📋 Tender Overview
LOCATION Western AustraliaScopeThe West Musgrave Project is an open-pit copper and nickel sulphide mine located in the Musgrave Province of Western Australia. It comprises Nebo-Babel nickel-copper sulphide and Succoth copper deposits. The project is being developed by a joint venture of OZ Minerals 70 and Cassini Resources 30. The funding of the West Musgrave project will be supported by a joint venture JV agreement between OZ Minerals and Cassini Resources. A pre-feasibility study of the West Musgrave Project was completed in February 2020. The project can be developed as a low carbon long-life and low-cost mine based on the study. OZ Minerals and Cassini are progressing with the tailings storage facility TSF design impact assessments and environmental baseline studies. The mine is expected to produce approximately 33000 tonnes per annum tpa of copper and 27000tpa of nickel in the first five years of operation. The average annual production for the rest of the mine life is projected to be approximately 27000tpa of copper and 22000tpa of nickel. The West Musgrave copper-nickel mine is located 1300km north-east of Perth close to the states border with the Northern Territory and South Australia. It is situated 500km west of Uluru and 30km south of Jameson Mantamaru community. Discovered in 2000 the Babel and Nebo nickel-copper deposits are separated by a distance of 1.5km. The West Musgrave project lies within an extensive Mesoproterozoic orogenic belt. The Nebo-Babel and Succoth deposits are hosted within mafic intrusions in the Giles Complex. Exploration at the deposits identified broad zones of mineralisation classified as disseminated sulphides and co-magmatic accumulations of matrix to massive sulphides. The mineralisation is found within tubular chonolithic gabbronorite bodies. Disseminated gabbronorite-hosted sulphides form a major component of the mineralisation. The Babel and Nebo deposits which are located near the surface are planned to be developed in stages employing open pit mining methods. The mining method is customised to meet orebody characteristics and reduce ore loss and dilution. It will involve conventional drilling blasting loading and hauling. The haulage fleet of the project will include up to 25 220t haul trucks with an option to operate the trucks in fully autonomous mode at a later stage. The mining is expected to be handled by a contractor for the first five years following which the project will transition to an owner-operated model.
