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Cannington

In North West Queensland, on an old sheep and cattle station, is our Cannington mine, one of the world's largest producers of silver and lead.

Cannington

McKinlay, QLD

Mail:

PO Box 5874,
Townsville QLD 4810

Key statistics

285.2 kt

FY24 zinc equivalent production

500+

employees

US$0.4m

FY24 investment in local communities

Our operations

Cannington consists of an underground hard rock mine and surface processing facility, a road-to-rail transfer facility and a concentrate handling and ship loading facility at the Port of Townsville. In Q4 FY22 we transitioned to 100 per cent truck haulage to bring product to the surface.

Silver, lead and zinc are extracted from the ore using grinding, sequential flotation and leaching techniques that produce high-grade, marketable lead and zinc concentrates with a high silver content.

The deposit was first discovered as an anomaly in an aerial survey of the region, nearly 30 years ago, and production at the mine has been underway for more than 20 years.

Partnering with communities

Australian Indigenous education foundation students visit Cannington

Partnering with communities

We support the communities in the three local government areas which host our Cannington operations.

These are the McKinlay Shire where our mine site is located, the Cloncurry Shire which hosts our road to rail transfer and our ship loading facility in the City of Townsville.  We back these communities by investing in infrastructure and buying and employing locally, when we can.

Our commodities

  • Giorgio Dall'Armi

    Vice President Operations

    Giorgio joined South32 at the beginning of 2025, bringing with him more than 25 years of experience in the resources industry.

    Giorgio spent time at Cannington in his early career years, and has now returned to lead the team as Vice President, Operations.

    His extensive career spans across Australian mining operations, leading teams across multiple disciplines including mining production, development, asset planning, exploration and strategy. Prior to joining South32, Giorgio held the position of General Manager - Exploration and Strategy with CBH Resources at Rasp Mine in Broken Hill, New South Wales.

    Alongside his leadership and industry experience, it is Giorgio's commitment to our company values of care, trust, togetherness and excellence, his dedication to the safety and wellbeing of our people, and desire to make a difference in the communities where we operate, that makes Giorgio a valuable addition to South32.

Contact

Mail: PO Box 5874, Townsville QLD 4810