For Dick Potts, the general manager, the Pasminco Rosebery zinc mine in western Tasmania is going through exciting times as exploration and development at depth bring new hope for increased mine life. Recruitment of local people has started again and a new management team is changing the way the business is operating. The Rosebery discovery was first worked in 1893 but - as Dick Potts says - for a long time Rosebery has been considered a dying mine, sapping the morale of the people who work and live in the small company town (although most houses are now owned privately). Dick Potts came from Mount Isa 14 months ago and paradoxically says the upside potential was one reason he made the move. At the present rate of around 576,000tpa of ore extraction, the mine life is put at only around 8-10 years, creating closure fears among the workforce of 300 in the mine, mill and processing facilities.
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