Cawse mine explained

Cawse mine
Pushpin Map:	Western Australia
Pushpin Map Caption:	Location in Western Australia
Coordinates:	-30.3817°N 121.1594°W
Place:	Ora Banda
Subdivision Type:	State
State/Province:	Western Australia
Country:	Australia
Owner:	Wingstar Investments Pty Ltd
Acquisition Year:	2014
Products:	Nickel, cobalt
Opening Year:	1999
Closing Year:	2008
Module:	Stroke-Colour: C60C30 Stroke-Width: 3 Marker: industrial Marker-Colour: 1F2F57 Zoom: 11

The Cawse mine is a mothballed laterite nickel mine near Ora Banda in Western Australia. Cawse has a remnant Proven Reserve of 3.757 million tonnes of ore grading 0.65% nickel for 24,400 tonnes of nickel, as of 31 December 2009.^[1]

The mine, opened in 1999, was Australia's first high pressure acid leaching operation to mine and treat laterite nickel ore to produce nickel metal on site.^[2] It was closed in October 2008, due to depressed metal prices.^[3]

Cawse was developed by Centaur Mining & Exploration, with an annual capacity of 9,000 tonnes of nickel and up to 2,000 tonnes of cobalt.^[4]

In 2001 it was sold to OM Group, and subsequently in 2007 was sold to Norilsk Nickel. In 2014 Norilsk Nickel, having placed the mine and plant on care-and-maintenance in 2008, sold it to Wingstar Investments for an undisclosed amount.^{[5] [6] [7]}

External links

• Cawse Historic Nickel Mine (Central and Extended) Deposit Summary Report
• Cawse Extended (TNG - Norilsk) Deposit Summary Report
• Cawse
• MINEDEX website: Cawse Database of the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety
• Cawse Nickel Project Environmental Protection Authority of Western Australia

Notes and References

1. Web site: Reserves of nickel. 2013 . nornik.ru. 2013-07-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130705235906/http://www.nornik.ru/en/our_products/MineralReservesResourcesStatement/#. 5 July 2013. dead. dmy-all.
2. Web site: Cahill . Casey . Opening of the Cawse nickel mine near Kalgoorlie . Media Statements . Government of Western Australia, Department of the Premier and Cabinet . 6 June 2020 . Perth, WA . 13 May 1999 . 6 June 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200606080320/https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/Court/1999/05/Opening-of-the-Cawse-nickel-mine-near-Kalgoorlie.aspx . dead .
3. News: Scott . Jason . Xstrata to close WA nickel mine . 6 June 2020 . Sydney Morning Herald . 11 April 2009.
4. Book: Elias . M. . Rankin . W.J. . Overview of the Australian Nickel-Cobalt Industry . 2013 . The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy . Carlton, Vic. . 9781921522802 . Overview of the Australian Nickel-Cobalt Industry.
5. News: Budrys . Aleksandras . Norilsk buys OM Group nickel business for $408 mln . 6 June 2020 . Reuters . 20 January 2007.
6. News: Evans . Nick . Gardner buys Cawse, Avalon . 6 June 2020 . The West Australian . 23 May 2014 . Perth, WA.
7. Web site: Cawse . PorterGeo Database . Porter GeoConsultancy . 6 June 2020 . 2004.