Dugald river

The giant Dugald River zinc, silver and lead underground mine project being developed by MMG in Queensland, 65 kilometres north west of Cloncurry, has had its mine development construction delayed as a result of MMG cancelling major development operations while it considers alternative mining methods.

MMG Doubts its Initial Start Date for Dugald River Production can be met
It had been planned for MMG to export is first concentrate from the emerging mine by the first quarter of 2015 but there is now doubt if this target can be met. MMG halted construction following a project review that was handed down in September 2013. The review indicated alternative mining methods would be required to successfully operate the mining operation. MMG responded by undertaking an additional analysis regarding the optimisation of its mining methods at the Dugald River project.

Following the receipt of the project review MMG deferred most of the surface work taking place at the time on the Dugald River project. This deferral included bulk earthworks and the construction of the accommodation camp for the permanent workers once the project was completed as well as an engineering, procurement and construction contract it had with the Forge Group.

Dugald River ore Resource Totals 53 Million Tonnes
The Dugald River mineral resource consists of 53 million tonnes comprising 12.5 percent zinc, 1.9 percent lead and 36 grams of silver for each tonne of ore. It is proposed that the mine, once up and running, will process around two million tonnes of ore annually, this would be sufficient to produce up to 220,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate, between 27,000 and 30,000 tonnes of lead concentrate and around 900,000 ounces of silver annually. The final review will look at the proposed mining method as well as the proposed production targets and infrastructure requirements.

Dugald River and Century Mine to Come Under the one Umbrella
MMG is relying heavily on the vast knowledge and experience of its Century mining operation that is also located in north west Queensland, about 325 kilometres from the Dugald River project. The Century mine that has been in operation since 1999 has a life of mine expected to be reached in 2016. It is planned to place the Century and Dugald River mines under the one single Queensland Operational structure when the Dugald River mine comes online. In this way the two mines will be able to share knowledge and resources that will include such things as; environmental management, stakeholder and community engagement, human resources, as well as the mining operation at the Century mine and mine development at Dugald River. MMG's main focus is to maximise the long term value of the Dugald River project in a way that economically manages work already underway as well as to optimise infrastructure and mine design.

Work on the Dugald River project have already resulted in the building of the construction workers village, an emergency airstrip and mine access roads. Considerable underground mine development has also been completed to date and this has allowed further geotechnical investigation to take place on the deeper sections of the Dugald River ore body. It was these investigations that showed up certain complexities in the ore body that have to be properly planned for, hence the need for the final review of the proposed mining methods.