Handlebar Hill open cut mine approval

Xstrata Zinc has announced the approval of the Handlebar Hill open cut zinc-lea....

  Xstrata Zinc has announced the approval of the Handlebar Hill open cut zinc-lead mine north of Mount Isa at a capital cost of US$61 million (A$79 million).Recent drilling, metallurgical testing and design has confirmed a 4.3 million tonne open pit reserve in an area south of the George Fisher underground mine, located 22km north of Mount Isa. Ore will be mined at a rate of up to 1.75 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), crushed at George Fisher and trucked to the Mount Isa zinc-lead concentrator from mid 2008. The concentrator is currently being expanded from 6.5 mtpa to 8 mtpa at a capital cost of US$120 million (A$160 million). Ore is currently supplied to the concentrator from the George Fisher underground and Black Star open cut zinc-lead mines. According to Xstrata Zinc Chief Executive Santiago Zaldumbide the approval is a further demonstration of Xstrata Zinc’s commitment to the future of the business in Mount Isa. “The new mine approval we are announcing today further builds upon the commitment we made last August to expand the Mount Isa zinc-lead concentrator capacity by 60% and the significant progress we have made in improving the operating efficiency and long-term viability of our zinc-lead business at Mount Isa over the past four years.” The commencement of the Handlebar Hill mine development is subject to approval of a mine plan amendment by the Queensland Department of Mines and Energy. A contracting firm will commence pre-stripping activities at the mine once approval has been granted. It is expected that there will be around 120 employees working in the open cut mine.