Page Index
Introduction
Location & Access
Ownership
Geology & Mineralization
Mineral Resources, Mineral Reserves &
Life of Mine
Construction, Development & Production
History
Mining & Processing
Transport, Testing & Sampling
Sales & Marketing
Qualified Persons
Introduction
The Magellan Mine (“Magellan” or the “Mine”), in Western
Australia, is the world’s largest lead carbonate mine.
On April 7, 2011, Ivernia announced that it had placed
the Magellan Mine on care and maintenance.
Magellan Mine, Western Australia
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Location & Access
Magellan is located in Western Australia, approximately 30
kilometers (“km”) west of the town of Wiluna (pop. 200) and 750 km northeast of Perth. An all-weather paved airstrip located 4 km south of Wiluna facilitates access for personnel via charter and other commercial flights from Perth.
Accommodation for Mine personnel is provided in an on-site camp, located 3 km east of the Mine. The Mine, plant site and camp are situated adjacent to the Wiluna-Meekatharra section of the Goldfields Highway.
Ownership
Magellan is 100% owned by Magellan Metals Pty Ltd (“Magellan Metals”), a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of Ivernia. Ivernia’s involvement with Magellan began in April, 1999. From June 2003 to April 2005, Ivernia was part of a joint venture with Sentient Global Resources Fund I, LP (“Sentient”). This joint venture terminated with Ivernia acquiring Sentient’s interest and Ivernia became the sole owner of Magellan through its 100% interest in Magellan Metals.
Geology & Mineralization
Magellan is situated within the East Murchison Mineral
Field of Western Australia, on the southern margin of
the Proterozoic Yerrida Basin. Mineralization is hosted
within sediments of the Yelma Formation. At Magellan,
the Yelma Formation is comprised of quartz sandstone and
siltstone overlain by a poorly lithified and silcretized,
solution collapse breccia of probable carbonate origin.
Aerial view of the Magellan, Cano and Pinzon
deposits on Magellan Hill
(property boundaries shown in green) |
Three lead deposits have been discovered on Magellan
Hill, namely the Magellan, Cano and Pinzon deposits.
Initial discovery of the Magellan deposit was in 1993,
followed by Cano in 2001 and Pinzon in 2004. Two
outlying deposits, Drake and Pizarro were
discovered approximately 20 km to the south of Magellan
Hill.
The deposits are interpreted to represent ancient
carbonate-hosted, base-metal deposits which have become
enriched in secondary lead minerals through prolonged
and extensive weathering oxidation of primary base-metal
sulphide minerals. Mineralization occurs as relatively
flat lying zones of secondary lead enrichment, with no
by-product or penalty elements, along topographic highs.
The upper margins of the deposits range from surface to
50 meters depth.
Mineralization consists of sediment-hosted zones of
secondary lead carbonate (cerrusite) and sulphate
(anglesite). High-grade zones are interpreted to
surround relict primary mineralized structures or more
permissive rock.
Mineral
Resources, Mineral Reserves & Life of Mine
SRK Consulting (Australasia) Pty Ltd (“SRK”) has
prepared an independent National Instrument 43-101 (“NI
43-101”) compliant technical report on the Magellan Mine
entitled “Technical Report on the Magellan Lead
Carbonate Mine, Wiluna, Western Australia”, with an
Effective Date of March 30, 2011 (the “2011 Technical
Report”). The 2011 Technical Report contains information
on mineral resources and reserves, life of mine,
permitting and financial analysis. The technical
information on this website is summarized or extracted
from the 2011 Technical Report and is subject to the
assumptions and qualifications contained in the 2011
Technical Report.
Click here for Mineral Resources, Mineral Reserves and Life of Mine Summary.
Construction, Development & Production
History
The approval process for Magellan began in 1999, with
initial approvals granted in 2000. Construction of the
Mine, plant and related infrastructure began in May 2004
and was substantially completed in December 2004.
Commissioning of the processing plant commenced in
January 2005 and commercial production was achieved on
October 1, 2005.
As a result of a notice issued to the Esperance Port Authority under section 73A of the
Environmental Protection Act 1986 by the Department of Environment and Conservation (“DEC”) of Western Australia on March 15, 2007 prohibiting shipping of lead carbonate concentrate through the Port of Esperance (the port Magellan Metals previously utilized as its bulk export port), the Mine was placed on temporary care and maintenance effective April 6, 2007. During the care and maintenance period the Company took the opportunity to revise its transportation methodology and implement a best-practice bagged and containerized shipping process at the mine site. In September 2007 a formal application was made to transport lead concentrate inside double-lined bulk bags within shipping containers through the Port of Fremantle. Partial Ministerial approval was granted in February, 2009, followed by final approval in August, 2009, thereby authorizing Magellan Metals to commence shipment of lead concentrate through the Port of Fremantle. The first shipment of lead concentrate from Mine stockpiles following ministerial approval was shipped on September 29, 2009.
The approvals conditions include an ongoing stringent
requirement for testing and sampling along the transport
route. For additional details see “Transport, Testing
and Sampling” below.
On February 25, 2010 Ivernia announced a staged restart
of operations at Magellan. Production at the mine in
2010 was approximately 44,100 tonnes of contained lead
in concentrate. The average recovery in this period was
74%.
