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IGO Limited says mining and processing at the Nova Nickel Operation, in Western Australia, have concluded, almost a decade after production began.
Following the final reconciliation of production, Nova finished above the top end of its life of mine guidance for nickel, copper and cobalt, the company says. Nickel production of 21,340 t finished 7% above the top end of guidance.
Nova ended up being one of the few Australian operations to test out battery-electric equipment, with, among other equipment, a Normet Charmec MC 605 VE SmartDrive battery-powered emulsion charger and a Sandvik DL422iE production drill in use there through contractor Barminco.
IGO Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Ivan Vella, said: “Nova has been a high-quality, low-cost operation for almost a decade, and it has finished as strongly as it started. Delivering this in the final stages of a mine’s life, when operations are often at their hardest, reflects the capability and commitment of the Nova team. I thank them and our contractors for their professionalism right through to the final tonne.”
Barminco, which trucked the last ore to surface from underground, established the underground mine at Nova in 2015. Over the past 11 years, it completed over 52 km of development, mined over 14.5 Mt of ore, completed over 1.6 million metres of production drilling, and trucked over 59 million TKMs.
The Nova team is now completing demobilisation at site.
IGO expects to complete the divestment of Nova to Global Lithium Resources Limited in the coming weeks. As previously announced, Global Lithium intends to repurpose Nova’s processing plant and infrastructure for its Manna lithium project.
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