Copper Mine WA, Copper Production, Western Australian Copper Mine, Copper Investment Opportunities

Aditya Birla Minerals (ABY) is an Australian based mining company with a focus on copper production and exploration. The company is based in Perth, Western Australia, and conducts copper exploration and production activities at the Birla Nifty Copper Operation (BNCO) in the Great Sandy Desert, WA and the Mt Gordon Copper Operation (MGO) located in the Mt Isa Block, QLD.

Aditya Birla Minerals undertakes comprehensive copper mining in Australia, focusing on copper production and exploration at the Western Australian and Queensland locations. Aditya Birla Minerals is part of the Aditya Birla Group and is part owned by Hindalco Industries Ltd. Concentrates produced at each copper mine are shipped to the Hindalco owned copper smelter in India, maximising copper investment opportunities worldwide.

Aditya Birla Minerals undertakes mine development and reserve delineation drilling, but holds copper exploration tenements at both sites and plans to increase copper exploration activities at a future date.

Birla Nifty Copper Operation

Birla Nifty copper operation, located in the Great Sandy Desert Region of the East Pilbara in Western Australia, approximately 1,250 km north of Perth and 350 km east of Port Hedland.

The Nifty operation comprises of an historical open pit oxide mine and an underground sulphide mine with an associated concentrator. Site infrastructure (powerhouse, camp, airfield, tailings storage facility) supports the sulphide operations. A concentrate storage facility is located at Port Hedland where the concentrate is shipped to overseas customer.

The Western Australian copper mine has a capacity of 2.3 mtpa and the concentrator plant has a capacity of 2.5 mtpa. Concentrate produced is trucked to Port Hedland for shipping to Hindalco Copper’s Dahej smelting and refining facility in India.

The open pit operation exploits oxide, transitional and chalcocite mineral resources from which copper cathode is recovered via a heap leach and SX-EW method. Open pit mining operations ceased in June 2006 and heap leaching operations ceased in January 2009. Heap leach retreatment project, to recover approximately 40,000 tonnes copper from existing heap leach pads, was postponed due to the subdued economic environment.

Birla Mt Gordon Copper Operation

The Mt Gordon operation is located in northwest Queensland, approximately 120 km north of Mt Isa. The Mt Gordon operation was producing copper in concentrate at an annual production rate of approximately 20 kt.

The operation has ability to mine 1.2 mtpa of ore from Mammoth underground decline operation Mining of the Esperanza open cut was completed in November 2005.

Exploration activities continue as per the Company’s long term strategy.

Hindalco Copper Smelter

Hindalco Industries Limited is the flagship company of the Aditya Birla group and has emerged as a market leader in the Indian copper industry. Birla Copper is a unit of Hindalco Industries Limited having a copper smelter with a capacity of 500,000 tonnes per annum and commenced commercial production in May 1998.

Aditya Birla Minerals’ Queensland and Western Australian copper mines are integral to the business operations of Birla Copper. The underground mining at both the Queensland and Western Australian copper mine accounts towards the copper smelters’ recognition as one of the largest single location copper smelters in the world.

Both Aditya Birla Minerals and Hindalco have a reputation for efficient copper operations, providing copper investment opportunities that exceed and extend mining capabilities.

For further background and information on copper production, exploration or copper investment opportunities, contact us .