Alec mairs

The Cosmos nickel operation in Western Australia , that includes the Alec Mairs Mine, was put on care and maintenance in September 2012, by its owners, Glencore Xstrata, the giant Switzerland based nickel producer.

Alec Mairs Mine owned by Glencore Xstrata
The Alec Mairs nickel mine is owned by Xstrata Nickel Australia, a fully owned subsidiary of Glencore Xstrata, one of the largest mining companies in the world. The Cosmos operation, that the Alec Mairs Mine was a part, began mining nickel, cobalt, copper, platinum, palladium, the platinum group elements in 1999. The first nickel concentrate being produced at the mine site in April, 2000. The closure in 2012 was put down to adverse market conditions and the high value of the Australian dollar as compared to the American dollar.

New Deposit Discoveries Will Still be Evaluated
The closure of the mining operations at the Cosmos complex has not effected the ongoing evaluation of the new deposits recently discovered, namely the Odysseus Massive, Odysseus North and the Odysseus . A feasibility report as to the value of these finds is due to be published during the first quarter of 2014. Whether they will be developed or not will depend on market conditions at that time.

All ore Mined at the Cosmos Operations is treated Onsite
All ore processing at the cosmos operation, including that produced at the Alec Mairs Mine, is treated at the on site processing plant. The ore going through this plant is subjected to a conventional procedure that involves a nickel sulphide flotation that upgrades the ore to approximately 20 percent nickel in the final concentrate. The decision to close the mine reduced the Cosmos workforce by 150 personnel that included contract employees as well as the company's own workforce.

Mines Produced More Than 2.9 million Tonnes of ore in Thirteen Years of Productivity
The Cosmos deposits, that included; Tapinos, Prospero, Cosmos Deeps, Cosmos and Alec Mairs, mined over 2.9 million tonnes of ore that produced 127,000 tonnes of nickel concentrate from 1999 to 2012, an average of around 12,000 tonnes a year. The orebody was discovered by by the Jubilee exploration company in 1997 with Xstrata Nickel beginning production from the Cosmos Nickel Mine open pit in 1999.

Expansion Program Increases Output
An expansion of the Cosmos operations took place in 2009 that increased ore production by 54 percent to 347,665 tonnes. At the same time the mill was also expanded that increased concentrate production to 13,500 tonnes annually.
The Prospero Deposit was the Largest Final Producer at the Cosmos Operations
Underground operations at the Cosmos complex was carried out using decline and long hole open stoping methods. The majority of ore was mined from the Alec Mairs, Cosmos Deeps, Cosmos and Tapinos deposits. In the last few years most production had been coming from the Prospero deposit.
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