Here is an interesting article, this mine in the middle of nowhere failed due to product not being cleaned properly and up to scratch, so if they thought opening mine 200km from the Alice was going to be profitable under lower grade hard to process garnet i am sure the market will come for HVY in a big way considering the position the quality and its peers in the immediate vicinity.
Cannot see why HVY will be under $1.00 if the results compare to RDG GMA Harts Range garnet mine goes into administration leaving nearly 50 workers without a job - ABC NewsHarts Range garnet mine goes into administration leaving nearly 50 workers without a job
Production has ground to a halt at a major garnet mine in central Australia leaving nearly 50 people out of work.
Key points:
- An administrator says a garnet mine in central Australia was operating at a loss of $1m per month
- There are hopes the Harts Range operation will reopen, following its second closure in almost as many years
- The administrator says it could cost as much as $20m to get the mine up and running again
The Harts Range garnet mine's owner and operator, Australian Abrasive Minerals (AAM), has been placed in administration for the second time in two and a half years.
Located about 200 kilometres north-east of Alice Springs, the operation is one of only five major garnet mines in the world.
But despite the area containing the world's largest alluvial garnet deposit, the mine has not produced enough garnet to operate at a profit.
KordaMentha partner Rahul Goyal has been installed as administrator of the company, and will oversee a feasibility study on the mine.
Mr Goyal told ABC Rural the mine was not producing enough garnet per tonne of ore, and was losing AAM about $1 million per month.
"The recovery rate of the mine is not as high as it should be," Mr Goyal said.
"It was making losses up until the appointment of our administrator."
Mr Goyal said the garnet being transported out of Harts Range had also been dirty and not up to standard.
"Some feedback from a customer was when they used the garnet for sandblasting it was leaving a red residue, which is, effectively, the red dirt," he said.
"The mine wasn't actually cleaning the garnet to a quality that was expected by customers."
