Tag Archives: FIFO

Cobham Aviation wins FIFO extension with OZ Minerals Carrapateena copper-gold mine

Base metals, Mine operation news, Mineral project development, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , ,

Cobham Aviation Services has secured a three-year contract with OZ Minerals to provide fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) services between Adelaide, Port Augusta and its Carrapateena copper-gold project in South Australia.

Over three years, Cobham will operate 14 flights each week between the locations with a RJ 100 aircraft servicing the route. Services began last month.

This is the second OZ Minerals contract Cobham has secured in recent years. The company has operated all FIFO services to and from OZ Minerals’ Prominent Hill mine since 2017.

Cobham Aviation Services Vice President of Regional Services, Dean Brennan said the contract win reflects Cobham’s continued competitive offering within the FIFO environment.

“The Carrapateena project is significant for South Australia and its economy. Cobham is delighted to play its part in such an important development and continuing its relationship with OZ Minerals.”

Cobham has provided aviation services to the mining and resource sector in Australia for more than 25 years.

Carapateena, 160 km north of Port Augusta in South Australia’s highly prospective Gawler Craton, is one of Australia’s largest undeveloped copper deposits. The project will be a 4.25 Mt/y underground operation, with an estimated mine life of 20 years.

Construction of Carrapateena is underway and commissioning is scheduled for the December quarter of 2019 after which the project will ramp up to steady state production.

St Barbara’s FIFO Alliance continues at Leonora

Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metals, ,

Alliance Aviation Services will continue to fly workers in and out of St Barbara’s Leonora gold operations in Western Australia after the two companies agreed to extend the air charter services contract for another three years.

Alliance has been providing these fly in/fly out services to St Barbara since 2012 and will continue to arrange eight flights per week between Perth and Leonora.

Lee Schofield, Chief Executive Officer for Alliance, said the flexibility of Alliance’s fleet, “together with industry leading on time performance, greatly assisted Alliance in retaining this contract”.

This is the fifth contract Alliance has retained in a “selective tender process” over the past 12 months. Recently, Alliance received a potential five-year extension with Incitec Pivot for services to its Phosphate Hill operations in northwest Queensland.

St Barbara’s Gwalia mine is just 3 km south of Leonora in Western Australia. It produced 268,000 ounces of gold at an all-in sustaining cost of A$891 per ounce in the 12 months to the end of June. The company is currently in the process of evaluating a deep underground extension to the mine, which could see operations continue until the end of St Barbara’s 2013 financial year.

Alliance and Incitec Pivot extend FIFO contract at Phosphate Hill

Energy minerals, Mine operation news, Mining services,

Mine and plant workers will continue to have a fly in/fly out (FIFO) option at the Phosphate Hill operations in northwest Queensland, Australia, after Alliance Aviation extended its air charter services contract with owner Incitec Pivot.

The contract has been extended for three years with a bolt on two-year option that could see the service continue until 2021.

Incitec Pivot expects to produce 880,000 tonnes of ammonium phosphates from the operation in the year to the end of September, below the 975,000 tonne per year capacity. Phosphate Hill consists of its own mine and ore processing facility, in addition to beneficiation, ammonia, phosphoric acid and granulation plants.

Alliance has been providing air charter services to Phosphate Hill, 1,000 km from Townsville, since 2002. It provides these from its Townsville and Brisbane bases.

Lee Schofield, Alliance’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “Flying into Phosphate Hill commenced in 2002 – the same year in which Alliance was established – and we are delighted to have retained this foundation contract for a further five years. By the conclusion of this new contract, Alliance will have been flying into Phosphate Hill for a continuous period of 19 years.”