The Cawse mine is a mothballed laterite nickel mine near Ora Banda in Western Australia. Cawse has a remnant Proven Reserve of 3.757 million tonnes of ore grading 0.65% nickel for 24,400 tonnes of nickel, as of 31 December 2009.[1]

Cawse mine
Location
Cawse mine is located in Western Australia
Cawse mine
Cawse mine
Location in Western Australia
LocationOra Banda
StateWestern Australia
CountryAustralia
Coordinates30°22′54″S 121°09′34″E / 30.38167°S 121.15944°E / -30.38167; 121.15944
Production
ProductsNickel, cobalt
History
Opened1999
Closed2008
Owner
CompanyWingstar Investments Pty Ltd
Year of acquisition2014
Map

The mine, opened in 1999, was Australia's first high pressure acid leaching operation to mine and treat laterite nickel ore to produce nickel metal on site.[2] It was closed in October 2008, due to depressed metal prices.[3]

Cawse was developed by Centaur Mining & Exploration, with an annual capacity of 9,000 tonnes of nickel and up to 2,000 tonnes of cobalt.[4]

In 2001 it was sold to OM Group, and subsequently in 2007 was sold to Norilsk Nickel. In 2014 Norilsk Nickel, having placed the mine and plant on care-and-maintenance in 2008, sold it to Wingstar Investments for an undisclosed amount.[5][6][7]

References

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  1. ^ "Reserves of nickel". nornik.ru. 2013. Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  2. ^ Cahill, Casey (13 May 1999). "Opening of the Cawse nickel mine near Kalgoorlie". Media Statements. Perth, WA: Government of Western Australia, Department of the Premier and Cabinet. Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  3. ^ Scott, Jason (11 April 2009). "Xstrata to close WA nickel mine". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  4. ^ Elias, M. (2013). "Overview of the Australian Nickel-Cobalt Industry". In Rankin, W.J. (ed.). Overview of the Australian Nickel-Cobalt Industry. Carlton, Vic.: The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. ISBN 9781921522802.
  5. ^ Budrys, Aleksandras (20 January 2007). "Norilsk buys OM Group nickel business for $408 mln". Reuters. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  6. ^ Evans, Nick (23 May 2014). "Gardner buys Cawse, Avalon". The West Australian. Perth, WA. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Cawse". PorterGeo Database. Porter GeoConsultancy. 2004. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
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