Miitel

The Miitel nickel mine near Kambalda, in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields, is located in one of the worlds foremost nickel provinces. It was discovered by WMC Resources Limited in1968 and since its inception has produced more than 47 million tonnes of mineralised ore containing over 1.4 million tonnes of nickel metal. The nickel rich area surrounding the Miitel Mine has consistently produced an average of over 35,000 tonnes of nickel metal a year.

Mincor Acquired Miitel Mine in 2001
Since Mincor purchased the Miitel Mine in March 2001, up until June 2012, the mine had produced 143,000 tonnes of nickel metal in ore. At the same time the company had increased its ore reserve by six times the figure it started with as a result of successful exploration drilling and further acquisitions. Mincore now own the Miitel, McMahons and Mariners mines within the Kambalda Nickel District. All mines are underground narrow vein mining operations. Mincor has taken a leading role in the District's revival since 2001 and is currently its single largest producer.

All Miitel Mine Production Purchased by BHP Billiton
The ore mined from the Miitel underground nickel mine is all toll-treated at BHP Billiton's Nickel West concentrator facility at Kambalda. The concentrate produced at the plant is purchased by BHP Billiton as a result of a long term take-off agreement signed between the two companies.

Nickel Reserves Expected to Exceed 100,000 Tonnes
The Miitel Mine was partially developed when WMC Resources sold it to Mincor in 2011. It was put into production soon after and to the end of September 2012 had produced 2.03 million tonnes of ore grading at 61,000 tonnes of contained nickel and 3.01 percent nickel. Future exploration success is expected to boost the mineralised ore reserve held by Mincor to more than 100,000 tonnes of nickel metal.

Miitel Orebody Ideal to Mine
The Miitel ore body is elongated and near vertical with a configuration that is gently plunging. This lends itself to an ideal mining situation. The channel structure hosting the ore is remarkably continuous. This has resulted in the North Miitel orebody being discovered in 2002 and the South Miitel deposit being discovered in 2005. These two discoveries have been continually extended ever since. The mineralised belt remains open to the south and the north and is subjected to ongoing exploration.

Miitel Production Effected by GFC
Production at the Miitel Mine was temporarily suspended from early 2009 to July 2010 as a result of the damaging Global Financial Crisis (GFC). When the mine resumed production again it changed its operational structure by becoming fully owner operated and doing away with using contractors for its underground operations. The workforce was also made residential only. These changes considerably reduced costs and the quality of mining rose. The Miitel Mine continues with the same operational structure to this day and now considers itself to be a robust operation that is more than competitive regarding cash cost production variables.

Mincor has African Roots
Mincor was first listed on the ASX in 1997. At the time it was named Africwest Gold NL. A company that had previously focused most of its business in West Africa exploration ventures. In October 1999 Iscor Limited, of South Africa, became Africwest's major shareholder. Iscor sold its Afriwest shares in 2003. At the same time the company changed its name to Mincor Resources NL along with a new board and a new management.