Century Zinc Mine
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Queensland /
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World / Australia / Queensland
zinc mine/processing
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The Century mine in Queensland is Australia's largest open pit zinc mine, producing some 500,000 tonnes of zinc annually.
Key statistics
Name: Century
Location: Located in the remote lower Gulf region of north-west Queensland, Australia.
Product: Zinc concentrate, lead concentrate
Mining method: Drill, blast, load, haul
Processing method: Conventional grinding and flotation
Commenced operation: 2000
Current mine life: Approximately 2015
Reserves:* 3.4 million tonnes zinc, 0.3 million tonnes lead, 19.3 million ounces silver
Resources:* 5.1 million tonnes zinc, 0.6 million tonnes lead, 47.3 million ounces silver
Employees:** 590 employees and 265
(* Total contained metals for June-December 2009 **as at January 2010)
The Century mine, in the remote lower Gulf region of north-west Queensland, comprises two sites – the mine at Lawn Hill, and associated concentrate dewatering and ship-loading facilities at Karumba, on the Gulf of Carpentaria. From there they are sold to smelters in Europe, Australia, China and Asia.
Century zinc concentrate is highly valued by zinc smelters because of its low iron content, which enables smelters to produce minimal amounts of iron-containing by-products that can pose re-treatment and disposal problems.
www.mmg.com/pages/817.aspx
Nov 21 (Reuters) Article:
The owners of the loss-making Century zinc mine, the world's second largest, may have no choice but to keep running the operation because shut-down costs would be too high, Citigroup said on Friday.
About half the world's zinc is being produced at a loss and up to a half million tonnes of capacity elsewhere is under threat of closure because of a collapse in world zinc prices.
Century's owner, Oz Minerals (OZL.AX), has not ruled out suspending all or some production at the giant deposit in eastern Australia, but it is considering cutting staff and other costs before making a decision.
"We see it as difficult to implement short-term production cuts at Century without driving up costs and doing little to improve the cash burn until the pre-strip tails off from mid-2009," Citigroup said in a report.
It did not give an estimate of shut-down costs.
The mine employs 1,100 staff and contractors and is part of a company-wide review of operations. Oz Minerals produces zinc, copper, gold and nickel in Australia and Southeast Asia.
The firm has already has rescheduled operations at its Golden Grove mine in west Australia to reduce zinc output.
Oz Minerals spokesman Matthew Foran said on Friday the review would be completed soon but gave no timetable.
"We're conducting a review process across the board and it doesn't pay to speculate on what the outcome is going to be, whether we are going to close the mine or not," he said.
Zinc fetches $0.54 a pound on the London Metal Exchange but it costs $0.69 a pound to mine at Century, though Citigroup said a lower fuel bill could cut Century's costs, trimming losses.
In January, the zinc price was closer to $1.20 a pound.
Century yielded 129,241 tonnes of contained zinc and 17,846 tonnes of lead in the last quarter, making it second in size only to the Red Dog mine in Alaska owned by Teck Cominco (TCKb.TO).
Goldman Sachs JB Were forecasts zinc to average only $0.63 a pound next year, citing a supply overhang in world markets.
More than 70 percent of the 11.3 million tonnes of zinc produced worldwide last year was for use in galvanised steel, according to official Australian figures. ($1=A$1.64) (Reporting by James Regan, Editing by Mark Bendeich)
www.reuters.com/article/idUSSYD42133220081121
Key statistics
Name: Century
Location: Located in the remote lower Gulf region of north-west Queensland, Australia.
Product: Zinc concentrate, lead concentrate
Mining method: Drill, blast, load, haul
Processing method: Conventional grinding and flotation
Commenced operation: 2000
Current mine life: Approximately 2015
Reserves:* 3.4 million tonnes zinc, 0.3 million tonnes lead, 19.3 million ounces silver
Resources:* 5.1 million tonnes zinc, 0.6 million tonnes lead, 47.3 million ounces silver
Employees:** 590 employees and 265
(* Total contained metals for June-December 2009 **as at January 2010)
The Century mine, in the remote lower Gulf region of north-west Queensland, comprises two sites – the mine at Lawn Hill, and associated concentrate dewatering and ship-loading facilities at Karumba, on the Gulf of Carpentaria. From there they are sold to smelters in Europe, Australia, China and Asia.
Century zinc concentrate is highly valued by zinc smelters because of its low iron content, which enables smelters to produce minimal amounts of iron-containing by-products that can pose re-treatment and disposal problems.
www.mmg.com/pages/817.aspx
Nov 21 (Reuters) Article:
The owners of the loss-making Century zinc mine, the world's second largest, may have no choice but to keep running the operation because shut-down costs would be too high, Citigroup said on Friday.
About half the world's zinc is being produced at a loss and up to a half million tonnes of capacity elsewhere is under threat of closure because of a collapse in world zinc prices.
Century's owner, Oz Minerals (OZL.AX), has not ruled out suspending all or some production at the giant deposit in eastern Australia, but it is considering cutting staff and other costs before making a decision.
"We see it as difficult to implement short-term production cuts at Century without driving up costs and doing little to improve the cash burn until the pre-strip tails off from mid-2009," Citigroup said in a report.
It did not give an estimate of shut-down costs.
The mine employs 1,100 staff and contractors and is part of a company-wide review of operations. Oz Minerals produces zinc, copper, gold and nickel in Australia and Southeast Asia.
The firm has already has rescheduled operations at its Golden Grove mine in west Australia to reduce zinc output.
Oz Minerals spokesman Matthew Foran said on Friday the review would be completed soon but gave no timetable.
"We're conducting a review process across the board and it doesn't pay to speculate on what the outcome is going to be, whether we are going to close the mine or not," he said.
Zinc fetches $0.54 a pound on the London Metal Exchange but it costs $0.69 a pound to mine at Century, though Citigroup said a lower fuel bill could cut Century's costs, trimming losses.
In January, the zinc price was closer to $1.20 a pound.
Century yielded 129,241 tonnes of contained zinc and 17,846 tonnes of lead in the last quarter, making it second in size only to the Red Dog mine in Alaska owned by Teck Cominco (TCKb.TO).
Goldman Sachs JB Were forecasts zinc to average only $0.63 a pound next year, citing a supply overhang in world markets.
More than 70 percent of the 11.3 million tonnes of zinc produced worldwide last year was for use in galvanised steel, according to official Australian figures. ($1=A$1.64) (Reporting by James Regan, Editing by Mark Bendeich)
www.reuters.com/article/idUSSYD42133220081121
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_Mine
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 18°43'42"S 138°36'11"E
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- Bountiful Islands 265 km
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