Resource
Copper (Cu), Gold (Au), Silver (Ag)
Location
Approximately 44 km southeast of Adelaide within the Mount Barker District Council area
Company and tenement information
- Kantra copper (formerly Hillgrove Resources)
- Mine footprint and associated infrastructure located within a 438 ha area, covered by ML 6345 (436 ha) and ML 6436 (2.1 ha)
- The Kantra Copper Project also contains extractive mineral lease EML 6340
- Map showing Kanmantoo (now known as Kantra) tenements via the South Australian Resources Information Gateway (SARIG)
Mining operation and status
- Kantra commenced open pit mining in December 2010 and ceased in May 2019 (then known as Hillgrove Resources).
- Copper-gold ore (which also contains silver and garnet) is mined and processed at a rate of approximately 350 tonnes per hour (tph) using a conventional crushing, grinding and flotation circuit to produce about 80,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of copper-gold concentrate (with silver credits).
- The concentrate is transported by road to the Port of Adelaide for shipment to an overseas smelter.
- Tailings are placed in an integrated waste (tailings and waste rock) landform located adjacent to the pit.
- A program for environment protection and rehabilitation (PEPR) incorporating proposed underground operations was approved by DEM on 20 December 2019.
- Currently operating underground.
The deposit
The orebody contains three main mineralised zones, each containing oxide, transition and primary sulfide or component:
- Main - pit will be 1100 m long and 770 m wide at the surface
- O'Neil/Nugent
- Emily Star - pit will be approximately 350 m long and 350 m wide
Approximately 18.6 Mt of ore will be mined from the pits, with average grades of 0.8% copper, 0.1 g/t gold and 2.0 g/t silver.
Resource estimates
Mineral estimates are available on the Kantra website
Approval process
A lease was granted to Hillgrove Resources (now known as Kantra Copper) on 8 July 2014.
In July 2014, the Government of South Australia approved the revised PEPR for the Kanmantoo Copper Mine, allowing for the extension to the operations.
Mining lease proposal 2007
- Kanmantoo Copper Project Mining Lease Proposal: Main Report
- Kanmantoo Copper Project Mining Lease Proposal: Appendices Volume 1
- Kanmantoo Copper Project Mining Lease Proposal: Appendices Volume 2
- Kanmantoo Copper Project Mining Lease Proposal: Appendices Volume 3
- Kanmantoo Copper Project Mining Lease Proposal: Appendices Volume 4
The PEPR approval represented the final part of the approval process, which along with the State Government’s mining lease approval and Commonwealth EPBC approval, allowed the development of the extension.
These approvals provided the Kanmantoo copper mine with approval to mine and process ore reserves additional to those associated with an increase in processed ore over the previous approval.
The key changes associated with the life of mine extension included:
- an additional mining lease (ML 6436) for the purpose of accessing ore at depth through extension of the open pit shells
- an on ground footprint increase from 179.1 ha to 296.8 ha (increase of 117.7 ha), including extensions of the open pit shells and waste landforms including rock dumps and the TSF
- integrated waste landform height increases up to 27 m (also increasing the integrated TSF volume), through additional lifts and rehabilitation covers
- additional vegetation clearance and SEB offsets captured and approved under Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) and SA Native Vegetation legislation.
Documents and reports
Program for environment protection and rehabilitation (PEPR)
Kanmantoo Copper - Program for Environment Protection and Rehabilitation (PEPR) August 2020
- Main report (PDF 11 MB)
- Appendices Volume 1 Part 1 - Mine closure native vegetation management plan (PDF 95 MB)
- Appendices Volume 1 Part 2 - Figures 20-37 (PDF 97 MB)
- Appendices Volume 1 Part 3 - Figures 38-74, Geochemical modelling report PHES (PDF 137 MB)
- Appendices Volume 2 - Geochemical modelling addendum report (PDF 80 MB)
- Appendices Volume 3 Groundwater and monitoring management plan (PDF 16 MB)
Kanmantoo Copper Mining Project Mining compliance reports 2017 - 2018
- Annual Compliance Report 2020 (PDF 91 MB)
Community engagement
The Kanmantoo-Callington Community Consultative Committee (KCCCC) was formed in 2007 to ensure effective and ongoing communication and consultation process with the local community.
More information about the KCCCC is available on the Kantra Copper website
Development Act
Other regulatory approvals
- On 16 April 2019 Hillgrove (now know as Kantra Copper) announced the sale of rights to develop a Pumped Hydro Energy Storage (PHES) project at the Kanmantoo Mine site to AGL.
- Subject to relevant government assessment/approvals processes, if a decision is made to progress the PHES project it would utilise parts of the existing mine site including the open pit.
