I note that Downer has been given a 3 year extension ( with 2...

I note that Downer has been given a 3 year extension ( with 2 year option to extend) on their mining services contract with the CSA mine at Cobar. This contract seems to roll over every three years assuming there is still ore to mine. In this regard it is worth pointing out that the CSA mine started operating in 1871. However, large scale production did not start till 1964 when it was owned by Broken Hill South which was partly taken over by CRA in the mid seventies. I recall CRA selling out in the mid nineties. I am sure CRA would be very surprised that the operation is still going. The CSA mine is now owned by Glencore. On their webpage relating to the CSA mine they say that they are mining at the rate of 1.1mtpa to produce 185,000t of Copper Concentrate at a grade of 29% which is very high. This means they are producing 53.65K tonnes of copper in conc. Working back and assuming some recovery losses in the mill this means they are producing ore with a copper grade of around 5%. This is amazing and much higher than when CRA sold in the mid nineties. One can only assume that the orebody has got richer with depth.
It is also worth mentioning the Elura mine (now called the Enterprise mine) that was operated by EZ and is now owned by Dowa a Japanese zinc company. This zinc mine is just north of Cobar and was started in 1983 and still going strong. Can't get any production data for this mine but it is a large operation.

The point of the above is that these Cobar operations tend to be long life and get richer as they go deeper. It is to be hoped this trend is evident with the Aurelia operations but that may be drawing a long bow. However, i put it out there and would be interested in what the geo's think about the above and the potential for the Aurelia operations.

Cobar is getting much more coverage and it can't be too much longer before it is recognised as one of the exploration hot spots in Australia.