Ravensthorpe mine could re-open
IT may be third time lucky for First Quantum Minerals’ nickel operations at Ravensthorpe in WA.
The owners of the mothballed mine say they will move to re-open the site if rising demand for the metal continues.
In its quarterly results posted at the end of July, the Canadian mining giant said it hoped to restart the nickel and cobalt operation by early next year, with the value “sensitive to longer term nickel price assumptions”.
The mine, originally owned by BHP Billiton, first closed in 2009 because of the global financial crisis, leading to the loss of 1800 jobs.
First Quantum grasped the opportunity to buy the asset off BHP in 2010 for $493m, a fraction of the US$3b it cost to build and commission the facility, and brought it back into commercial production by December 2011.
But it too was forced to close the site six years later amid a global downturn for the commodity, with about 450 employees and contractors losing their jobs.
At the time, First Quantum reported that the cost to suspend operations and enter care and maintenance was about $10m, with additional annual maintenance of about $5m.
The care and maintenance costs during the June quarter and first half of this year totalled $5m and $9m respectively.
In the report, First Quantum also confirmed it had completed drilling of its nearby Shoemaker Levy ore body deposit, and had almost finished upgrades to its processing facilities.
Prices for nickel have surged since early this year, fuelled by a shrinking supply of the commodity, with global sales of the metal plummeting from about 500,000t to below 150,000t in August.
While most of the nickel is used in the production of stainless steel, the metal is also a component of batteries to store renewable energy and power electric cars, seen as a long-term driver of the market.
The restart of the Ravensthorpe mine is expected to potentially offer hundreds of jobs to the local community and beyond.