Century loads final shipment

EXPRESSIONS of interest are being sought for the use of Century zinc’s infrastructure in the Gulf of Carpentaria following the closure of Australia’s largest open cut zinc mine.

The last shipment of MMG Century zinc concentrates was loaded on to a awaiting ship by Century’s transfer vessel, the MV Wunma, in transit to customers in Asia.

The milestone follows the completion of mining from the Century open-pit in August and processing of about 700,000 tonnes of Century ore stockpiled during the final months of mining.

MMG chief operating officer Marcelo Bastos said there had been more than 600 shipments of Century concentrates since in 1999.

“More than 13 million tonnes of zinc concentrate has been transported through the port, which averages about one full export ship per week,” he said.

“Century zinc concentrates have been highly valued by smelters due to their low iron content, which minimised costs associated with re-treatment and disposal of iron-containing byproducts.”

Mr Bastos said while Century zinc concentrate stockpiles had been depleted, shipments from MMG’s port facility at Karumba in northwest Queensland were continuing.

MMG will continue with shipments of Century lead concentrates, and concentrates produced from processing a batch of ore from the trial stoping program at the company’s Dugald River project near Cloncurry into the first quarter of next year.

Century’s infrastructure will be kept on care and maintenance.

MMG will begin seeking expressions of interest from third parties seeking to use Century’s world-class infrastructure.

MMG announced an updated development plan for the Dugald River project in July. Pre-production mine development remains the focus at the site, with construction of remaining infrastructure to start next year.