Motheo mine expansion on schedule
Sandfire Resources has announced that the Motheo Copper operations remain on schedule for low-cost expansion to 5.2Mtpa.
According to Sandfire Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Brendan Harris, the project’s $397M budget, including contingency is unchanged. “The ramp-up of the expanded processing circuit is tracking well with nameplate capacity of 5.2Mtpa expected to be achieved on a consistent basis during the March 2024 Quarter, as planned,” said Brendan.
The CEO said another milestone was achieved at Motheo with the commissioning of the ball mill in the latter part of the December 2023 quarter. “The rapid and low cost expansion of our crushing, milling and concentration plant continues to exceed expectations and we are now focused on achieving the facility’s 5.2 Mtpa nameplate rate on a sustainable basis, before testing its ultimate potential,” Brendan said. Despite the plant’s stability being temporarily affected by shutdown to tie-in the new ball mill, average daily processing rate of 505tph was achieved across December, including an unreconciled maximum daily processing rate of 627tph on 21 December.
Meanwhile, a drilling program has commenced at A4 targeting dip and strike extensions to the ore reserve, while additional potential has been identified in the footwall of the T3 open pit with the target zone expected to be drill tested across FY24 and FY25.
“Pre-strip activities for the A4 open pit also commenced during the period with the mine expected to contribute first ore to the centralised processing facility in the September 2024.”