From our Ore to Your Door - Episode 6 - Mining Pit Development

With exploration, drilling and planning complete, it’s time to start mining.

First, surveyors stake out the boundary of the area to be mined. A clearing permit verifies that the area to be mined is within the active lease, has
been cleared by the local Land Council, and has the correct government permit to be mined. Now the pit development can begin.

To get our large machinery to the site, trees and vegetation must be cleared. As part of this process, a wildlife expert carefully assesses the area for habitats and attempts to relocate any wildlife or nests that are present. Even after the initial relocation of wildlife, the wildlife expert remains onsite to continue monitoring for animals while the trees and scrub are removed.


With a clear area now available, scrapers remove topsoil and subsoil from the mining area. QMAG’s preference is to return topsoil and subsoil directly to areas previously mined to maximise rehabilitation success. When this is not possible, topsoil is stockpiled next to the pit so it can easily be recovered and spread once mining is complete and the void refilled. Subsoil is sometimes used to create levees around the pit to protect the excavations from flooding.


In the final step of our mining pit development, dozers, scrapers or excavators remove overburden and low-grade magnesite. With one eye always on rehabilitation and sustainability, this material is immediately placed directly into a prior excavation whenever possible. When this is not possible, the overburden is stockpiled temporarily until it can be used to fill in a nearby mining void.

Peregine Falcon family

QMAG is super proud to host a breeding pair of peregrine falcons high up in our deadburn building at our Parkhurst processing facility.

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Welcome Dr John McGrath!

Please welcome Dr.John McGrath who recently joined our R&D and environmental team.

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Customer Visit - Prony Resources

Our colleagues visited QMAG's long standing customer Prony Resources

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Welcome Brendon Pambid!

Brendon took over from Peter Lowe as Managing Director Operations in June 2023 and together with Managing Director Dr. Christoph Beyer he will be responsible for QMag's journey towards becoming the global leader for high quality cryptocristalline caustic calcined magnesia, dead burned magnesia and electrofused magnesia.

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Double-barred finch family

Whilst we actively mine magnesite at our Kunwarara Mine, a plethora of birds, large to small, live and feed in the tropical dry grassland, shrub land and open woodland terrain adjacent to the mine pits.

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Meeting Ian Hartnell

Last week Dr. Christoph Beyer (Managing Director), Mark Christmas (Supply Chain Manager) and Suren Dias-Jayasinha (Head of Sales & Marketing) had the pleasure of meeting Ian Hartnell.

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Any remaining questions?

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as soon as we can.