Copper producer Austral Resources Australia Ltd fired the first blast at Anthill Mine on 16 November 2021. The first production blast is designed to establish initial mining benches at Anthill East pit – in preparation for bulk earthmoving in January 2022.
Copper Cathode producer Austral Resources Australia Ltd is focussed on developing its new Anthill Mine in preparation for first ore scheduled for March/April 2022 and ramping production to 10,000 tonnes of copper cathode by mid-2022 at Mt Kelly, which is scheduled to process 5,000 tonnes per of oxide ore at full production.
Site activities are building momentum with an additional 23 personnel onsite bringing the total to 50 personnel to develop the Anthill Mine and prepare key equipment at the Mt Kelly processing plant.
Steve Tambanis, Austral’s Chief Executive Officer said the company has broken ground within three weeks of obtaining approval to commence mine development.
“Employees and contractors have worked tirelessly to achieve this key development milestone – both safely and cost effectively.
“It’s exciting to see that site works are proceeding as planned with bulk earthmoving to commence in January 2022 and first ore deliveries expected in April 2022. Both Anthill Mine development and Mt Kelly plant refurbishment are progressing to plan. The exploration team is being mobilised with a regional structural review and geophysical studies commencing in November 2021.”
Exploration and development activities are underway with a further update planned over the next month. Historic geological, geochemical and geophysical data is currently being evaluated with several new prospects identified adjacent to the Anthill mine and exploration recruitment being finalised.