Nickel West
- Ownership: 100 per cent
- Products: Nickel and cobalt
- Location: Western Australia
Nickel West is a fully integrated and world-class nickel producer with a commitment to Zero Harm and sustainable development.
Nickel West is the world’s third largest producer of nickel-in-concentrate.
With excellent infrastructure and a focused leadership team, Nickel West exports around 100,000 tonnes of nickel in metal each year, employs more than 3400 operational employees and contractors and provides significant benefits to the Western Australian economy and to the communities in which it operates.
Our operations are all based in Western Australia.
They include:
- Mt Keith Operation – nickel in concentrate
- Leinster Nickel Operation – nickel in concentrate
- Kambalda Nickel Concentrator – nickel in concentrate
- Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter – nickel matte
- Kwinana Nickel Refinery – nickel matte
- Ravensthorpe Nickel Operation – mixed nickel and cobalt hydroxide
Nickel West's head office is located in Perth.
Operations
Mt Keith Nickel Operation
Mt Keith Operation is an open-pit nickel mine located within the Shire of Wiluna, 720 kilometres northeast of Perth and 430 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie in western Australia’s North Eastern Goldfields. The nearest population centres are Wiluna, 90 kilometres to the north and Leinster, 90 kilometres to the south.
Mt Keith is a surface nickel mining operation, comprising an open pit and concentrator plant. The mine and mineral processing plant at MKO operate 24 hours a day on 12-hour continuous shifts, 365 days a year.
The size and shape of Mt Keith’s nickel deposit makes it amenable to open pit mining, using a conventional drill, blast, load and haul mining system.
Ore from the pit is delivered to the concentrator to be crushed and then processed. The concentrator uses the latest technology in mineral processing equipment and currently has the capacity to process 11.5 million tonnes of ore per year.
Nickel concentrate is transported to Leinster Nickel Operation from where it is transported to Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter by rail for further processing or to the Port of Esperance for final sales.
Mt Keith is a fly in-fly out operation involving around 1,000 BHP Billiton employees and contractors.
Leinster Nickel Operation
Leinster Nickel Operation is located 645 kilometres north-east of Perth in Western Australia.
The town of Leinster forms an integral part of the Leinster Nickel Operation. BHP Billiton is responsible for providing and maintaining town services and facilities for both fly in–fly out and residential employees, contractors and support personnel such as teachers and police.
The town consists of approximately 280 houses, 1100 self-contained single-persons quarters, a district school, shopping complex and sporting facilities.
Nickel operations at Leinster include the Perseverance Underground Mine, Rocky’s Reward Open Pit Mine, other satellite deposits, and a nickel concentrator and dryer.
Concentrate produced at the Leinster Nickel Operation, as well as that from nearby Mt Keith Operation, is dried at Leinster before being transported to Nickel West’s Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter for further processing.
Leinster Nickel Operation concentration plant has a nominal operating capacity of 3 mtpa of ore.
Cliffs Nickel Project
Cliffs Nickel Project is a new development of an underground, narrow-vein nickel mine located in the northern Goldfields of Western Australia. The project will supplement ore supply to the concentrator at Leinster Nickel Operation.
Cliffs is expected to generate an estimated 8500 tonnes per annum of nickel-in-ore over 10 years, commencing in 2008.
The investment is a significant step towards fulfilling one of the company’s key growth objectives of meeting the current high demand for nickel.
The Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter and Concentrator
The Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter and Concentrator are located in the Goldfields region of Western Australia, approximately 600 kilometres east of Perth.
The smelter is located at Kalgoorlie and concentrator at Kambalda.
Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter
Located approximately 12 kilometres from the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, the Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter incorporates a flash furnace, three converters and an acid plant.
The flash smelting process produces matte containing approximately 67 per cent nickel. The smelter has a capacity to produce 110,000 tonnes per annum of nickel matte.
The matte is railed to the Kwinana Nickel Refinery for final processing to produce nickel briquettes, which are then transported to the Port of Fremantle for export.
