| Palabora mine and smelter |
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Palabora mine and smelter |
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Country |
South Africa
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Province |
Northern transvaal |
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Close to |
Pretoria |
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Status |
PRODUCTION
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Latitude / Longitude |
24 S 27 / 26 E 47 |
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Legends
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Produces
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Uranium - Zircon -
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| Risk and valuation analysis of the Palabora mine and smelter |
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| Location of the Palabora mine and smelter |
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Located 360km north east of Pretoria, close to the Kruger National Park, Palabora is South Africa's leading copper producer, and is also a major source of vermiculite and baddeleyite (zirconium oxide).
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| History of the Palabora mine and smelter |
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Open-pit mining commenced at Palabora in 1964 and ended in 2002 when the pit reached its final economic depth. The development of an underground mine to work the ore remaining below the pit bottom began during the final years of open-pit production, at a cost of some $465m, with the prospect of a further 20 years' life in the underground operation.
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| Geology of the Palabora mine and smelter |
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Palabora contains magnetite, vermiculite, apatite, zirconium, titanium and uranium as well as copper. The deposit is hosted in an alkaline igneous complex comprising mainly pyroxenite with occurrences of pegmatites, foskorite and carbonatite. Three s more...
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Data last updated on : 11/10/2009
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Disclaimer
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All information on this page comes from internal and external sources deemed reliable. This information might not be up to date, so please perform due diligence before making any conclusion or making any action. Do contact us should any information be missing or incorrect.
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