Aurelia Metals has fired the first stope ore at its Federation mine near Cobar in New South Wales, with bogging of the ore to commence shortly.
Federation hosts high-grade zinc, lead, gold and copper mineralisation, all of which are essential for technologies to support the global energy transition.
Underground production at Federation is tipped to reach up to 600,000 tonnes (t) a year over an initial eight-year mine life, with the ore to be processed at Aurelia’s Peak and Hera processing facilities.
“The safe commencement of underground stoping at our Federation mine was delivered in-line with our previous commitments to shareholders and represents another milestone achievement for the business,” Aurelia managing director and chief executive officer Bryan Quinn said.
“The successful delivery of first stope ore is a testament to the quality and timeliness of work completed to date at Federation by our team.
“Our underground focus now continues to be on mine development to advance the decline and open up additional working areas to ramp up production.”
Federations is ramping up to an initial production target of four million tonnes of ore, comprising approximately 328,000t of zinc, 192,000t of lead, 12,000t of copper, 116,000 ounces of gold and 772,000 ounces of silver.
The mine was opened just last week at a ceremony attended by NSW Natural Resources Minister Courtney Houssos, who is confident in the state’s position as an emerging leader in the critical minerals sector.
“The critical minerals and high-tech metals from mines across NSW will help build the products for a clean energy future,” Houssos said.
“With deposits of 21 of the 31 nationally identified critical and strategic minerals, NSW is well placed to be a global leader.”
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