The big rain event across much of northern Queensland has claimed another mine with gold and copper miner Evolution revealing a six-week shutdown at its Ernest Henry operation in the northwest of the state.
Ernest Henry is emerging as a reliable mature mine for Evolution, with the recent discovery of several new exciting prospects near the current mine that could add to the attractiveness of the site’s expansion in the next year or so.
But not for the moment.
The news didn’t hit Evolution shares, which rose 1% on the day to $2.80 after gold prices surged for another session on the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the New York based Signature Bank.
Ernest Henry joins the about to be taken over New Century’s Resources zinc and lead mine nearby at Century, as well as several smaller mining operations in the area (near Mount Isa) and at least one bauxite mine on Cape York.
The McArthur River mine of Glencore has received heavier than normal rain while heavy rainfalls were reported in and around the Northern Territory mining zone of Tennant Creek and out at the Tanami mine of Newmont earlier in the year
On Monday Evolution revealed that the Ernest Henry operation was impacted by a regional weather event last week.
“On the evening of 8 March 2023 all personnel were safely removed from the mine due to water entering mine workings and the operations have suspended production activities.
“Re-entry of the mine was undertaken when it was safe to do so after the cessation of the rainfall event. Over the course of the weekend the Ernest Henry team was able to assess the impact of the event on the mine and commence development of a recovery plan.
“Mining activities are expected to restart in approximately 6 weeks, based on current planning and underground inspections.
“Works will be undertaken to restore mine production safely and as soon as possible. At the same time, surface maintenance plans originally scheduled for the June 2023 quarter will be brought forward.”
Evolution’s CEO Lawrie Conway said in the statement “We expect the recovery phase to take approximately 6 weeks before ramping up to normal production. The business performance in the March quarter has been solid with our cash position better than planned. This provides adequate coverage to handle the impact of this incident at Ernest Henry.”
New Century’s problems came just as the company was falling to a bid from South Africa’s precious metals group Sibanye-Stillwater.
The Century mine was hit with 100mm last weekend and another 456mm since the start of this month and has suspended operations.
It said in an ASX statement on March 9 that “Rainfall events in Northwest Queensland, especially the intense events of the past few days, are having an impact on operations at the Century mine and Karumba Port Facility.
“Production has been suspended at Century, with only critical dewatering and maintenance activities continuing. Production will not recommence until the weather improves and safe access to the production areas can be re-established.”
Another small miner, 29Metals, which operates the Capricorn Copper mine north of Mt Isa said all its production and non-essential activity was suspended after it was hit by about 370mm of rain over the past week, including 200mm in one day.
“The extremely high rainfall on the evening of March 7 is expected to result in an extended loss to the site by road, impacting deliveries to the site of production consumables,” the company said.
Metro Mines, which operates a bauxite mine in the far north, announced it was remobilising its workforce to the mine and expected to start mining on March 23.
Glencore said its operations at Mount Isa Mines and Lady Loretta Mine had minor disruptions from the significant rainfall and the subsequent flooding.
This flooding is unusual given that for much of the past two years the La Nina rain and floods have hit coal mines in central Queensland and parts of NSW on repeated occasions.
