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Mount Isa Mines is one of Australia’s largest integrated metals mining, processing and smelting operations producing zinc, lead, copper and silver.

Since Mount Isa Mines was established in 1924, it grew from a pioneering mining venture into one of Australia’s most significant resources businesses. By 1955, Mount Isa Mines had become Australia’s largest mining company, and for more than a century played a central role in the growth and development of Mount Isa, supporting generations of employees, families and local businesses.

Mount Isa Mines was acquired by Xstrata in 2003 (Glencore having a 34% share in Xstrata) and then subsequently ownership passed to Glencore in 2013 when it acquired 100% of Xstrata.

Throughout its history, Mount Isa Mines has built a reputation for scale, innovation and contribution to Australia’s resources sector.

Mount Isa Mines has also been the birthplace of world-leading metallurgical and processing technologies, many of which are now used by global resource companies via Glencore Technology.

Our 2025 contribution at a glance

Figures representing Glencore’s metals assets in Queensland comprising of Mount Isa Mines, Copper Refineries Limited and Townsville Port Operations.  

  • $5.16b

    Total contribution 1

  • 3,290

    Employees and contractors1

  • 1,880

    Suppliers1

  • $4.42b

    Goods and services1

  • 1 Source: Economic impact of Glencore in Australia in 2025, a report prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Our operations at a glance

We operate the George Fisher underground mine where we extract zinc, lead and silver.

Ore from George Fisher Mine is processed through our zinc-lead concentrator and filter plant to produce zinc and lead concentrates. The zinc concentrate is railed to the Port of Townsville, while the lead concentrate remains onsite for further processing.

Following the closure of our underground copper mines in July 2025, our copper concentrator now processes copper slag, a by-product generated during copper smelting that contains recoverable copper and other valuable metals.

We operate both lead and copper smelters onsite.

At our lead smelter, we further process lead concentrate into lead bullion containing silver, which is transported via train to the Port of Townsville.

Our copper smelter processes third-party concentrates sourced predominantly from mines across north-west Queensland, as well as interstate. The copper anodes produced at the smelter are transported to Glencore’s Copper Refineries Limited in Townsville, where they are refined into high-purity copper cathodes.

Through Glencore’s integrated supply chain, we connect north-west Queensland’s mineral resources to global markets. We transport our copper, lead and zinc products through the Port of Townsville for export to customers around the world.

  • Metals assets in Australia

    A leading producer of zinc, lead, copper, nickel, cobalt and silver in Australia.
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  • Our process

    Our operations include metals mining, processing and smelting operations producing zinc, lead, silver and copper.

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  • Our history

    Learn about the history that shaped Mount Isa Mines into who we are today. 

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