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 ASX; MCR
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Company Statement
Mincor Resources NL is a nickel mining company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. The Company is debt-free with an exceptionally strong balance sheet and has paid regular fully-franked dividends since 2003.
Mincor operates two mining centres in the Kambalda Nickel District of Western Australia, with a production capacity of up to 20,000 tonnes per annum of nickel-in-ore. Production for the financial year 2009/10 is forecast at between 13,000 and 14,000 tonnes of nickel-in-ore. The Company is also active in nickel and base metal exploration throughout Australia.
Mincor’s growth strategy is aimed at the creation of a diversified mining house through a strong focus on growing the Company’s successful nickel business while simultaneously expanding its interests across a wider range of mineral commodities.
With its outstanding growth potential, strong cash flows and regular dividend payments, Mincor represents a quality investment in the well-proven Australian resources sector.
Mincor's Growth Strategy
Mincor's goal is to generate superior long-term Total Shareholder Returns through aggressively growing its nickel production and by providing exposure to the outstanding exploration potential of its large Kambalda land holdings, as well as its Australia-wide base metal exploration portfolio.
Thus, Mincor's Growth and Expansion Strategy is aimed at growing its highly successful Kambalda nickel business while simultaneously expanding its interests across the wider minerals industry via base metals exploration and judicious project acquisitions.
Current Operations
Miitel Nickel Mine
Mincor acquired the partially developed Miitel Mine from WMC Resources Ltd in 2001 and put it into production that year as the Company's first mine. To December 2008 Miitel had produced 1,756,337 tonnes of ore at an average grade of 3.12% nickel, for 54,842 tonnes of contained nickel and 48,319 tonnes of nickel-in-concentrate, and generated gross revenues of just over $577 million. With past production added to June 2008 ore reserves, Miitel's total known nickel endowment is in excess of 67,000 tonnes of nickel metal, and with future exploration success may ultimately exceed 100,000 tonnes of contained nickel metal - making Miitel one of the more significant of Kambalda's ore bodies.
The Miitel ore body has an elongated, near vertical but gently plunging configuration, making it ideal for mining. The channel structure that hosts the ore lenses has proved very continuous. Mincor discovered the North Miitel ore body in 2002 and the South Miitel ore body in 2005. The overall mineralised system remains open to the north and south and subject to ongoing exploration.
Mincor suspended operations at Miitel in December 2008 following the collapse in the nickel price in October 2008, and the mine is now on care and maintenance. However with current ore reserves of over 430,000 tonnes, including 100,000 tonnes of fully developed ore, the mine is capable of a very rapid and low cost return to production, and is a key element in Mincor's positioning for the next upturn in the nickel price.
Otter Juan Nickel Mine
The world-class Otter Juan Mine is Kambalda's oldest producing mine and by far its largest single producer. The mine has been in near-continuous operation since 1970 and to end-June 2008 had produced approximately 8.5 million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 3.56% nickel, for over 303,000 tonnes of nickel metal.
Otter Juan is an owner-mining operation and is operated by a skilled residential workforce of Mincor employees. Mining takes place at a depth of around 1,400 metres below surface. Level development is done using jumbo drilling machines but stoping is carried out using hand-held mining techniques. Due to the depth of operation, approximately 30% of the ore is left as pillars to provide stability to the rock mass.
Mariners Nickel Mine
The Mariners Nickel Mine was discovered and operated by WMC Resources Ltd between 1991 and 1999, over which period it produced 1,114,730 tonnes of ore at 2.53% nickel for 28,190 tonnes contained nickel metal. It was closed by WMC and written off in 1999 due to flooding which coincided with a period of low nickel prices. Mincor acquired the project at no cost as part of its acquisition of the Miitel Nickel Mine in 2001.
Mincor redeveloped the mine during 2004 and it has been in successful production since then. The mine is operated via a mining contractor (currently Byrnecut). Mincor provides mining engineering, planning, surveying, geological and management expertise while the contractor carries out the drilling and blasting and the transportation of the ore to surface. The mine is largely mechanised.
Carnilya Hill Nickel Mine
The Carnilya Hill Nickel Mine was discovered in 1974 and operated between 1980 and 1999, initially as a joint venture between WMC Resources Ltd and BHP Ltd. It was closed in 1999 on exhaustion of the then known ore reserves, having produced 1.4 million tonnes of ore at 3.37% nickel for 47,290 tonnes of nickel metal.
Following Carnilya Hill's acquisition by View Resources Ltd, Mincor entered an exploration joint venture with View Resources in 2006, and later that year discovered a new ore body below the earlier workings. Development of this ore body took place during 2007 and 2008, and the mine is now in production as a joint venture between Mincor (70%) and View (30%).
McMahon Nickel Mine
The original McMahon Decline was developed by WMC Resources Ltd and used to mine the McMahon ore body, and subsequently a number of other ore bodies that were discovered and mined from the same decline. By June 2007 approximately 1.7 million tonnes of ore had been hauled to surface using the McMahon decline, from the mining of seven different ore bodies.
