Some interesting history about the mine
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High hopes for the town of Monto in Queensland were once again dashed when Belridge Enterprises Pty Ltd closed the Goondicum Ilmenite mine while it was still undergoing commissioning in June 2013. The mine had only been operating for about a month at full production but found it was unable to continue as the world price of ilmenite plummeted.
Goondicum Mine Closed Because of low Mineral Prices and High Australian Dollar
Around 35 people were working at the Goondicum mine when it was closed. The closure was ironic in that it had already exported its first 6,500 tonne load of ilmenite out of the port of Gladstone bound for South Korea and another shipment of 8,000 tonnes was due to leave the port in November for Japan. The mine, that is located about 50 kilometres north east of Monto, began production in early August 2012 and was dogged by low mineral prices and a high Australian dollar.
Goondicum Mine sits Above the Goondicum Crater
The Goondicum Crater mineral deposit is located between 30 and 50 kilometres east of Monto in Central Queensland. Initial exploration of the deposit took place in the 1909's when alluvial ilmenite was discovered along the banks of the Burnett River. The following of this mineralisation led explorers to the existance of the Goondicum Crater. The Goondicum Crater exists of a six kilometre diametre mineralisation ore body containing feldspar, titano-magnetite, apatite and ilmenite, to a depth of 25 metres.
Monto Minerals Limited First to Develop the Goondicum Mine
The Goondicum open cut mining project was initially developed by Monto Minerals Limited in 2007. It always experienced problems with its production performances and eventually used up all its available commissioning funding. All further progress on the project ceased when Monto Minerals went into voluntary administration.
Belridge Enterprises Pty Ltd Grew out of Monto Resources Pty Ltd
Brisbane finance body RMM Capital Group acquired Monto Resources Pty Ltd in 2009 and renamed the company Belridge Enterprises Pty Ltd. The new company immediately set about formulating plans to recommission the Goondicum mine and its processing facilities. A study into the feasibility of the project revealed a measured resource of 51 million tonnes averaging 2.5 percent titano-magnetite, 4.1 percent ilmenite and 1.9 percent apatite.
Goondicum, Mine to Last for 25 Years
When the Goondicum mine was preparing to reopen it was planned to export around 7,000 tonnes a month to Japan with the operation having an estimated life of mine of around 25 years. There was also early talk of expansion by adding phosphorus based apatite to its product. Small amounts of apatite were already planned to be sold to a New South Wales based fertiliser company.
Ilmenite mined at the Goondicum mine was used in paint fillers, pharmaceutical products and welding rods. The ilmenite was taken by road transport to the Gladstone port. The company remains confident that when market conditions improve the mine will once again commence production.
Update August 2015-Melior Resources purchased the holding company of Goondicum in May 2014 while the project was in care and maintenance. In August 2014 Melior made the decision to restart the project and, after a seven month AUD$7.6M refurbishment and upgrade of the site processing facility, Goondicum commenced site commissioning in early April 2015.
In July, the company sacked 18 workers when it halved production in a bid to stay open as prices plummeted once again. But in early August Melior Resources placed its Goondicum mine in care and maintenance, sacking 30 workers.
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