- Murrin Murrin Joint Venture
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Murrin Murrin Location Location in Australia
Murrin Murrin28.849786°S 121.842842°E / 28.84979°S 121.84284°ECoordinates: 28.849786°S 121.842842°E / 28.84979°S 121.84284°E
Location Laverton State Western Australia Country Australia Owner Company Minara Resources (60%)
Glencore (40%)Website Minara website
Glencore websiteASX MRE Production Products Nickel
CobaltProduction Nickel: 30,514 t
Cobalt: 2,018 tFinancial year 2008 History Opened 1999 The Murrin Murrin Joint Venture is a major nickel-cobalt mining operation being conducted in the North Eastern Goldfields, approximately 60 km east of Leonora, Western Australia. The Project is a joint venture between Murrin Murrin Holdings Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Minara Resources Ltd (whose share is 60%) and Glenmurrin Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Glencore International AG, which has a 40% share but also owns 70% of Minara.
The mine opened in 1999.[1]
Contents
Geology
Murrin Murrin mines a laterite nickel ore formed by deep weathering of a peridotite ultramafic rock.
Problems with the Murrin Murrin process plant
Significant problems and delays were encountered in the design, construction and commissioning of the ore process plant at Murrin Murrin [2]
The designers, Fluor Daniel eventually had to pay the joint venture partners A$155 million in an out of court settlement. It was their second successful claim against Fluor, Murrin Murrin owners having been awarded $147 million from the first phase of their claim against Fluor, a sum which ultimately was reduced to $39.8 million. The Murrin Murrin project's original cost estimate of $1 billion had blown out $1.6 billion.[3]
Production
Production of the mine:
Year Nickel Cobalt 2000 [1] 13,027 t 904 t 2001 [1] 25,991 t 1,253 t 2002 [1] 30,009 t 1,838 t 2003 2004 [4] 27,950 t 1,982 t 2005 [4] 28,240 t 1,750 t 2006 [4] 31,524 t 2,096 t 2007 [4] 27,585 t 1,884 t 2008 [4] 30,514 t 2,018 t 2009 See also
Sources
- The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition, Louthean Media Pty Ltd, Editor: Ross Louthean
References
- ^ a b c d The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition, page: 39
- ^ Nedeljkovic, Zoran. (1998) Andrew Forrest : a key to Murrin Murrin's past and future Mining chronicle (West Perth, W.A.) Late June 1998, p. 6
- ^ Minara handed $155m for Murrin mine fiasco The Sydney Morning Herald, published: 6 May 2004, accessed: 10 September 2009
- ^ a b c d e 2008 MRE Annual report
External links
Categories:- Nickel mines in Australia
- Cobalt mines in Australia
- Economic geology
- Geology of Western Australia
- Goldfields-Esperance
- Surface mines in Australia
- Mining stubs
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