Coolgardie Gold Mine

Coolgardie Gold Mine
Coolgardie Gold Mine Location in Australia 30°57′S 121°09′E / 30.95°S 121.15°E / -30.95; 121.15Coordinates: 30°57′S 121°09′E / 30.95°S 121.15°E / -30.95; 121.15
Location	Coolgardie
State	Western Australia
Country	Australia
Owner
Company	Focus Minerals Limited
Website	Focus website
Year of acquisition	2005
ASX	FML
Production
Financial year	2010-11
Ounces of Gold	72,832
History
Opened	1892
Active	1990–1999 2002–2005 2008–present
v · d · e

The Coolgardie Gold Mine is a gold mine located at Coolgardie, Western Australia. The Coolgardie Gold Mine is not one single mine, but rather a generic term to describe a diverse group of mines - in essence, a mining locality.

It is currently owned by Focus Minerals Limited, which also owns the nearby Nepean Nickel Mine,^[1] which closed in 1987.^[2]

History

Gold mines in the Kalgoorlie region

Historically, more than 2.6 million ounces of gold have been produced from the Coolgardie gold belt since mining commenced in 1892.^[3]

In the recent past, mining in Coolgardie was carried out by Goldfan, a wholly owned subsidiary of parent company Herald Resources Limited beginning in 1990 with the commissioning of the Three Mile Hill gold processing plant, which ceased production in 1999, but resumed mining in July 2002 after discovering high-grade ore at its Empress deposit.^[4][5] In 2003, Herald sold 50 % of its interest at Coolgardie to MPI/Pittston for A$3.475 million.^[6]

In February 2005, Herald Resources sold their remaining mining leases to the Redemption Joint Venture, a partnership of Austminex and Matador. During 2005, Austminex changed its name to Focus Minerals while Matador merged with Committee Bay Resources. The sale was completed in August 2005,^[7] and the mine closed.

The mine became fully owned by Focus Minerals in May 2008, when the former bought Canadian partner Committee Bay Resources out of the Redemption Joint Venture for Aus $ 36.6 million.^[8]

In its current incarnation, under Focus Minerals, the mine once more resumed production in April 2008, now mining the high-grade Perseverance deposit, after achieving good drilling results.^[9] Focus had caused an uproar in Coolgardie in July 2007, when the local shire took objection to a prospecting application from the company because it believed it took in the town site.^[10]

After initially treating its ore at the Higginsville Mining-owned Greenfields plant, Focus is transitioning processing to its 100% owned Three Mile Hill facility located close by. In May 2009, Como Engineers began an extensive refurbishment program at Three Mile Hill, which was completed in December 2009. While the basic milling circuit remained the same, significant upgrades took place with the removal and replacement of all three crushers, the installation of a cutting-edge Gekko & Falcon gravity circuit and the installation of brand new elution, carbon regeneration and gold smelting areas.

Commissioning began in December 2009, with the first bar of gold being successfully poured on the 13 January 2010. On 27 January, Focus announced it would toll-treat ore from the White Foil Gold Mine, owned by La Mancha, in 2010.^[11]

Focus placed a friendly takeover offer for Crescent Gold Limited, owner of the Laverton Gold Mine in June 2011 which would place the company in the top-five of the Australian gold producers with an annual production of 230,000 ounces. The bid values Crescent at A$66 million.^[12][13]

Production

Production of the mine:

Year	Production	'Grade	Cost per ounce
1997 [4]	97,910 ounces	2.36 g/t	A$ 440
1998 [4]	55,073 ounces	1.42 g/t	A$ 440
1999 [4]	8,213 ounces	0.9 g/t	A$ 498
1999–2002	inactive
2002-03 [6]	23,030 ounces	1.97 g/t	A$
2003-04 [14]	66,852 ounces	2.51 g/t	A$ 500
2004-05 [15]	64,670 ounces	2.44 g/t	A$ 478
2005–2008	inactive
2007-08 [16]	4,456 ounces	9 g/t	A$ 467
2008-09 [17]	41,401 ounces	5.43 g/t	A$ 603
2009-10 [18]	62,300 ounces	3.7 g/t	A$ 792
2010-11 [19]	72,832 ounces	g/t	A$

Sources

• The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition, Louthean Media Pty Ltd, Editor: Ross Louthean
• Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistics Digest 2008 Page 34: Principal Mineral and Petroleum Producers - Gold

References

1. ^ Focus Minerals website - About us accessed: 7 September 2009
2. ^ Wait worthwhile for Gold Aura The Australian, published: 7 April 2008, accessed: 7 September 2009
3. ^ Focus Minerals website accessed: 7 September 2009
4. ^ ^{a b c d} The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition, page: 78
5. ^ Coolgardie gold mine back online ABC News, published: 26 July 2002, accessed: 7 September 2009
6. ^ ^{a b} Herlad annual report 2003 accessed: 7 September 2009
7. ^ Focus quarterly report September 2005 accessed: 7 September 2009
8. ^ Focus unveils $64m strategy to buyout Cooolgardie gold JV mineweb.com, published: 7 March 2008, accessed: 7 September 2009
9. ^ Beacon shines on Barlee drill The Australian, published: 31 March 2008, accessed: 7 September 2009
10. ^ Miner plays down Coolgardie drilling concerns ABC News, published: 27 July 2007, accessed: 7 September 2009
11. ^ La Mancha Toll Treatment Agreement Focus ASX website, published: 27 January 2010, accessed: 30 January 2010
12. ^ Focus and Crescent in merger deal The Sydney Morning Herald, published: 21 June 2011, accessed: 17 August 2011
13. ^ Focus Mineral makes friendly bid for Crescent Gold The Australian, published: 21 June 2011, accessed: 17 August 2011
14. ^ Herlad annual report 2004 accessed: 7 September 2009
15. ^ Herlad annual report 2005 accessed: 7 September 2009
16. ^ Focus quarterly report June 2008 accessed: 7 September 2009
17. ^ Focus quarterly report June 2009 accessed: 7 September 2009
18. ^ Quarterly Activities Report June 2010 Focus ASX announcement, published: 29 July 2010, accessed: 29 July 2010
19. ^ Quarterly Activities Report June 2011 Focus ASX announcement, published: 29 July 2011, accessed: 15 August 2011

External links

• Focus Minerals website - Coolgardie Gold Project
• Article on Focus Minerals
• Paydirt article on Focus Minerals