Kanmantoo copper mine will reopen, creating 170 jobs
Hillgrove Resources plans to resume mining underground, using a new kind of electric drilling machine.
The copper mine at Kanmantoo will reopen in 2022, creating 170 jobs, its operator has announced.
Hillgrove Resources will use a new type of electric drilling machine to tunnel beneath the pit of its open-cut mine and access ore it was previously unable to reach.
The Komatsu machine will be able to drill continuously, reducing the delays and hazards associated with setting charges and blasting into hard rock.
The state government has agreed to contribute $2 million towards the cost of the machine.
Hillgrove CEO Lachlan Wallace was excited.
“We have had excellent drilling results this year,” he said.
“The copper mineralisation extends at least 500 metres below the base of the open pit and remains open at depth.
“Crucially, we also have the established (ore processing) infrastructure in place to utilise this opportunity and begin extraction in 2022.”
State MP Adrian Pederick welcomed the jobs the mining project would create.
Hillgrove’s open-cut mining operation at Kanmantoo was wound up in 2019, and ore processing at the site finished last April.
Prior to its closure, the mine had employed at least 120 people.
At one stage Hillgrove had planned to hand the open-cut pit over to energy company AGL, which wanted to turn it into a pumped hydro energy storage facility, but that deal fell apart in February of 2020.
You can help keep local stories like this one free for everyone to read. Subscribe to Murray Bridge News today and support your independent, locally owned news service, plus get access to exclusive stories you won’t find anywhere else, from just $5 a month.
