Australian copper and gold miner OZ Minerals plans to expand its operations at the Carrapateena copper mine in South Australia.
The company indicated in its earnings and production report on Jan 29 that its Board had approved the expansion, which is to begin in the fourth quarter of 2021, after the mine’s operations were ramped up to 4.25mn mt per year, six months earlier than projected.
The company also plans to expand its Prominent Hill mine after a study confirmed the feasibility of a vertical hoisting shaft that would extend the mine’s life. Due to these expansion projects, the company has increased its copper output guidance to 120,000-145,000mt for 2021.
In 2020, OZ produced 97,620mt of copper, which fell in the mid-range of its yearly projection of 88,000-105,000mt. Of the total production, 61,375mt was achieved at Prominent Hill and 27,632mt of output was from the Carrapateena mine. In Q4 2020, the miner produced 28,939mt of the red metal slightly above 23,873mt produced in the preceding quarter.
OZ sold 95,305mt of copper concentrate in 2020 and 31,062mt in the fourth quarter of the year.