Hellyer Metals
🏢 Company Overview
Hellyer Metals is a privately held Australian mining company, advancing a tailings reprocessing operation at the Hellyer Mine in northwest Tasmania. The company emphasises environmental rehabilitation, leveraging hydro‑powered operations and ESG practices to minimise footprint and boost sustainability in mining practices.
🌍 Hellyer Mine & Tailing Project
Historic polymetallic source: The original underground mine, active from 1989 to 2000, produced lead, zinc, copper, gold, and silver from massive sulfide orebodies on the Mount Read Volcanic Belt.
Tailings restart: In 2017 Hellyer Metals (via NQ Minerals) acquired ~9–11 Mt of tailings from the tailings storage facility, launching dredging in 2018. The project has a projected 10-year mine life.
Processing flow: Slurry dredged and pumped to a 1.6 Mtpa flotation plant producing lead, zinc, gold/silver credits, and from 2024, a pyrite concentrate for metals extraction
🔬 Resources & Recovery
Tailings composition: Approximately 54% pyrite, 20% sphalerite, 8% galena, 1–2% chalcopyrite/arsenopyrite; 2020 JORC resources: 6.37 Mt of measured & indicated + 1.21 Mt inferred, averaging 2.60 g/t Au, 94 g/t Ag, 2.33% Zn, 3.01% Pb.
Recovery rates: Pilot tests achieved gold recovery of ~83.5% and silver ~94.6%, with copper ~91% and zinc ~82% using proprietary hydrometallurgy developed with EnviroGold Global.
🛠 Expansion & Underground Scope
Fossey & Fossey East: Fully permitted upstream underground deposits with substantial upside—they remain open at depth, and dewatering began in Q4 2023.
Exploration drilling: Using advanced geological modelling, four high-priority targets are being drilled to expand reserves and potentially extend mine life.
🤝 Strategic Partnerships
EnviroGold Global: A binding agreement in 2022 to apply hydrometallurgical technology to Hellyer tailings. The partnership is a key catalyst for enhanced recoveries and circular-economy mining.
Tech validation: Perth pilot plant in mid‑2023 confirmed strong recoveries and scalability of the process.
📅 Timeline & Highlights
1989-2000
Underground mining at Hellyer
2017
Acquisition of tailings
Aug 2018
Start of dredging & floatation operation
2020
JORC resource update for tailings
2022
AUD 88 M revenue, AUD 15 M EBITDA; EnviroGold partnership
2023 Q1
Pilot hydrometallic tests confirm high recoveries
2023 Q4
Fossey dewatering begins
2024
Launch of pyrite concentrate
2025+
Ongoing drilling, expansion toward underground mining
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