Mountain of light

Phoenix Copper Limited purchased the Mountain of Light Copper Mine, three kilometres south east of Copley in South Australia, in 2010, as part of a three mining lease acquisition. The mine was acquired along with its treatment plant.

Mountain of Light Unable to Meet Expectations

However, the mine never lived up to expectations as far as contributing to the company's cash flow objectives were concerned. Phoenix Copper Limited had hoped the Mountain of Light Mine could help finance the company's ongoing exploration plans. Because this ambition was never achieved the company has decided to put the Mountain of Light Mine in mothballs for the time being while its future is further evaluated. No mining, crushing or stacking occurred at the mine in the second half of 2012 for this reason and it is now under care and maintenance. All remaining products have been shipped from the mine site and all earning revenue for the year had been received prior to the end of January 2012. Studies were carried out during the year to evaluate the cost of restarting existing heap leaching processing. Several methods were trialled and consideration is presently being given to building a mini-pilot plant to carry out the necessary work.

Facilities Used to Support Other Projects

The Mountain of Light on-site core cutting and dry preparation laboratory has been used, in the meantime, to provide support for Phoenix Copper's drilling and exploration activities at Yorke peninsula and Burra North.

Alternative Processing Methods Appear Significant

The alternative processing methods being considered to make the processing of Mountain of Light ore more economical have included Canada Agitated Tank Leaching, Continuous Vat Leach (CVL) by INNOVAT Limited of Burlington and Ion Exchange by InnovEco Australia. Results to date have indicated that oxide copper can be leached from the ore quite readily by using sulphuric acid. Recoveries had averaged 85 percent from all the above processes when tested with some recovering as much as 95 percent copper. It had previously been determined that recovery in the area of 50 percent would make the project economical. The company is now considering a joint venture partner in order to take the next step in making the mine profitable.

Government Approves Environmental Plan

As a sign of faith in the future of the Mountain of Light Mine, Phoenix have engaged Golder Associates to undertake an Environmental Management Plan for submission to the South Australian Government. The Environmental Management Plan is required to indicate how the company would meet the government's regulatory requirements regarding any potential environmental risk in the leaching process. The plan takes in the risk involved in any dust, surface and ground water being contaminated and escaping from the site. The plan was approved with no comment or extra requirements made.

The original Mountain of Light Copper Mining Company N.L.was founded in 1898. Twelve miners were employed on the project at that time who produced $900 worth of copper. There is a lot of copper in the area of the mine but mining profitably has always come down to concentrated quantity not necessarily the quality which has always been quite high.