Open-pit ore fuels bumper Mount Carbine output
By Industry Queensland
Mount Carbine produced 110 tonnes of tungsten concentrate in July, almost doubling its June output as the first primary ore from the new Andy White open-pit mine came into play.
EQ Resources plans to continue to ramp up mining and processing at the Far North Queensland site.
“The team at Mount Carbine have hit their stride,” EQ Resources chief executive officer Kevin MacNeill said.
“They have trusted the process and are now seeing the rewards of their focused efforts.
“This is the first month that we have mined in the Andy White open pit. We are satisfied with the performance of the processing plant which will ramp up processing of primary ore over the coming months while substituting low-grade stockpile feed materials to have a blended, consistent feed to the processing plant.
“We are particularly excited by the performance of our two Tomra sorters which are designed to operate in tandem and handle 120 tonnes of primary ore per hour.”
Related: EQ Resources targets regional critical metals growth
The July production of 110 tonnes of 50 per cent tungsten concentrate was a record for the site, which has previously been extracting tungsten from low grade stockpiles.
EQ Resources kicked off hard rock mining at the historical Mount Carbine site with first blasts in late June.
Golding Contractors signed up to lead the new open-pit operation in a mining services agreement worth about $179 million.
EQ Resources reported that the head-grade of the initial open pit production and grade control drilling had met expectations.
Understanding the mining of the ore body with successive blasts was leading to increased efficiency and handling through the four-stage treatment process, the company said.
This incorporates crushing, screening, high tech XRT ore-sorting and gravity treatment.
Gravity plant run time for the month was at 85 per cent.
Mount Carbine’s tungsten concentrate is bagged and transported by road to the Port of Townsville and on to global customers.
Image at top of page: Bags of tungsten concentrate on the pad, ready for transport.
