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Since then, Mincor has become an established and well-
respected name in Australia’s mid-tier mining scene, operating a
portfolio of nickel mines which have generated total attributable
production of over 130,000 tonnes of nickel metal, enabling Mincor
to maintain a near-perfect track record of profits and dividends:
some $230 million in profits and $102 million in dividends to date.
That was, until last year – when a dramatic fall in nickel
prices conspired with operational difficulties at some of its key
mines (including ground control problems at the Otter Juan mine,
a seismic event at Mariners and the under-performance of the
Miitel operation), resulting in a fall in its share price and a loss for
the 2011 financial year.
Mr Moore – whose quick response to the 2008 financial crisis
attracted universal praise – moved with equal speed to initiate a
series of measures to deal with the new challenges, ensuring that
Mincor had a strong platform to continue its growth path.
First cab off the rank was a restructure of the Kambalda nickel
operations, which saw the Miitel and Mariner mines converted
to an owner-operator arrangement and the merging of Mincor
operational and management structures across the region.
“The changes will enable us to have direct control over the
Miitel mine, which will substantially cut costs,” Mr Moore said.
“The move will also sharpen the focus of our operations on grade
as opposed to volume – production might be lower but that
is less important than making sure that every tonne we mine
is profitable.”
The Kambalda operations are also set to benefit from a
major capital spend of around $30 million in the 2011 financial
year – which has mainly been allocated towards developing
declines to access high-grade ore bodies at the McMahons and
Mariners mines.
Mincor has forecast production of 10,000 tonnes of nickel-in-
concentrate from its Kambalda operations for the 2012 financial
year at an average cash cost of A$6.10 per pound of payable nickel.
PNG COMPLEMENTS
DAVID MOORE
MANAGING DIRECTOR
MINCOR RESOURCES NL
MINCOR’S NATIONAL EXPLORATION
fter drawing the curtain on a challenging year
in FY2011, Kambalda nickel producer Mincor
Resources has restructured its operations and
added some exciting new growth opportunities,
both in Australia and overseas.
The tropics of Papua New Guinea might seem a far cry from
the historic mining town of Kambalda in outback Western
Australia; yet, for Mincor’s Managing Director David Moore, the
opportunities on offer for resource companies hungry for growth
are really no different in PNG than they were in WA’s Eastern
Goldfields a decade ago.
“Our recently announced exploration venture in PNG ticks
all of the boxes in terms of the criteria we have always applied
as a growing mining and exploration company,” Mr Moore told
Minesite
. “These include clear, obvious exploration potential, a
strategic location in a mineral province known for its world-class
deposits and an established mining jurisdiction.”
The same three criteria could well have applied to Mincor’s
Miitel nickel mine, which the company acquired in a landmark
transaction from WMC Resources in 2001.
A
THE EDIE CREEK PROJECT AREA
MINESITE 2011
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