Overview

CSA Mine at Cobar in regional New South Wales is one of Australia’s highest grade copper mines.

CSA Mine is located 11 kilometres north-west of Cobar, central western New South Wales. At 1.9 kilometres deep, it is one of Australia’s deepest underground mines.

The annual production is approximately 40,0001 tonnes of copper each year. This is mined and processed onsite, and railed 700 kilometres to the Port of Newcastle for export to smelters in Asia.

Operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, CSA Mine directly employs ~500 people including contractors.

The majority of our team is based in the local township of Cobar and embrace a remote, tight-knit community lifestyle.

In addition to the current operations, we also hold 566 square kilometres of tenements with the potential to expand and extend CSA’s future mine life.

1. Source: Metals Acquisition Limited Form F4 filed May 4,2023.
Note: Figures derived from CSA Mine Reserve mine plan for years 2023 to 2025, inclusive.

Our History

CSA Mine is one of Australia’s longest operating copper mines with a history stretching back almost 150 years.

At 1.9 kilometres (1.2 miles) deep, it is the second deepest copper mine in Australia.

CSA stands for 'Cornish, Scottish and Australia', after the nationalities of its first owners.

Mining in the early years

Copper, lead and zinc was discovered in 1871 and mine development at CSA began in the early 1900s. Mining occurred intermittently on the CSA leases until a significant resource was discovered by Broken Hill South Pty Ltd in 1961. As a result of this discovery, the site was transitioned to an underground operation in 1965.

The mine was acquired by CRA in 1980 and sold to Golden Shamrock Mines Pty Ltd (GSM) in 1993. GSM was in turn acquired by Ashanti Gold Fields in the same year.

In 1997, the operation ran into financial difficulties and was placed in receivership. The mine was placed under care and maintenance on 20 January 1998. Glencore acquired the CSA Mine leases and site facilities and restarted mining operations in July 1999.

MTAL acquired the CSA mine from Glencore PLC in June 2023.