Skip to main content

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

234.2 kt

FY25 zinc equivalent production

500+

employees

US$0.6m

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

  • Rob Jackson

    Vice president, Operations

    Rob has been a member of the South32 Senior Leadership Team since its formation in 2015, and has returned to Cannington as Vice President, Operations in 2025. He has previously held roles as Vice President Supply, Chief Human Resources and Commercial Officer (Acting), and Vice President Operations at both our Cannington and GEMCO Operations.

    Prior to joining South32, Rob held several senior roles at BHP including Head of Resource Planning and Development Manganese Australia, Marketing Manager Manganese Ore and Vice President Business Development.

    Rob brings a unique capability and track record of developing the leadership and culture necessary to deliver safe, high performing, values-based organisations which makes Rob a valued executive leader at South32.

    Rob is also a Director and Vice President Metals of the Queensland Resources Council and a committee member for Women in Mining and Resources Queensland.

Contact

Mail: PO Box 5874, Townsville QLD 4810

External Affairs , Cannington

Email: [email protected] Phone: 1800 317 295