Carrapateena is located in South Australia on the eastern margin of the Gawler Craton.

Carrapateena produced first concentrate in December 2019 following a three-year construction period and is targeting a 12 month ramp up period to achieve its full production rate of 4.25 Mtpa, provided the cave propagates as expected.

It is an underground sub-level cave operation with an estimated mine life of 20 years. A feasibility study is underway into the future expansion of the bottom half of the operation into a block cave.
During construction there were two main phases:

• Phase one Q3 2017 – Q1 2018: construction of the accommodation village and airstrip, and development of the dual access decline continues.
• Phase two Q2 2018 – Q4 2019: construction of above ground infrastructure, processing plant, tailings storage facility, western access road, power line and installation of the underground materials handling system.

Geology
Carrapateena is a copper-gold deposit hosted in a brecciated granite complex and is mostly chalcopyrite with a central high grade bornite zone. The deposit is shaped like a near vertical pipe and sits under approximately 500 metres of unmineralised rock cover. More information on Carrapateena geology can be found here.

Mining Method
Carrapateena will be mined using a process called sub-level caving. Using this method, the deposit is blasted in 25 metre sections and then collected by loaders. From there it will be crushed and loaded onto a conveyer belt that transports the ore up the decline to the surface. The ore will be processed onsite to produce a copper concentrate containing copper and gold minerals.

Partnerships
OZ Minerals have ongoing relationships and engagement with the traditional owners, pastoralists and local communities is important to them, and they are focused on creating partnerships based on mutual respect, understanding and trust.