Kara

The Kara open pit mine located at Hampshire, 22 kilometres south of Burnie, in the North West Coast Region of Tasmania, is a relative small operation that employs around 40 personnel. The mine is fully owned by Tasmania Mines Limited that mines tungsten, iron ore, tin, magnetite and scheelite before subjecting the ore to crushing and concentration on site. The scheelite is sold to the company's customers in Europe where it is put to use in producing speciality steel and the United States where it is used in the lighting business. The magnetite is purchased by Australian coal miners who use it in washing coal as a dense medium.

Kara Magnitie Sales up but Scheelite Remains Unsteady
For the year ending December 2012 the Kara open pit mine produced 378,553 tonnes of ore that realised 40.2 percent iron from the company's Kara No. 1 Pit. This required 954,040 tonnes of overburden to be removed to expose the ore body. At the same time the processing plant's concentrator mill handled 390,669 tonnes of ore that produced 149,368 tonnes of dense medium magnetite and 48 tonnes of high grade scheelite. Magnitite sales were up on that of the previous year although no scheelite was sold compared to 20 tonnes being sold the year before. Scheelite production at the Kara Mine is greatly reliant on world tungsten prices and if these prices were to strengthen the mine has the reserves, and throughput capacity, to produce up to 60,000 metric tonnes of high grade scheelite annually.

Long life Ahead for the Kara Mine
Ore reserves at the Kara Mine to January 1, 2013 were sufficient to give the mine a life of 34 years based on 2012 production levels, however, if the mine was to work at full capacity this would be reduced to just over 18 years. This estimate doesn't include the nearby Kara North and Eastern Ridge ore-bodies that are yet to be exploited.

Several Deposits on the Kara Lease but not all Contain Scheelite
There are several magnetite and scheelite deposits on the Kara lease that are yet to be developed although not all of these ore bodies bear scheelite. In June 2011, the Tasmanian Government granted Tasmania Mines Limited environmental approval to mine up to 1.3 million tonnes per year of magnetite and also to produce 500,000 tonnes of concentrate annually from the Kara operation. This approval was granted in the same month the company updated their Kara resource figures showing the Kara No.1 deposit having 18.58 million tonnes grading at 47.7 percent ferrous oxide, 733Ppn of tin and 504 parts per million of tungsten trioxide.

Kara Open Cut Mining Follows the Conventional Method
The Kara mining operation is undertaken by conventional mechanical excavation methods to extract the oxidised (weathered) ore. The overburden is first stripped to expose the deposit which is then drilled and blasted to release the new ore and waste rock. The magnetite concentrate is produced by both magnetic separation and gravity methods. Scheelite is not produced as often, owing to a lesser demand. However, when it is, it is subjected to gravity concentration, flotation sulphide cleaning and the removal of iron compounds by means of magnetic separation and roasting. The waste rock is stored elsewhere within the open cut for later use when rehabilitation is undertaken. Tailings are stored on a more permanent basis in dedicated storage facilities.
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