KING Island is set to once again be home to a significant working mine, with the redevelopment of King Island Scheelite’s Dolphin Tungsten Mine, announced last week.
TasPorts chief executive officer Anthony Donald said the news heralded the dawn of a new era for the mine, which was closed in 1992. He said the reopened mine would provide an important contribution to the King Island economy and local community through the mining, production and export of tungsten to national and international markets.
“The Port of Grassy on King Island will play a critical role in the export of the product to market, and I’m pleased to advise that the existing port infrastructure is fit-for-purpose and will easily accommodate King Island Scheelite’s projected export volumes of 3200 tonnes of concentrate per annum,” Mr Donald said.
“This equates to about three containers per week based on a twenty-foot equivalent unit, providing a welcome boost to existing port throughput. As part of last week’s announcement, there were calls for major investment into port infrastructure to facilitate the mine’s redevelopment and we welcome further discussions to understand the rationale for such an investment.”
Mr Donald said TasPorts is looking forward to working with the company as mining recommences and production ramps up, ensuring the Port of Grassy provides a critical trade gateway to national and international markets.
Announcing its intention to redevelop the mine, King Island Scheelite said the work program at the mine would commence in the coming weeks. Earthworks are scheduled to begin next month.
King Island Scheelite executive chairman Johann Jacobs said the Dolphin Tungsten Mine taps into the highest-grade tungsten deposit of significant size in the western world.
“We look forward to the recommencement of mining from this fantastic asset,” he said.
