Surveyor-Balcooma abandoned mine project
The Surveyor and Balcooma mine sites are located approximately 220km north-west of Townsville. The Surveyor open pit mine was developed by Kagara Zinc Ltd in 2002 and was followed by the Balcooma open pit in 2004. Underground development followed for both pits and continued until Kagara Zinc Ltd entered administration in 2012. The mines were purchased by Snow Peak Ltd and mining continued sporadically until the most recent operator, Aurora Metals Limited, put the site into care and maintenance in 2021. Aurora Metals was subsequently liquidated and associated mining leases (including Mount Garnet leases) were disclaimed in March 2024.
We are actively managing the sites under the Abandoned Mine Lands Program.
Surveyor-Balcooma are polymetallic open cut and underground mines with a mineral stockpile area, basic mine site infrastructure, waste rock stockpiles, water dams and an open cut pit. There was no mineral processing infrastructure onsite, as the ore was transported by road to Mount Garnet for processing.
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Project snapshot
Region: North Queensland
Location: 220km north-west of Townsville, Latitude -18.7746, Longitude 144.70237. Program site is approximately 1200Ha, with a smaller disturbance footprint
Commodity: Copper, Silver, Zinc, Lead
Mining type: Open cut and underground
Date of abandonment: March 2024
Status: Care and maintenance
Native title interest: Gugu Badhun represented by Gugu Badhun Aboriginal Corporation
Public land register: Listed on the Environmental Management Register
Key risks
Health and safety risks associated with hazards such as aging infrastructure, dangerous landforms, including pit high walls and underground workings, pumping systems and contaminants in waste dumps.
Environmental risks associated with:
- potential for loss of containment of mine-affected water from the open-cut pit or other water storages across site
- contaminated mineral wastes.
Completed works
- Improvement to water management infrastructure across site.
- Removal and safe disposal of hazardous chemicals and hydrocarbons.
- Isolation of obsolete and hazardous electrical infrastructure.
- Landform improvements with relation to the old workers’ camp site
- Air rise caps installed to seal underground ventilation openings.
Planned works
- Investigation into long-term management or remediation options for the site.
- Investigation into continued improvements to site water management, including diversion of clean water from site.