Name of the Mine
Abra mine.

Location  
Edmund basin in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia, between the towns of Newman and Meekatharra.

Mine Owner/s  
The project is 100% owned by Abra Mining Pty Limited (AMPL), which is a 60:40 joint venture between Galena Mining and Toho Zinc Co.

Brief Description  
The Abra mine is a high-grade lead/silver mine and one of the biggest and cleanest lead/silver deposits in world.

Brief History  
Galena acquired the Abra project in 2017, and started drilling the deposit for geological evaluation.

In 2018, Galena updated two mineral resource estimates (MREs) and completed a scoping and a prefeasibility study. Another MRE was completed in 2019.

Toho Zinc acquired 40% of the project in 2019 and the definitive feasibility study for the development of an underground mine and processing facility to produce a high-grade lead/silver concentrate was finalised.

A final investment decision was made in June 2021 and construction was completed in December 2022. First concentrate was produced in the first quarter of 2023.

Primary Metals/Minerals  
Lead.

Secondary Metals/Minerals  
Silver, copper, zinc and gold.

Geology/Mineralisation  
The Abra deposit is situated within sediments of the Proterozoic Edmund Group. The replacement-style deposit is hosted by sediments.

The deposit can be divided into two main zones – the upper Apron zone and the Core zone.

The Apron zone extends for 1 000 m along strike, 700 m down dip, and dips gently south, presenting as a fold along the northern margin, near the Abra fault. The primary mineralisation orientation within the Apron zone is the stratiform orientation, with secondary (high-grade) mineralisation occurring subvertically on a similar orientation to the core mineralisation lodes located underneath.

The Core zone extends from 300 m to 750 m below surface and can be traced for more than 400 m along strike. It underlies the Apron zone and comprises an elongated funnel-shaped body of hydrothermal breccias, veining and intense alteration overprinting gently south-dipping sediments. The veining and breccia zones in the Core zone represent a swarm of east–west striking and steeply-dipping feeder zones to the overlying Apron zone. Hydrothermal veining dips steeply south on the northern flank, subvertically in the central portion and moderate to steeply north on the southern margins. High-grade lead sulphide mineralisation is predominantly hosted in intensely veined zones. High-grade zinc sulphide mineralisation (sphalerite) is found in the central portion of the Core zone. Copper (chalcopyrite) and gold mineralisation is sporadically found throughout the upper portions of the Core zone but forms a semicoherent body at the base of the Core zone.

Reserves  
None stated.

Resources  
Total mineral resources as at July 31, 2023, were estimated at 34.4-million tonnes grading 7.1% lead and 17 g/t silver.

Type of Mine
Underground.

Mining Method  
Longhole open stoping and room-and-pillar.

Major Infrastructure/Equipment
The mine comprises a concentrator, which is a standard three-stage crush, grind, flotation, concentrate filtration plant built to match the targeted underground production rate. Tailings will be placed either in a surface tailings storage facility or returned underground as cement paste fill for the filling of mined voids, primarily for regional ground support.

The mine further includes a wash down bay, refuelling facilities, mine workshops and explosives magazine.

Prospects  
None stated.

Contact Details
AMPL +61 8 6183 3200
E: admin@abramining.com.au

Sources
AMPL. Website: https://www.abramining.com.au
Galena Mining. Website: https://www.galenamining.com.au
Galena Mining, ABRA completes 2023 mineral resource update (August 7, 2023).