CMOC-Northparkes Mines reached a major milestone last week of its 400th shipment.
“In just over 25 years, we have produced 1.168 million tonnes of copper and 1.464 million ounces of gold,” said Northparkes Managing Director, Hubert Lehman.
“To all the people who work here today and to those that have come and gone, each and every single one of you has played an integral role in contributing to the milestone. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank you for your hard work and dedication to our operations.”
Hubert spoke of the support and encouragement of the community, and the role they have played in the success of the operation. “I would like to formally extend my thanks to both the local communities of Parkes and Forbes for their continued support enabling us to achieve this milestone.”
Northparkes has been operating for over 25 years. The operation is made up of an underground block cave mine, a sub-level cave and an ore processing plant which produces copper concentrate for export.
The ore is processed onsite to produce a high-grade copper concentrate which is then transported by road train to the Goonumbla rail siding, located approximately 13km from the mine. The containers are then placed onto a train and transported to Port Kembla, south of Wollongong for shipping to customers primarily in China and Japan.
During the past five years, Northparkes has contributed $409.7 million to the Central West through salaries, sponsorships, government dues and payments to local businesses.