Overview
| Status | Care and Maintenance |
| Mine Type | Underground |
| Commodities |
|
| Mining Method |
|
| Production Start | ...  |
| Mine Life | 10 years (as of Jan 1, 2018) |
The Windarra Nickel Project commenced production in 1974 and was closed in 1993. The site includes the previously mined underground Mt Windarra and open pit South Windarra mines. The project has combined resources of 148.5kt contained nickel across the Mt Windarra (71.5kt) and Cerberus (69kt) deposits. The Windarra Nickel Project remains on care and maintenance.
Once the Black Swan BFS on the 1.1Mtpa throughput option is delivered work will commence on a mining study at Windarra. The concept would be to mine ore from either the Mt Windarra or Cerberus ore bodies and then crush the ore on surface and run it through a ore sorter prior to trucking to Black Swan (approximately 300kms south) for processing. A scoping study on this concept will be undertaken in calendar year 2023 and if financially attractive a full feasibility study will be undertaken. |
Source:
p. 80,91
Contractors
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Deposit Type
- Banded iron formation
- Metamorphic
- VMS
Summary:
The Windarra region forms part of the Mt Margaret Goldfield. Mafic and ultramafics, metavolcanics and intrusives form important members of the Windarra greenstone belt. A major granitoid pluton has intruded the stratigraphy and has locally stoped out the main BIF. Mafic-ultramafic and BIF xenoliths thought to be stratigraphically equivalent to the Windarra sequence occur within the granites in the region.
The Windarra BIF is the lowest recognisable stratigraphic unit in the Margaret sector. The overlying ultramafic rocks host both the Mt Windarra and South Windarra nickel deposits and represent the base of the first cycle of ultramafic to mafic volcanics. It is the only ultramafic cycle in the region known to host economic nickel mineralisation. Three volcanic cycles are recognised in this sector with the rocks of the uppermost being overlain by conglomerate along the western margin of the Laverton tectonic lineament.
Mine Geology
The Mt Windarra nickel occurs towards the bottom of a thick ultramafic sequence at the base of the first volcanic cycle. Granular quartz-feldspar rocks in the Mt Windarra mine area may represent metamorphosed sandstone. The Windarra (Main) banded iron formation constitutes the base of the exposed stratigraphy, and the immediate footwall to mineralisation at South Windarra. The unit is an 80m to 150m thick sequence of siliceous and banded chemical sediments, containing variable amounts of quartz, grunerite, actinolite, mag ........
Summary:
The underground mine at Windarra includes an underground crushing station at approx 450m depth with a horizontal shaft for hauling ore to the surface. Ore is crushed underground in a crushing station at the 450m level. The mining method used is sub level caving, which is amongst the most economic methodologies available and is suitable for this style of resource, was used at Mt Windarra for the last several years of operation and has been selected as the preferred method for the future. The cost of mining compares favourably with Kambalda style nickel mine and is similar to sub level cave mining costs in other locations in Australia, notably the Savannah nickel mine in northern WA.
Source:
Summary:
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Reserves at November 7, 2014:
The Mineral Resources as at November 2022 at Mount Windarra are unchanged from 7 November 2014.
| Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
|
Indicated
|
4,467 kt
|
Nickel
|
1.27 %
|
57 kt
|
|
Inferred
|
5,214 kt
|
Nickel
|
1.75 %
|
91.5 kt
|
|
Total Resource
|
9,681 kt
|
Nickel
|
1.53 %
|
148.5 kt
|
Mine Management:
| Job Title | Name | Profile | Ref. Date |
|
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Sep 24, 2023
|
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