Overview
Stage | Production |
Mine Type | Underground |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
- Longhole open stoping
- Avoca
- Cemented paste backfill
- Unconsolidated rockfill
|
Production Start | ... |
Mine Life | 2029 |
The CSA Mine at Cobar is fourth highest grade copper mine in the world. The underground mine is serviced by two hoisting shafts and a decline. The ore is crushed underground, hoisted to surface, and milled and processed through the CSA concentrator. |
Latest News | Metals Acquisition Limited Provides Notice of 2023 Annual Report and Conference Call Details March 28, 2024 |
Source:
Cobar Management Pty Ltd (CMPL) operates the CSA Mine. CMPL, a wholly owned Australian subsidiary of Glencore.
On June 16, 2023, Metals Acquisition Limited (MAC) and Glencore closed the purchase and sale of Glencore’s 100% interest in Cobar Management Pty Ltd (CMPL), the owner of the CSA copper mine in New South Wales, Australia.
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Summary:
The CSA deposit is located within the Cobar mineral field in the Cobar Basin, a north-south mineralised belt containing copper, gold, and lead-zinc mineralisation. Mineralisation at the CSA mine is hosted within the Silurian-age CSA Siltstone, a steeply dipping sequence of interbedded siltstones and sandstones.
The CSA mineralisation occurs in five known systems: Eastern, Western, QTS North (QTSN), QTS Central (QTSC) and QTS South (QTSS). The mineralisation is structurally controlled, associated with fault/shear zones and arranged in an en-echelon pattern. The Cobar Fault and the Chesney Fault are the major controlling faults at the CSA mine. The mineralised systems occur at the intersections of two sets of steeply dipping (~85°) structures, a dominant north-northeast (“NNE”) trending set (S1) and a NNW trending set (S2). These two structural trends formed due to east-west compression leading to a complex fault/shear system with dilation zones (S3) at intersections. The NNE shears can be up to 100m wide and contain parallel quartz veining of variable intensity.
Within the five mineralised systems, multiple lenses of mineralisation occur; lenses typically are 5-30m wide, have short (<300m) strike lengths but long vertical continuity down plunge (>1,000m). The lenses are interpreted by CMPL as discrete parallel to sub-parallel stacked lenses.
The host rock for the mineralisation, the CSA Siltstone, contains thinly bedded siltstones and mudstone ........
Mining Methods
- Longhole open stoping
- Avoca
- Cemented paste backfill
- Unconsolidated rockfill
Summary:
Ore is produced principally from two steeply dipping underground mineralised systems, QTS North (“QTSN”) and QTS Central (“QTSC”). The CSA mine uses mechanised long-hole open stoping (“LHOS”) with cemented paste fill (“CPF”) as the preferred mining method. A modified Avoca stoping method has been used successfully in the narrower lenses (principally QTSC).
Copper production at the CSA mine is mine-constrained. MAC is targeting future ore production of approximately 1.2Mtpa.
CSA extracts approximately 1.1-1.3Mtpa of copper ore each year from five en-echelon steeply dipping orebodies, with current mining focused on the QTSN, QTSC and Western systems, with QTSN supplying the bulk of the ore and representing 78% of current Mineral Reserves. Silver mineralisation accompanies the copper and contributes approximately 2% to revenue.
In QTSN, sub-level intervals are 30m apart above 8580mRL, approximately 1,620m below surface (“mbs”). Below 8580mRL, the sub-level interval was increased to 40m, leading to some negative impacts with increased ground failures and higher levels of overbreak and stope dilution; sub-level intervals have more recently been reduced to 35m. Stope dimensions are typically 20m long by 25m wide. Mining is non-entry and ground support is employed to control dilution and overbreak prior to the placement of backfill and to support extraction development.
A modified Avoca stoping sequence method is used in narrower orebodie ........
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Flow Sheet:
Summary:
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Source:
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Reserves at December 31, 2022:
Mineral Reserves reported as dry, diluted, in-situ tonnes using a Stope breakeven cut- of grade of 2.2% Cu and a Development breakeven cut- of grade of 1.0% Cu.
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
Proven
|
4.8 Mt
|
Copper
|
4.3 %
|
208.8 kt
|
Proven
|
4.8 Mt
|
Silver
|
17.8 g/t
|
2.8 M oz
|
Probable
|
3.1 Mt
|
Copper
|
3.5 %
|
105.3 kt
|
Probable
|
3.1 Mt
|
Silver
|
13.5 g/t
|
1.3 M oz
|
Proven & Probable
|
7.9 Mt
|
Copper
|
4 %
|
314.1 kt
|
Proven & Probable
|
7.9 Mt
|
Silver
|
16.1 g/t
|
4.1 M oz
|
Inferred
|
3.5 Mt
|
Copper
|
5.6 %
|
193 kt
|
Inferred
|
3.5 Mt
|
Silver
|
20 g/t
|
2.2 M oz
|
Commodity Production Costs:
| Commodity | Units | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
Site cash costs (produced)
|
Copper
|
USD
|
......
|
......
|
......
|
C1 cash costs
|
Copper
|
USD
|
|
......
|
|
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Operating Costs:
| Units | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
Total operating costs ($/t milled)
|
USD
| 126.37 | 116.87 | 94.7 |
Financials:
| Units | 2023 |
Capital expenditures (planned)
|
M USD
| ...... |
- Subscription is required
HME Type | Model | Size | Quantity | Ref. Date | Source |
Cable bolter
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.......................
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2022
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p.94
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Crane
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.......................
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2021
|
p.19
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Drill
|
.......................
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2022
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p.94
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Forklift
|
|
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2021
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p.19
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Grader
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.......................
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2021
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p.19
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Jumbo
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2021
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p.19
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Jumbo
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.......................
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2022
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p.94
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Loader
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.......................
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2021
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p.19
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Loader
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.......................
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2021
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p.19
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Loader
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.......................
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2021
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p.19
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Loader - Tool Carrier
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2021
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p.19
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Load-Haul-Dump (LHD)
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.......................
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2021
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p.19
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Load-Haul-Dump (LHD)
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.......................
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17.2 t
|
.......................
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Dec 31, 2022
|
p.94,95
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Scoop Tram
|
.......................
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2022
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p.94
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Shotcreter
|
|
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2021
|
p.19
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Telescopic Handler
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.......................
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2021
|
p.19
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Truck
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.......................
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2021
|
p.19
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Truck (haul)
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.......................
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2021
|
p.19
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Truck (service)
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.......................
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2021
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p.19
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Truck (underground)
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.......................
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2022
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p.94
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Truck (underground)
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.......................
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2022
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p.94
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Truck (underground)
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.......................
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63 t
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2022
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p.94,95
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Truck (water)
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.......................
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2021
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p.19
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Truck (water)
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.......................
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.......................
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Dec 31, 2021
|
p.19
|
- Subscription is required.
Mine Management:
Job Title | Name | Phone | Profile | Ref. Date |
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Feb 21, 2023
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Feb 21, 2023
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Nov 15, 2023
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Nov 15, 2023
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Nov 15, 2023
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Oct 27, 2023
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Oct 27, 2023
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Oct 27, 2023
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Oct 27, 2023
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Oct 27, 2023
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- Subscription is required.
Staff:
Employees | Contractors | Total Workforce | Year |
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2022
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2021
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2020
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2019
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2018
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2017
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2016
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