Ramu

The Ramu nickel/cobalt mining operation in the Madang Province of Papua New Guinea mines nickel and cobalt from the Kurumbukara mine that is located on a plateau of the same name between 600 and 800 metres above sea level, on the southern side of the Ramu River Valley. It is situated 75 kilometres south west of Madang. The mine comprises a total of 19 development projects that included the open pit mine, a de- agglomeration plant, a beneficiation plant and all the necessary support facilities such as water and power plants.

Ramu Nickel Cobalt Mine Officially Opened in December 2012
The first shipment made from the mine's Basamuk processing plant took place in November, 2012, when 576 tonnes of a mixed nickel-cobalt hydroxide intermediate product, containing 19 tonnes of cobalt and 217 tonnes of nickel was shipped to a Chinese customer. The mine was officially opened by the PNG Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill, the following month.

Ramu Mine one of the top 15 Nickel Producers in the World
The Ramu nickel-cobalt mine that is located in a wet tropical region has a mine life of between 35 and 40 years. It is expected to yield around 3,300 tonnes of cobalt and 33,000 tonnes of nickel contained in a high grade intermediate product when in full production, making it one of the top 15 nickel producers in the world.

Slurry Pipeline Links Mine to Processing Plant on the Basamuk Bay Coast
Besides the open pit Kurumbukari mine itself, the mining operation also comprises a pipeline that pipes its ore slurry along a 135 kilometre long pipeline to the processing plant located on the coast at Basamuk Bay, 55 kilometres south east of Madang The Basamuk processing plant carries out high pressure acid leaching along with a controversial deep sea tailings placement system that entails disposing of the tailings in deep sea water off the coast.

The slurry pipeline that takes the ore from the Kurumbukari mine to the Basamuk processing plant and refinery is the first long distance transportation pipeline in the world that has been constructed to transport nickel laterite products. It has been specifically designed to make use of the height of the Krumbukari plateau and the lower reaches of Basamuk Bay.

The Basamuk refinery is located between five and 60 metres above sea level. It consists of a slurry treatment plant, a high pressure acid leaching facility, a CCD washing plant, a plant for neutralization, Fe/Al removal and precipitation, along with all the necessary supporting components, such as the sulphuric acid plant, the limestone preparation facility, the power plant, water plant and loading wharf.
The Ramu nickel cobalt mine is a joint venture project that includes the following companies; MCC Ramu NiCo with an 85 percent interest, MRML with 2.5 percent, MRRL with 3.94 percent and two subsidiaries of the Papua New Guinea Mineral Resources Development Corporation (MRDC) that represents the PNG government and local landowners, RNL with 8.56 percent interest, a subsidiary of the developing company, Highland Pacific Limited. The management of the Ramu nickel cobalt mine is carried out by Ramu NiCo Management (MCC) Limited. This company has been responsible for the construction, development and now the operation of the entire project.
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