On December 31, 2010 Magellan Metals received a stop
order from the Minister for Environment of Western
Australia relating to the transport of lead carbonate
from Magellan through, to, and within the Port of
Fremantle and Ivernia subsequently announced a temporary
shutdown of mining and processing operations on January
5, 2011. An order of January 3, 2011, which followed the
original stop order, was lifted on February 23, 2011. On
April 7, 2011 the Company announced that the mine would
be placed on care and maintenance.
Mining & Processing
The deposits are fairly flat-lying, occurring on subtle
topographic highs.
Ore at Magellan is extracted via drilling and blasting
from a series of open pits on Magellan Hill. Excavators
are then used to dig and load ore and waste into 85
tonne haulage trucks. Ore is mined concurrently from a
number of faces to provide a homogeneous blend to the
concentrator and ore is stockpiled and further blended
on the Run of Mine (“ROM”) pad. Grade control is
enhanced by testing every blasthole using a hand-held
x-ray fluorescence (“XRF”) analyzer for lead content.
Simplified Flow Sheet, Magellan Mine |
Ore is processed on-site through a process of crushing,
grinding, sulphidization, froth flotation, dewatering
and bagging. From the ROM pad ore passes through a jaw
crusher and a two-stage milling process, comprised of a
primary SAG mill followed by a secondary ball mill.
After milling, material is subject to a unique
sulphidization process which coats lead carbonate
particles with a molecular sulphide layer, thereby
encouraging flotation and allowing for the use of
conventional flotation. Dewatering to achieve an 8%
final moisture is accomplished via dual-stage
concentrate thickening tanks followed by pressure
filtering. Concentrate is gravity-fed from the pressure
filter to the bagging area, where material is loaded
into two tonne bags for transport, as outlined in
“Transport, Testing and Sampling” below.
Power is currently generated on-site from a diesel power
station. A lateral pipeline has been constructed to
allow delivery of gas from the Goldfields Gas Pipeline,
which passes some 37 km east of the mine. Installation
of the line has been completed and plans are being
developed to convert the generator set from diesel fuel
to dual fuel technology.
Transport, Testing & Sampling
In 2010,
Magellan successfully implemented its new lead
concentrate transport system. This process, which is
recognized as setting a new level of industry
best-practice, received initial government approval in
February, 2009, and final approval in August, 2009.
Key aspects of the sealed transport system are the
avoidance of material rehandling and the minimization of
potential release of product. Incorporated within the
system are a stringent monitoring regime, top-level
emergency response program, public compliance reporting
and consultation, and performance review. Every bag and
container shipped is independently inspected, with
public reporting of results. Monitoring includes soil,
water, benthic sediment, dust and air quality.
Lead carbonate bagging, vehicle washing,
and inspection, Magellan Mine |
This transport system starts with placing lead
concentrate into UN-approved, heavy-duty, double-lined,
two tonne bags on site. These bags are then closed and
vacuumed to remove any lead dust adhering to their outer
surfaces. The bags are placed in shipping containers,
which are then sealed and loaded onto trucks; both the
containers and trucks are then washed and inspected by
an independant inspector before leaving
site.
Containers are transported by road and rail to the Port
of Fremantle, the busiest port in Western Australia and
the fourth largest in Australia, handling in excess of
26 Mt of cargo annually. From the port, sealed
containers carrying the bags of lead concentrate are
shipped via standard container vessels to primary and
secondary lead smelters throughout the world.
Sales & Marketing
Magellan produces a unique lead carbonate concentrate
that is high-grade and clean (i.e. contains very low
levels of impurities and by-products such as silver,
zinc and other base metals). Magellan’s customers are located throughout
the world, with a concentration in the Chinese and South
East Asian markets.
Ivernia’s concentrate is unique from nearly all other
lead concentrates currently produced, as other
concentrates are lead sulphide. Whereas secondary lead
smelters cannot generally process sulphide concentrates,
they can typically process Magellan concentrate.
Qualified Persons
The technical information on this website which relates
to geology at Magellan is based upon information
compiled by Bruce Hooper, who is a member of the
Australasian Institute of Geoscientists. Mr. Hooper is
Vice President Corporate Development and Exploration of
Ivernia, therefore not independent of Ivernia and is a
Qualified Person within the meaning of National
Instrument 43-101. Mr. Hooper is responsible for the
technical material on this website relating to geology
and has verified the data generated by Ivernia,
including the sampling, analytical and test data
underlying the information. Mr. Hooper consented to the
inclusion on this website of the matters discussed.
Peter Williams, Owen Herod, Simon Walsh, Daniel Guibal,
Roger Pooley, Juan Jose Moreno, Lisa Chandler and
Trivindren Naidoo are the authors of the 2011 Technical
Report. Each of these individuals is a Qualified Person
as defined in NI 43-101, independent of the Company and
has consented to applicable disclosure derived from the
2011 Technical Report being contained herein. The areas
of responsibility of each of the foregoing Qualified
Persons with respect to the Magellan Mine are as
follows: Property Description, Geological Setting
Mineralization, Exploration (Peter Williams and
Trivindren Naidoo); Drilling, Sampling, QA/QC and Data
Verification (Owen Herod); Metallurgy and Process (Simon
Walsh); Mineral Resources (Daniel Guibal); Mining
Optimization, Design and Scheduling, Review of
Contracts, Historical and Budgeted Mining Costs and
Mineral Reserves (Roger Pooley); Waste Management and
Water (Juan Jose Moreno); Environmental (Lisa Chandler);
and Technical Economic Model (Peter Williams).
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