The Mt Keith Operation

The Mt Keith Operation, 90 kilometres north of Leinster in the north-eastern Goldfields of Western Australia, was commissioned in October 1994. Based on a large tonnage, low-grade nickel sulphide orebody the plant was designed to produce 28 000 tonnes of nickel in a high-grade 20 per cent nickel concentrate. Following a successful and rapid start-up the operation is currently expanding to a throughput of ten million tonnes per annum (mtpa) ore and an annual production of 42 000 tonnes of nickel. This paper provides an overview of the Mt Keith Operation from commissioning to its present operation and Expansion.