Sibanye-Stillwater owns and operates the Century zinc tailings retreatment operation in Queensland, Australia. It is the largest tailings retreatment operation in Australia and ranks among the top 15 global zinc producers worldwide.
Statistics as at 31 December 2023
Life of mine
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2027
![Platinum ingots [icon]](https://www.sibanyestillwater.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/icon-pgm-production-1.svg){kind=icon}
Zinc Metal Produced (payable)
76 kt
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All-in sustaining cost
US$1, 975/tZn
Workforce
254
employees and contractors
As of 31 December, 2023, Century had an attributable Mineral Resource of 3,002 million pounds of zinc (at 3.8%) and an attributable Mineral Reserve of 1,726 million pounds of zinc (at 3.0%).
A CLOSER LOOK
The Century zinc operation is a mine tailings mining and reprocessing operation located at Lawn Hill, 250km north-west of Mount Isa in the Lower Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland, Australia.
Integrated with the mine is a 304km, wholly owned and fully permitted, underground pipeline to Century’s port facility at Karumba, from where the transfer vessel, the M.V. Wunma, transfers concentrate to export ships anchored in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
The Century Tailings storage facility (TSF) lies within the mining lease ML90045, which is owned by Century Mining (Pty) Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of New Century Resources Ltd. There are also one further mining lease and one exploration permit granted:
- ML90045, Century Mine, granted 19/09/1997, expiring on 18/09/2037, for 146.88 km²
- ML90058, Century Mine, granted 19/09/1997, expiring on 18/09/2037, for 84.96 km²
- EPM10544, Lawn Hill, granted 23/06/1995, expiring on 31/12/2025, for 368 km²
The economic feasibility of the remaining in-situ Silver King and remnant East Fault Block and South Block deposits continue to be assessed for their potential as stand-alone life extension projects post the depletion of the TSF, or as co-production with the TSF reprocessing.
