About:
The Sorby Hills silver and lead mining project is located in the Western Australian East Kimberly Region about 50 kilometres from Kununurra and 160 kilometres from the nearest port at Wyndham. The project, that is host to the largest near surface lead and silver ore body in Australia is being developed by KBL Mining and China's Henan Yuguang Gold and Lead Group Company Limited.
Sorby Hills Project a Joint Venture Between KBL Mining and HYGLG of China
KBL Mining Limited, was created in November 2011 as a result of a name change from Kimberley Metals. It became listed on the ASX (Australian Security Exchange) on Febuary 25, 2010 and holds a 75 percent interest in the joint venture. Henan Yuguang Gold and Lead Group Company Limited (HYGLG), a China based company dealing in mining and power production, is also owner of China's largest gold, silver and lead smelter. It holds a 25 percent interest in the project.
Sorby Hills Deposit Discovered in 1971
The Sorby Hills silver lead ore deposit was discovered in 1971 by Aquitane Australia Minerals and is made up of 13 individual but adjacent carbonate hosted, near surface zinc, lead and silver deposits, located in the Bonaparte Basin in the east Kimberley Region of Western Australia.
Since the ore body was discovered various companies have undertaken drilling and exploration programs of the area. All the Sorby Hills mining tenements are outside the proposed Ord River Expansion Project despite sharing a common boundary. The total leasehold covers an area comprising 12,600 hectares.
KBL Mining to Begin Construction of Sorby Hills Mine in 2014
KBL Mining Limited is proposing to construct a series of shallow open pits beginning in 2014. Six of the pits that lie in a linear formation for a distance of 12 kilometres and one kilometre wide, are targeted for open cut development to a depth of 70 metres. The Sorby Hills project is to be undertaken as a conventional open cut mine with a sulphide flotation concentrator. The life of mine is forecast to last for at least 14 years. Sorby Hills Concentrate to be Exported out of Wyndham
The ore taken from the Sorby Hills mine will be processed by the flotation technique which is expected to produce around 45,000 tonnes a year of concentrate containing silver, lead and zinc that will be exported from the Wyndham port. Containers used to transport the concentrate will be taken from the mine to the port by 80 tonne road trains via the Weaber Plain Road, Victoria Highway and Great Northern Highway. The route will pass through the towns of Kununurra and Wyndham. There will be 12 truck movements on the roads each week under normal circumstances, although this could be expanded to up to 20 truck movements a week following road closures caused by seasonal flooding.
The Sorby Hills containers containing the concentrate will be stored at the Wyndham port where a ship will arrive once a month for 11 months of the year to take the shipment to the company's overseas customers. It is expected that construction will start on the Sorby Hills project in mid-2014 with production beginning mid-2015
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