The Murrin Murrin Mine is a major nickel-cobalt mining operation being conducted in the North Eastern Goldfields, approximately 45 km east of Leonora, Western Australia. The project was initiated as a 60/40 joint venture between Murrin Murrin Holdings, a subsidiary of Anaconda Nickel and Glenmurrin, a subsidiary of Glencore. In 2003 Anaconda changed its name to Minara Resources. In November 2011, Minara Resources was acquired by Glencore. The Australian 14 October 2011 The mine opened in 1999.The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003–2004 Edition, page: 39
Geology Murrin Murrin mines a laterite nickel ore formed by deep weathering of a peridotite ultramafic rock.
Problems with the process plant Significant problems and delays were encountered in the design, construction and commissioning of the ore process plant at Murrin Murrin.Nedeljkovic, Zoran. (1998) Andrew Forrest : a key to Murrin Murrin's past and future Mining chronicle (West Perth, W.A.) Late June 1998, p. 6
The designers, Fluor Daniel eventually had to pay the joint venture partners $155 million in an out-of-court settlement. It was the second successful claim against Fluor, Murrin Murrin owners having been awarded $147 million from the first phase of their claim against Fluor, a sum which ultimately was reduced to $39.8 million. The Murrin Murrin project's original cost estimate of $1 billion had $1.6 billion.Minara handed $155m for Murrin mine fiasco Sydney Morning Herald 6 May 2004 In December 1998, Anaconda Nickel terminated Henry Walker as mining contractor.ANL's ann re Moves to Owner Operating Mining Anaconda Nickel 4 December 1998Clarification - Operations at Murrin Murrin Henry Walker 4 December 1998
Production Production of the mine: Year Nickel Cobalt 2000 13,027 t 904 t 2001 25,991 t 1,253 t 2002 30,009 t 1,838 t 2003 28,147 t 2,309 t 2004 27,950 t 1,982 t 2005 28,240 t 1,750 t 2006 31,524 t 2,096 t 2007 27,585 t 1,884 t 2008 30,514 t 2,018 t 2009 32,977 t 3,250 t 2010 28,500 t 1,900 t 2011 28,500 t 1,900 t 2012 33,410 t 2,390 t 2013 40,000 t 2,700 t 2014 36,400 t 2,700 t 2015 37,500 t 2,800t 2016 35,300 t 2,800 t 2017 34,700 t 2,700 t 2018 35,500 t 2,900 t 2019 37,000t 3,400 t 2020 36,000 t 2,900 t 2021 30,000 t 2,500 t 2022 35,700 t 3,000 t 2023 31,100 t 2,100 t
References
External links Murrin Murrin Deposit Summary Report Murrin Murrin North (GME) Deposit Summary Report Murrin Murrin East Deposit Summary Report Minara, Murrin Murrin MINEDEX website: Murrin Murrin / Minara Database of the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation & Safety