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Rio Tinto Coal Australia sees mineral resources and ore reserves increase

Published by , Editor
World Coal,


Rio Tinto’s annual mineral resources and ore reserves update, which has been released as part of its 2015 annual report, includes increases to Rio Tinto Coal Australia’s mineral resources and ore reserves in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia.

The updated ore reserves and mineral resources are reported in accordance with the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, 2012 (JORC Code) and Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) Listing Rules.

Total coal ore reserves for all deposits have increased by 397 million t, from 2106 million t to 2504 million t. Increases in ore reserves include:

  • Hunter Valley operations’ ore reserves increased by 309 million t, from 581 million t to 890 million t.
  • Hail Creek ore reserves increased by 127 million t, from 126 million t to 253 million t.

Total mineral resources, exclusive of ore reserves, have increased by 1376 million t, from 5429 million t to 6805 million t. These increases include:

  • HVO mineral resources increased by 458 million t, from 1373 million t to 1831 million t.
  • Warkworth mineral resources increased by 138 million t, from 475 million t to 613 million t.
  • Hail Creek mineral resources increased by 419 million t, from 172 million t to 591 million t.
  • Kestrel and Kestrel West mineral resources increased by 164 million t, from 142 million t to 306 million t.
  • Winchester South mineral resources increased by 164 million t, from 192 million t to 356 million t.

Mt Robert contains a maiden mineral resource estimate of 31 million t.

The upgrades have resulted from a programme of orebody knowledge and strategic mine planning optimisation undertaken at Rio Tinto Coal Australia. They are based on a rigorous examination of all Rio Tinto Coal Australia leases that included:

  • Consolidating and analysing a large volume of new and legacy geology data sets for all sites.
  • Reinterpreting and standardising all of the New South Wales and Queensland geology models, employing an expanded range of available data sets.
  • Updating the strategic mine planning processes and tools used to estimate ore reserves.
  • Adopting more efficient mineral resource estimation methods.
  • According to Rio, these increases in ore reserves and mineral resources reflect a continuation of the work announced in 2014.

Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/08032016/rio-tinto-coal-australia-sees-increase-in-mineral-resources-and-ore-reserves-348/

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