Overview

The Kambalda Nickel District in Western Australia is one of the world's great nickel provinces. Since its discovery by WMC Resources Ltd in 1968 it has produced over 40 million tonnes of ore, containing more than 1.2 million tonnes of nickel metal. The District has consistently generated more than 35,000 tonnes of nickel metal per annum, apart from a brief period in the late 1990s when it was partly shut down.

Mincor played a leading role in the post-2001 revival of the Kambalda Nickel District, and is the largest single producer in the District.

Mincor commenced production from its Miitel Nickel Mine in March 2001.  Since then it has grown to become one of the largest producers of nickel in Australia. To the end of December 2008, Mincor's attributable production had reached 103,000 tonnes of nickel metal contained in more 3.5 million tonnes of ore, for just over 90,000 tonnes of nickel-in-concentrate. Over the same period Mincor has maintained an outstanding record of increasing its ore reserves, and today has a bigger inventory of nickel metal than at any time in its history.

The Company owns the Miitel, Otter Juan, Mariners, Redross, McMahon,  Coronet/McCloy, Wannaway and Carnily Hill Mines, as well as numerous resource-level projects and exploration prospects in the District. All of these mines are underground narrow-vein mining operations, and all are owned 100% by Mincor, apart from Carnilya Hill, which is 70% owned by Mincor.

Mincor's production capacity from these operations is estimateed at 20,000 tonnes of nickel-in-ore per annum. At present full-scale production is underway from Otter Juan, Mariners and Carnilya Hill, with production from the other mines temporarily suspended due to the downturn induced by the global financial crisis since October 2008.

Mincor's intention is to maintain its production capacity at or near the 20,000 tonnes per annum level, so that the suspended operations may be rapidly restarted once economic conditions permit. This latent production capacity - Mincor's ability to lift nickel production quickly and at minimal cost - means that the Company is superbly positioned to take advantage of the next upturn in the nickel price.

All Mincor's ore is toll-treated at BHP Billiton's Nickel West concentrator plant in Kambalda. The resulting concentrate is sold to BHP Billiton under a long term off-take agreement with that company.

ATTRIBUTABLE ORE PRODUCTION

  

Safety

The safety and well-being of its employees and contract staff is Mincor's paramount concern. Mincor operates its mines to the highest standards of safety and demands the same from all its contractors.

Mincor's board-approved formal safety policy is available on this website, together with quarterly updates on Mincor's progress with regard to safety matters (see Health, Safety & Environment ).

The Company employs a wide range of measures to ensure that its safety standards are maintained at the highest level. These include continuous training programs, continuous revision and implementation of enhanced safety procedures, the use of safety incentive bonuses among senior staff and mining contractors, and the close implementation and management of a series of leading safety indicators.