Kambalda Nickel Concentrator
The Kambalda Nickel Concentrator is located around 40 kilometres south-east of the Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter, and is adjacent to the township of Kambalda.
The Kambalda Nickel Concentrator treats nickel ore sourced from third party satellite operations located around Kambalda, to produce high-quality nickel concentrate for treatment at Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter. The mill and concentrator produce concentrate containing approximately 13 per cent nickel. The Kambalda Nickel Concentrator has a capacity of more than 1.5 mtpa of ore.
Kwinana Nickel Refinery
Kwinana Nickel Refinery commenced operations in 1970, and is located around 30 kilometres south of Perth in the Kwinana industrial area.
The Kwinana Nickel Refinery converts nickel matte from the Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter into premium-grade nickel briquettes and nickel powder that meet the specifications of the London Metal Exchange and are highly sought after in world stainless steel materials markets.
Kwinana Nickel Refinery is an efficient and low-cost producer and has the capacity to generate 65,000 tonnes per annum of nickel metal.
Ravensthorpe Nickel Operation
The Ravensthorpe Nickel Operation is located in Ravensthorpe Shire, in the south-east coastal region of Western Australia.
The operation includes an open cut mine and hydrometallurgical process plant.
Ravensthorpe Nickel Operation was commissioned in December 2007. First production was achieved in October 2007 and the first 5000 tonne production milestone was achieved in December 2007.
Ravensthorpe is undergoing production ramp-up using proven technology to produce a mixed nickel cobalt hydroxide intermediate product. The process plant has the capacity to produce up to 50,000 tonnes per annum of contained nickel in mixed nickel-cobalt hydroxide product (MHP).
The MHP is shipped from the deep-water Esperance Port to BHP Billiton’s Yabulu Refinery in Queensland, Australia, a laterite nickel refinery, where it is processed into nickel metal before being sold to world markets.
Ravensthorpe Nickel Operation employs a large number of locally-based people from Hopetoun, Esperance and Ravensthorpe, supplemented by a fly in-fly out workforce.
Exploration
Nickel West is pursuing high quality mineral development opportunities that can add significant value.
Our aim is to extend the life of our current assets while continuing to explore greenfield opportunities. Our portfolio of regional nickel sulphide exploration projects in Western Australia ranges from early-stage conceptual targets to those where we have undertaken more advanced drilling programs. It includes 100 per cent owned interests as well as joint ventures with other exploration companies.
Our exploration team continues to develop and implement new proprietary technology to select and target prospective areas, and model and detect mineral deposits. Geo-Ferret is an example of our 100 per cent owned deep penetrating electro-magnetic tool which uses proprietary sensor technology to detect conductive sulphides – to a depth of at least 500 metres – much faster than by conventional methods. These features provide us with a significant advantage in exploring for nickel sulphide and other sulphide-bearing deposits at depth.
Ports
Nickel West and the Esperance Port
Nickel West uses the port at Esperance to import reagents and export products associated with two separate parts of the business – the northern nickel field and Ravensthorpe Nickel Operation.
Nickel West exports through Esperance bulk nickel sulphide concentrate from concentrators at Mt Keith, Leinster and Kambalda in the northern nickel field, through to Esperance.
Nickel West uses the Esperance port to import bulk sulphur and containerised magnesia reagents for use at Ravensthorpe Nickel Operation.
The Esperance port is also used to export a mixed nickel cobalt hydroxide product (MHP) from Ravensthorpe Nickel Operation to BHP Billiton’s Yabulu Refinery in Queensland. The MHP is transported in purpose-built sealed containers.
Nickel West and the Fremantle Port
Nickel West uses the port at Fremantle for key imports and exports associated with the Kwinana Nickel refinery and the Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter.
Nickel matte is produced at the Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter and exported from Fremantle. The nickel matte is sold primarily to China, Finland and Japan.
The Kwinana Nickel Refinery produces nickel briquettes, nickel powder, mixed nickel cobalt sulphide product and copper sulphide. These products are also exported to overseas markets through the port at Fremantle.
