South32 halts mining at Cannington after fire

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – An underground fire has affected mining operations at South32's Cannington silver, lead and zinc mine, in Queensland.

The company on Thursday said the fire had damaged the load-out and shaft haulage infrastructure. Remedial work will be undertaken over a four-week period, meaning that the extraction of the higher-grade stope 60L will be delayed.

South32 told shareholders that, based on an initial assessment, silver production from Cannington for the full year was now expected to decline from the previous guidance of 19-million ounces, to 16.5-million ounces, while lead production is expected to decline form 163 000 t to 135 000 t, and zinc production from 80 000 t to 70 000 t.

Mill throughput at Cannington has also been downwardly revised from 3.3-million tonnes to 3.1-million tonnes for the full year.