PERTH (miningweekly.com) – An extensive review of the Blair Athol project’s reserves and resources has extended the project’s mine life by two years, owner TerraCom has reported.
Independent experts Xenith Consulting reported a Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant reserve of 13.5-million tonnes and a resource of 44-million tonnes at the Blair Athol mine, in Queensland.
TerraCom executive chairperson Cameron McRae said that the reserve upgrade enabled the mine plan to be extended from five years to seven years, with capacity remaining at two-million tonnes a year.
“The resource upgrade to 44-million tonnes provides the potential to increase the mine life further, should some of this additional resource be able to be converted into reserve,” McRae said.
TerraCom recently completed an agreement with mining major Rio Tinto under which its subsidiary acquired the mine for $1. Under the agreement, TerraCom, a subsidiary of Orion Mining, will receive A$80-million from the mining giant to meet rehabilitation costs at the site.
TerraCom is hoping to restart operations at Blair Athol in late 2016, with McRae saying the re-opening of the mine would mean not only 300 jobs for the local Claremont community, but also a boost to the state’s treasury.
The company has submitted the requisite detailed and supporting documents for an indicative approval for the title transfer, and has received Foreign Investment Review Board approval for the acquisition of the mine.
The company has also secured $12-million in funding to restart the coal mine.
Edited by: Creamer Media Reporter
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