrate kt  ....  Subscribe

Operational metrics

Metrics20222021202020192018
Annual processing capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe650 kt650 kt
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe383 kt248 kt
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe407 kt228 kt

Production Costs

CommodityUnits20222021202020192018
C1 cash costs Zinc USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 0.41 / lb **   0.55 / lb **  
C2 total cash costs Zinc USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 0.67 / lb **   0.99 / lb **  
C3 fully allocated costs Zinc USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 0.87 / lb **   1.23 / lb **  
** Net of By-Product.

Mine Financials

Units20222021202020192018
Revenue M AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 97.6   51.1  
EBITDA M AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 23.1   11.8  

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Sep 25, 2025

Workforce

EmployeesContractorsTotal WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2022
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2021
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2020

Aerial view:

Lock

- subscription is required.