Mincor took the decision to develop the ore bodies, for a total projected capital cost of $23 million. The revised Mineral Resource totalled 373,656 tonnes of ore at an average grade of 4.1% nickel, for a total of 15,170 tonnes of nickel metal. Approximately half this Resource has been placed into the initial Ore Reserve, some 7,734 tonnes of nickel metal. The remainder of the Resource, being the Ken Far North ore bodies, require further drilling before they can be included in Ore Reserves. This drilling will be done from underground once suitable access is obtained.
In late 2008, following the collapse in the nickel price induced by the global financial crisis, Mincor suspended development of the decline at McMahon. Mining is currently underway from the reserves that had been accessed prior to the suspension of decline development.
Coronet/McCloy Nickel Mine
Mincor acquired the Coronet and McCloy mining operations in July 2007 as part of its acquisition of private company, GMM Pty Ltd. To the end June 2007, the two ore bodies had produced approximately 62,000 tonnes of ore at a grade of 2.85% nickel for 17,700 tonnes of nickel metal. Both ore bodies are mined as subsidiary operations to the bigger operation at Otter Juan.
Although mining at Coronet and McCloy was originally scheduled to terminate in July 2007 due to the exhaustion of known reserves, additional reserves have been discovered, and it now seems likely that mining will continue well into 2010. In addition, Mincor has commenced an extensional exploration program which, if successful, could extend the life of these operations well beyond that date.
Durkin North Nickel Project
The Durkin North mineralisation lies down-dip of the previously mined Durkin ore body, which produced 3.15 million tonnes of ore at 3.26% nickel for 102,740 tonnes of nickel metal between 1969 and 1984.
Mincor has estimated a resource of 284,810 tonnes at 4.6% nickel for 13,160 tonnes of contained nickel metal in Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources at Durkin North (see above diagram).
Initial scoping studies examined the viability of a mining operation which will access the ore body via a take-off from the existing Otter Juan decline, and indicated a production rate of approximately 2,500 tonnes of nickel metal per annum for an initial period of 4 years. The project's economics would be strengthened by the addition of reserves closer to the proposed decline take-off from Otter Juan, and further exploration in this area is planned.
Geographical Spread
Australia
Board of Directors and Key Management
| Directors | |
| David Humann | Chairman |
| David Moore | Managing Director |
| John (Jack) Gardner | Non-executive Director |
| Ian Burston | Non-executive Director |
| Management | |
| Steve Cowle | Chief Operating Officer |
| Graham Fariss | General Manager, Corporate Development |
| Robert Hartley | Projects Manager |
| Richard Hatfield | Exploration Manager, Regional |
| Brian Lynn | Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary |
| Peter Muccilli | Exploration Manager, Nickel |
| Peter Teasdale | General Manager, Otter Juan Nickel Mine |
| Dean Will | Chief Mining Engineer |
Company AddressLevel 1, 56 Ord Street
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Additional Address/Key ContactTel Int: +618 9476 7200 |
CapitalOrdinary Securities
200,184,686 Total
|
Annual General MeetingNovember | Year End30 June |
Major Shareholders
| Top Ten Shareholders | ||
| Shareholder | No of Shares | % |
| National Nominees Limited | 26,085,647 | 13.03 |
| HSBC Custody Nominees (Australia) Limited | 20,539,003 | 10.26 |
| JP Morgan Nominees Australia Limited | 19,686,136 | 9.83 |
| ANZ Nominees Limited | 9,660,232 | 4.83 |
| Citicorp Nominees Pty Limited | 4,364,230 | 2.18 |
| David C Moore | 4,000,000 | 2.00 |
| Anthony H Shields | 2,000,000 | 1.00 |
| Citicorp Nominees Pty Limited (CFSIL CFS WS Small Comp A/C) | 1,612,042 | 0.81 |
| Citicorp Nominees Pty Limited (CWLTH Bank Off Super A/C) | 1,445,252 | 0.72 |
| Cogent Nominees Pty Limited | 1,421,229 | 0.71 |
| (As at 2nd November 2009) |
Related News
05/01/10 - Mincor’s Mr Moore Goes Fishing, And That’s Good News For Mining In Australia22/06/09 - Mincor Goes Elephant Hunting With The Aid Of An Elephant, Down In The Old Nickel Country Of Kambalda
15/01/09 - Mincor Looks Well Set To Ride Out The Current Weakness In The Nickel Price
24/07/08 - Think Small, Dig Deeper: Mincor’s Operations At Kambalda Should Last For Decades
Most Recent Statement
17/02/10 - Appendix 4D and Half Year Financial Report02/02/10 - Half-Year Profit Guidance - Substantial Variation from Previous Corresponding Period
28/01/10 - Quarterly Activities Report
10/12/09 - Exploration Update
17/11/09 - New Drill Results Confirm Emerging Nickel Discovery at South Miitel
12/11/09 - AGM - Results