Cosmos Nickel Mine is a currently inactive surface and underground nickel mine 38 km (24 mi) north-north-west of Leinster, Western Australia, along the Goldfields Highway.
| Location | |
|---|---|
  Cosmos Nickel Mine Location in Western Australia | |
| Location | Leinster |
| State | Western Australia |
| Country | Australia |
| Coordinates | 27°35′22″S 120°34′53″E / 27.589491°S 120.581398°E |
| Production | |
| Products | Nickel |
| History | |
| Opened | 2000 |
| Active | 2000–2012 |
| Owner | |
| Company | IGO Limited |
| Website | IGO website |
| Year of acquisition | 2022 |
 | |
The traditional owners of the land the mine is located on are the Tjiwarl people.
History
editThe 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
edit- ^ 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, 31 (2), CSIRO PUBLISHING: 201–209, ISSN 1834-7533
- ^ a b c d "Cosmos Project, Leinster, Leonora Shire, Western Australia, Australia". www.mindat.org. Mindat.org. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b Stuart McKinnon (30 March 2017). "Western Areas looks to crank-up Cosmos again". The West Australian. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
- ^ Henry Ballard (1 November 2021). "GR Engineering to concentrate on Cosmos nickel". Australian Mining. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ a b Cecilia Jamasmin (16 December 2021). "IGO to buy Western Areas for A$1.1bn amid soaring nickel demand". Mining.com. Retrieved 21 March 2023.