Cosmos Nickel Mine

Cosmos Nickel Mine is a currently inactive surface and underground nickel mine 38 kilometres (24 mi) north-north-west of Leinster, Western Australia, along the Goldfields Highway.

Cosmos Nickel Mine
Location
Cosmos Nickel Mine is located in Western Australia
Cosmos Nickel Mine
Cosmos Nickel Mine
Location in Western Australia
LocationLeinster
StateWestern Australia
CountryAustralia
Coordinates27°35′22″S 120°34′53″E
Production
ProductsNickel
History
Opened2000
Active2000–2012
Owner
CompanyIGO Limited
WebsiteIGO website
Year of acquisition2022

The traditional owners of the land the mine is located on are the Tjiwarl people.

History

The Cosmos nickel deposit was discovered in 1997 by Jubilee Gold Mines NL, originally a gold explorer which had switched to nickel exploration the previous year. The Cosmos deposit stood out for its high-grade nickel ore, averaging between five and twelve percent where most other nickel mines in Western Australia operate at a one to three percent grade.[1][2]

Jubilee Gold planned to invest A$52 million in the project, of which A$38 would go towards the construction of a concentrator. In 1998, the company estimated an initial mine life of three years and a production of 30,000 tonnes of nickel in this time.[3] While mining was initially envisioned to be surface only, an expansion to potential underground mining was announced in the following year.[4] Mining at Cosmos commenced in 2000[2] and, in 2004–05, the mine transitioned from a surface to an underground mining operation.[5] In 2007, Jubilee Gold, and thereby the mine, were acquired by Xstrata for A$3.1 billion,[6] at a time when nickel prices had surged. Shortly after the purchase by Xstrata, nickel prices crashed and, in 2012, the mine was placed in care and maintenance.[2] During its twelve years of operation, the Cosmos Nickel Mine produced 127,000 tonnes of nickel in concentrate at a grade of 4.8 percent.[7] At its peak, in 2011, the mine employed over 300 people,[8] compare to just four in 2014, when in care and maintenance.[9]

Xstrata was taken over by Glencore in 2015, which soon after sold the mine to Western Areas for A$24.5 million.[2][6]

Western Areas, in turn, was taken over by IGO Limited at a cost of A$1.26 billion in 2022.[10] Of this, IGO financed A$900 million through loans and the remainder through its own capital. Apart from Cosmos, the acquisition also included Western Areas' Forrestania nickel operations in addition to its own Nova nickel-copper-cobalt operation.[11]

Shortly after the purchase, IGO announced that, to restart the operation and increase the concentrator size at Cosmos from 750,000 to one million tonnes per annum, an A$825 million investment was needed, three times the original estimate by the previous owner. At the time, IGO estimated that nickel production at Cosmos would recommence in 2024.[10]

Mining at Cosmos is planned to be centred around the Odysseus mine, which is expected to have a mine life of ten years and to produce over 10,000 tonnes of nickel per annum.[11]

References
  1. B. Craven; T. Rovira; T. Grammer; M. Styles (1 June 2000), "The role of geophysics in the discovery and delineation of the Cosmos Nickel Sulphide Deposit, Leinster area, Western Australia", Exploration Geophysics, CSIRO PUBLISHING, 31 (2): 201–209, ISSN 1834-7533
  2. "Cosmos Project, Leinster, Leonora Shire, Western Australia, Australia". www.mindat.org. Mindat.org. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  3. "Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistics Digest 1998–99" (PDF). www.dmp.wa.gov.au. Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  4. "Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistics Digest 1999–00" (PDF). www.dmp.wa.gov.au. Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  5. "Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistics Digest 2004–05" (PDF). www.dmp.wa.gov.au. Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  6. Stuart McKinnon (30 March 2017). "Western Areas looks to crank-up Cosmos again". The West Australian. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  7. Henry Ballard (1 November 2021). "GR Engineering to concentrate on Cosmos nickel". Australian Mining. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  8. "Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistics Digest 2011–12" (PDF). www.dmp.wa.gov.au. Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  9. "Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistics Digest 2013–14" (PDF). www.dmp.wa.gov.au. Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  10. Neil Watkinson (3 November 2022). "IGO's Cosmos nickel project to cost up to $825 million, almost three times the original estimate". Kalgoorlie Miner. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  11. Cecilia Jamasmin (16 December 2021). "IGO to buy Western Areas for A$1.1bn amid soaring nickel demand". Mining.com. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
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