George fisher

Mount Isa Mines (MIM) geologists discovered the lead, zinc, silver and copper ore body 20 kilometres north of Mount Isa in 1947. It was originally named Hilton in respect of the MIM mine manager at that time. A similar ore body was discovered in 1981, two kilometres to the north. The Hilton mine was not developed until 1990. It was later to become known as the George Fisher Mine that was subsequently acquired by global mining company Xstrata that is now part of the giant GlencoreXstrata mining company.

George Fisher Mine has Become the Largest Supplier to the Mount Isa Processing Plant
George Fisher was the chairman of MIM during the 1950's and 60's and the expanded mine was respectfully given his name with production starting in mid 2000. Halfway through 2001 the George Fisher Mine had become the main supplier of ore to the Mount Isa concentrator.

Despite Problems the George Fisher Mine Achieved Record Production Levels in 2007
Despite experiencing some problems at the George Fisher North and the George Fisher South mines in early 2007 production continued to increase and by the final quarter of that year record production was being experienced with an annual production of 2.8 million tonnes being reached, an increase of eight percent on the previous year.

George Fisher KG Decline Approved in 2007
The George Fisher KG decline was approved near the end of 2007 and when completed in late 2008 production was increased to 500,000 tonnes a year, supplementing the tonnage being produced at the George Fisher North underground operation. Upgrading at the George Fisher Mine at this time also included a paste fill and new tailings filter plant. This allowed the mine to increase backfil as it increased the production or ore.

George Fisher ore Processed at the Hilton Concentrator
Ore produced at the George Fisher Mine is processed at the Hilton concentrator which recovers three different products that are taken to Mt Isa as a slurry for further processing. The ore is subjected to SAG milling, regrinding at the tower-mill and flotation via Jameson cells and column cells.

To allow the George Fisher Mine to produce 2.5 million tonnes of ore a year, both the Mount Isa lead/zinc concentrator and the lead smelter required considerable modification and upgrading. Engineering contractors Bateman Brown and Root were awarded this contract and as a result the plant was able to yield a 10 percent increase in performance with 78.8 percent recovery of lead and 73.4 percent recovery of zinc. Zinc recovery actually reached 80.7 percent in 2002. The sintering plant used in recovering lead was completely rebuilt, a new control system installed and the blast furnace crucible replaced.

The increase in ore production from the George Fisher Mine to 2.5 million tonne a year saw it yielding five million ounces of silver in concentrate, 100,000 tonne of lead and 170,000 tonnes of zinc annually.
The Mount Isa Operation is GlencoreXstrata's largest mining undertaking in Australia. Xstrata acquiring the Mount Isa mines from MIM Holdings in 2003.

Note- GlencoreXstrata was formed following a merger of Glencore International and Xstrata, the merger was completed in May 2013. But a decision was made by the Company's shareholders during the annual general meeting and the announcement was made in May 2014 that Glencore will drop Xstrata and be simply known as Glencore.