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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-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 property, properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct i ...

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 (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

in December 1933 when it commenced an extensive aerial survey of the Eastern Goldfields. 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 flight, airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wi ...

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 Aluminium oxide (or aluminium(III) oxide) is a chemical compound of aluminium and oxygen with the chemical formula . It is the most commonly occurring of several aluminium oxides, and specifically identified as aluminium oxide. It is commonly ...

, separate from what was to be known as WMC Resources Limited.

Takeover bids

In December 2004,

Xstrata Xstrata plc was an Anglo-Swiss Multinational corporation, 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 o ...

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 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 resources, and the reputation of Xstrata and its major shareholder,

Glencore Glencore plc is an Anglo-Swiss Multinational corporation, multinational commodity trading and mining company with headquarters in Baar, Switzerland, Baar, Switzerland. Glencore's oil and gas headquarters are in London, London, England as well a ...

. The Xstrata takeover offer lapsed after a higher offer was made by BHP Billiton, 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'' is an Act of the Parliament of Australia, which sets out the laws dealing with business entities in Australia. The company is the Act's primary focus, but other entities, such as partnerships and managed invest ...

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 history ceased to be used.

Operations

When it was taken over it had three main businesses: * Mount Keith and Leinster Nickel Mines, Kambalda Nickel Concentrator, Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter and Kwinana Nickel Refinery, all in Western Australia * Olympic Dam mine copper-uranium-gold mine in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. 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 in May 2006.

Former

* Agnew Gold Mine * Beta Hunt Mine * Burbanks Gold Mine * Hill 50 Gold Mine * Nifty Copper Mine * Norseman Gold Mine * St Ives Gold Mine * Three Springs Mine

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