About MRM

Our Business

MRM by nightMcArthur River Mining Pty Ltd (MRM) is a company wholly-owned by global mining group Xstrata plc and is the operator of the McArthur River zinc mine. Our operation mines the ‘Here’s Your Chance’ orebody which is one of the world’s largest zinc and lead deposits.

Underground operations commenced in 1995 and in 2006, the Northern Territory Government approved a $110 million open pit development which combined with an expansion of the concentrator, extended the mine's life by an estimated 21 years to 2027. The open pit operation has approval to mine 43 million tonnes of the resource.

MRM is the largest bulk producer of zinc in concentrate form. We supply 70% of global demand for a high grade bulk zinc/lead/silver concentrate which is used by Imperial Smelting Process smelters in Europe and Asia to produce zinc and lead metal and alloys. During 2009, MRM also began producing a new zinc concentrate which is supplied to electrolytic smelters.

MRM is a 24 hour operation. The concentrate is transported from the mine to the MRM-operated Bing Bong loading facility by road. From there it is loaded onto a barge and transported to waiting ships at sea in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Our production represents approximately 3% of the world’s total zinc resources used by all types of smelters each year.

Media release
MRM named Mine of the Year, October 2008
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