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Annual Report 2015 37
Background
The Company acquired the Long
Operation in Kambalda, WA, from
BHP Billiton Nickel West Pty Ltd
(BHPB) (formerly WMC Resources
Ltd) in September 2002. The mine
was successfully re-commissioned in
October 2002 and has been operating
successfully and safely since then.
Since October 2002, IGO has produced
over 2.9Mt of nickel ore, producing
approximately 116,000t of contained
nickel metal. A commitment to
brownfields exploration has seen the
discovery of the McLeay (2005) and
Moran (2008) ore bodies and has
enabled the operation to maintain a
reserve base over time to support a
two to three year life.
Offtake Agreement
IGO has an agreement with BHPB
whereby the ore produced from the
mine is delivered to the adjacent BHPB
Kambalda Nickel Concentrator for toll
treatment and production of nickel
concentrate. This offtake agreement
expires in 2019.
Safety
IGO is committed to continual
improvement and targeting zero
injuries at the Long Operation. We also
recognise that our safety objectives
cannot be attained without equal
input from all our employees and
contractors, so we continue to actively
engage and consult all employees
and contractors to revise safe work
practices. One LTI occurred at Long
Operation during FY2015. During FY2015
the 12-month LTIFR has improved from
11.8 to 3.1 injuries per million hours
worked, a very credible effort by the
Long team.
The occupational health and safety
regime is based on the belief that
safety comes first and profits can be
made without compromising safety.
It is Management’s conviction that
a positive attitude towards safety
is the key to any safety program.
Hazard identification, accident/incident
investigation, competency training,
safe work procedures, competency
reassessment and regular workplace
inspections and task observations
are carried out with the input of our
employees. There is a strong focus
on emergency preparedness, with
the application of risk mitigation and
emergency management procedures
throughout FY2015.
258,634
tonnes of ore was
mined during FY2015
10,198
nickel tonnes
delivered during 2015