Lady Loretta is a zinc, lead and silver mine in Queensland’s minerals province, 140 kilometres north-west of Mount Isa. One of the country’s most significant zinc producers, the mine peaked at a record 1,696,363 tonnes of ore in 2021.
Lady Loretta was acquired by Glencore in 2013 and resumed production in 2018 following a period of care and maintenance. As an existing Glencore partner, Wagners was engaged to haul ore from Lady Loretta to Mount Isa for the duration of zinc production.
When Lady Loretta restarted in 2018, Glencore needed to move approximately 1.5 million tonnes of ore per annum to be processed at Mount Isa, without a single day’s interruption. Any break in haulage would directly impact scheduling and product output.
The route runs through remote mining country, where wet seasons flood roads and summer heat hits above 40 degrees. In addition to these environmental challenges, the nearest mechanical support is located in Mount Isa and Cloncurry.
Glencore required a haulage partner who could reliably transport ore from mine to mill 365 days a year, regardless of the conditions.
Drivers, operations supervisors, maintenance crews and account leads were largely consistent across the eight-year term, building cumulative knowledge of the route, the seasonal patterns and the mine’s production rhythm.
Working on a project that requires bulk haulage?
