Nova Mine Explained

Nova Mine
Pushpin Map:Western Australia
Pushpin Label:Nova Mine
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Western Australia
Coordinates:-31.81°N 123.17°W
Place:Fraser Range
Subdivision Type:State
State/Province:Western Australia
Country:Australia
Owner:IGO Limited
Official Website:IGO website
Acquisition Year:2015
Products:CobaltCopperNickel
Financial Year:2022–23
Amount:Nickel: 22,915 tonnes Cooper: 10,266 tonnesCobalt: 803 tonnes
Opening Year:2017
Active Years:2017–present
Module:
Stroke-Colour:
  1. C60C30
Stroke-Width:3
Marker:industrial
Marker-Colour:
  1. 1F2F57
Zoom:12

Nova Mine or Nova Operation is an underground cobalt, copper and nickel mine at Fraser Range, east-northeast of Norseman, in the Shire of Dundas, Western Australia.

The mine opened in 2015 and consists of two underground ore deposits, Bollinger and Nova, and is operated by IGO Limited. The mine is located on the traditional land of the Ngadju people.

History

The first of the two deposits, Nova, was discovered in July 2012 while the second one, Bollinger, was discovered the following year in February.[1] The native title of the land the mine operates on is held by the Ngadju people, their claim to traditional ownership having been recognised by the Federal Court of Australia on 21 November 2014.

The project was originally owned by Sirius Resources, formerly Croesus Mining,[2] which commenced construction of the mine in January 2015. Construction of the mine was budgeted at A$443 million, with a start date of 2017 for production. Sirius envisioned an annual production of 6,000 tonnes of nickel, 11,500 tonnes of copper and 850 tonnes of cobalt at the mine. Four month later, in May 2015, Independence Group made a A$1.8 billion takeover bid for Sirius.[3] In September 2015, the transaction was approved by the shareholders of Sirius, prospector Mark Creasy holding a 35 percent interest in the company, but the transaction excluded the company's gold assets, which were transferred to a new company, S2 Resources, instead.[4]

The start date for production was subsequently brought forward to late 2016 by the new owners, Independence Group, with construction costs reported to be within budged.[5]

Once the mine was operational, ore was processed through BHP's Kambalda Nickel Concentrator.[6] The mine eventually reached commercial production in July 2017 and full nameplate production three month later.

On 18 September 2019, Ricky Hanson (57), a truck driver, died from head injuries he had received at the mine on 11 September while operating the trailer covering system on the second trailer of a road train.[7] [8]

In January 2020, Independence Group NL changed its name to IGO Limited.[9]

In 2022, IGO Limited took over fellow mining company Western Areas at a cost of A$1.26 billion, of which IGO financed A$900 million through loans and the remainder through its own capital.[10] The acquisition included the inactive Cosmos Nickel Mine and the Forrestania Nickel Operations.[11]

In 2021–22, the mine produced 26,675 tonnes of nickel as well as 11,483 tonnes of cooper and 982 of cobalt. Nova's grades were 1.85 percent for nickel, 0.75 percent for copper and 0.07 percent for cobalt. The mine had a revenue of A$900 million, of which just over 50 percent were profit.

In December 2022, the mine had to be closed for a number of weeks after a fire destroyed the diesel engine room at Nova.[12] The mine was eventually restarted after 18 days, on 21 December 2022, after 14.9MW of temporary power generators had been installed on site.[13]

Production

Annual production of the mine:[14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]

YearNickel(tonnes)Copper(tonnes)Cobalt(tonnes)Cash cost(A$ per lb)
2017–1822,2589,5457402.78
2018–1930,70813,6931,0902.07
2019–2030,43613,7721,1422.41
2020–2129,00213,0221,0841.85
2021–2226,67511,4839821.95
2022–2322,91510,266 8033.54
Overall 2016–2023161,99471,7815,841N/A

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Nova Mine, Fraser Range, Dundas Shire, Western Australia, Australia. www.mindat.org . . 24 March 2023.
  2. Web site: SIRIUS RESOURCES NL (SIR) . . www.delisted.com.au . Investogain Pty Limited . 24 March 2023.
  3. Web site: Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistics Digest 2014–15 . www.dmp.wa.gov.au . . 24 March 2023.
  4. News: Shareholders give green light to $1.8b Independence Group takeover of Sirius Resources . . Kathryn Diss . 3 September 2015 . 24 March 2023 .
  5. Web site: Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistics Digest 2015–16 . www.dmp.wa.gov.au . . 24 March 2023.
  6. Web site: Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistics Digest 2017–18 . www.dmp.wa.gov.au . . 24 March 2023.
  7. News: Lucas . Jarrod . Truck driver's fatal injuries likely caused by tarpaulin mechanism failure, report says. 27 March 2023 . . 25 October 2019.
  8. Web site: Ricky Hanson . Western Australian Virtual Miners Memorial . Lamington, WA . 27 March 2023.
  9. Web site: Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistics Digest 2019–20 . www.dmp.wa.gov.au . . 24 March 2023.
  10. News: IGO’s Cosmos nickel project to cost up to $825 million, almost three times the original estimate . . Neil Watkinson . 3 November 2022 . 24 March 2023 .
  11. News: IGO to buy Western Areas for A$1.1bn amid soaring nickel demand . Mining.com . Cecilia Jamasmin . 16 December 2021 . 24 March 2023 .
  12. News: IGO races to restore Nova mine after fire causes total shutdown . Australian Mining . Alexandra Eastwood . 5 December 2022 . 24 March 2023 .
  13. Web site: Quarterly Report: Period Ended 31 December 2022. cdn-api.markitdigital.com . IGO Limited . 24 March 2023.
  14. Web site: IGO Limited Annual Report 2018. www.asx.com.au . IGO Limited . 25 March 2023.
  15. Web site: IGO Limited Annual Report 2019. www.asx.com.au . IGO Limited . 25 March 2023.
  16. Web site: IGO Limited Annual Report 2020. www.asx.com.au . IGO Limited . 25 March 2023.
  17. Web site: IGO Limited Annual Report 2021. www.asx.com.au . IGO Limited . 25 March 2023.
  18. Web site: IGO Limited Annual Report 2022. www.asx.com.au . IGO Limited . 25 March 2023.
  19. Web site: IGO Limited Annual Report 2022. www.igo.com.au . IGO Limited . 25 March 2023.