The George Fisher zinc, lead and silver operation ramped up production by about 150,000 tonnes in 2024 to hit around the 3.3-million-tonne mark.

And that is set to lift further to about 3.4 million to 3.5 million tonnes of ore this year, according to chief operating officer for Glencore’s Australian zinc and copper assets Sam Strohmayr.

One of two hoists at the underground operation – P49 – was refurbished and recommissioned during last year.

The work reconfigured the P49 material handling system, enabling the hoisting of ore for the first time. Previously, the system was only used for hoisting waste material.

Mr Strohmayr said the recent ramp-up in production had been driven by running both George Fisher hoists, L72 and P49, simultaneously as well as improvements in areas such as mining efficiency and stope design.

Glencore is aiming for further increases beyond 2025 to reach a long-term steady-state production rate of 3.8Mpa to 4.0Mtpa out of George Fisher.

The workforce for the site stands around 800 and is set to rise over the next three years.

Related: Clock winds down on Isa’s underground copper operations

“George Fisher is quite a complex mine. There are lots of small stopes, lots of equipment,” Mr Strohmayr said.

“So with that comes a reasonably sized workforce. So as we ramp up production, we do see our numbers of people at George Fisher going up as well.”

The site has been able to absorb scores of workers redeployed from the company’s Mount Isa Copper Operations as it heads for an end to underground copper mining in July.

The George Fisher mine life is expected to extend out to 2042.

Glencore is also looking into the potential restart of Mount Isa’s Black Star zinc mine as an open-cut operation with a 10 to 20-year mine life. The site was placed on care and maintenance in 2016.

Australian zinc exports are forecast to earn $4.5 billion in 2024-25 and $3.9 billion next financial year according to the latest resources and energy quarterly report from the Office of the Chief Economist.