WMC Resources
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

WMC Resources Limited was an Australian diversified mining company.


History

Western Mining Corporation (WMC) was formed in 1933, when William Robinson, the Australian-born
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
-based managing director of Broken Hill Associated Smelters, was able to interest several large London-based mining companies into forming syndicates to develop gold mines in Australia. WMC's strategy was to use the newly emerging sciences of mining geology and related
geochemistry Geochemistry is the science that uses the tools and principles of chemistry to explain the mechanisms behind major geological systems such as the Earth's crust and its oceans. The realm of geochemistry extends beyond the Earth, encompassing the e ...
and
geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' som ...
to find new gold deposits. It was a company based on the idea that if they applied good science to exploration, they would be successful. WMC began operations in
Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
in December 1933 when it commenced an extensive aerial survey of the
Eastern Goldfields The Eastern Goldfields is part of the Western Australian Goldfields in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, covering the present and former gold-mining area east of Perth. Extent and name origin The region encompasses the town ...
. It acquired its first profitable mining operation in June 1935 when it took an option over a new gold discovery at Cox's Find, 43 miles northwest of Laverton. WMC pioneered district-scale
aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing aircra ...
in the 1930s, flying many areas in West Australia's gold-mining districts. The hope was to identify new prospective areas near known mines. Unfortunately, the surveys failed due to poor exposures of the rocks in the nearly flat, deeply-weathered areas they flew.Success in Exploration for Gold, Nickel, Copper, Uranium, and Petroleum
interview with WMC geologist Roy Woodall, 2006. 211 pp. Retrieved 16 August 2017
In 1961, WMC acquired a 20% shareholding in Alcoa World Alumina & Chemicals that later increased to 40%. The company's final corporate structure before takeover was formed in 2002 by a demerger that split off the aluminium operations to form Alumina, separate from what was to be known as WMC Resources Limited.


Takeover bids

In December 2004,
Xstrata Xstrata plc was an Anglo-Swiss multinational mining company headquartered in Zug, Switzerland and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It was a major producer of coal (and the world's largest exporter of thermal coal), copper, ...
announced a takeover offer for the company. In February 2005, the WMC board recommended that shareholders reject the offer. The
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the chief competition regulator of the Government of Australia, located within the Department of the Treasury. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Tra ...
and
Foreign Investment Review Board The Australian Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), "examines proposals by foreign persons to invest in Australia and makes recommendations to the Treasurer on those subject to the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 and Australia's for ...
both approved the deal, however a number of people (including members of the Government) expressed concerns due to the economic (and strategic) importance of the
Olympic Dam mine The Olympic Dam mine is a large poly-metallic underground mine located in South Australia, NNW of Adelaide. It is the fourth largest copper deposit and the largest known single deposit of uranium in the world. Copper is the largest contributor ...
resources, and the reputation of Xstrata and its major shareholder,
Glencore Glencore plc is a Swiss multinational commodity trading and mining company with headquarters in Baar, Switzerland. Glencore's oil and gas head office is in London and its registered office is in Saint Helier, Jersey. The current company was c ...
. The Xstrata takeover offer lapsed after a higher offer was made by
BHP Billiton BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...
, with support from the WMC Resources board. When the offer closed 3 June 2005, BHP Billiton held 55% of the WMC's shares. Under the
Corporations Act 2001 The ''Corporations Act 2001'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia, which sets out the laws dealing with business entities in the Commonwealth of Australia. The company is the Act's primary focus, but other entities, such as partner ...
this automatically extended the offer period by another 14 days. On 17 June 2005, BHP Billiton announced that it had achieved 90.5% ownership, and would proceed to compulsorily acquire the remaining shares. It was delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange on 29 June 2005. The company name was later subsumed by the BHP Billiton corporate identity, and a significant name in
Australian mining Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...
history ceased to be used.


Operations

When it was taken over it had three main businesses: * Mount Keith and Leinster nickel mines, Kambalda concentrator, Kalgoorlie nickel smelter and Kwinana nickel refinery, all in Western Australia *
Olympic Dam mine The Olympic Dam mine is a large poly-metallic underground mine located in South Australia, NNW of Adelaide. It is the fourth largest copper deposit and the largest known single deposit of uranium in the world. Copper is the largest contributor ...
copper-uranium-gold mine in
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
. In 2005, this mine was estimated to contain 33% of the world's known uranium reserves. *The Phosphate Hill mine and associated phosphate fertiliser production business in Queensland, which became known as Southern Cross Fertilisers following the BHP Billiton takeover; and Hi Fert, a blending and distribution network supporting Australia's eastern states. BHP Billiton sold Hi Fert to a joint venture of Elders and AWB in December 2005 and Southern Cross Fertilisers to
Incitec Pivot Incitec Pivot Ltd. () is an Australian multinational corporation that manufactures fertiliser, explosives chemicals, and mining service. Incitec Pivot is the largest supplier of fertilisers in Australia; the largest supplier of explosives prod ...
in May 2006.


Former

* Agnew Gold Mine * Beta Hunt Mine * Burbanks Gold Mine *
Hill 50 Gold Mine The Hill 50 Gold Mine, now referred to as the Mount Magnet Gold Mine, is a gold mine located 4 km north-west of Mount Magnet, Western Australia.Nifty Copper Mine *
Norseman Gold Mine The Central Norseman gold mine is located at Norseman, Western Australia. Norseman lies at the southern end of the Norseman- Wiluna Greenstone Belt, in the Eastern Goldfields Province of the Yilgarn Block, Western Australia.< ...
*
St Ives Gold Mine The St Ives Gold Mine is a gold mine located 20 km south-east of Kambalda, Western Australia. It is owned by the South African mining company Gold Fields. As of 2022, it is one of four mines the company operates in Australia, the others b ...
*
Three Springs Mine Three Springs Mine is a talc mine located outside of Three Springs, Western Australia. Owned and operated by the Imerys Group, a French-based company, the mine is the oldest and most productive talc mine in the southern hemisphere, and the sec ...


References


External links


Company website
{{Authority control Companies based in Melbourne Companies formerly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Defunct mining companies of Australia Gold mining companies of Australia Nickel mining companies Non-renewable resource companies established in 1933 Non-renewable resource companies disestablished in 2005 Uranium mining companies of Australia 1933 establishments in Australia 2005 disestablishments in Australia