In 2002, Ginkgo mine’s remote location led to the establishment of the Pooncarrie Project Feasibility Study.
The study considered a number of issues in establishing a world-class mineral sands mining operation in the northern sector of the Murray Basin. The Ginkgo remote mine site, located in an arid area with zero infrastructure, required a considerable volume of water for mineral processing at the mine site. Mine staff considered using an extensive hyper saline aquifer that was unused due to the salt content of the water.
The mine used saline water for mine site gravity separation.
This avoided the need to draw water from the Darling River, and compete with other water users.
The project resulted in significant fuel savings, and eliminated potential environmental issues in the handling and transport of this waste stream.
The mine contains 5.8 Mt of heavy mineral, with a suite of products including the currently highly priced and highly sought after zircon product.
The Snapper Mine, which will be mined along with the Ginkgo Mine, is said to be a richer mine, containing a higher tonnage and greater percentages of rutile and zircon.
The Ginkgo Mine is located 220 km from Broken Hill.
Production at the Ginkgo Mine commenced in December 2005.