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Australia

Carosue Dam Operation

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Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit & Underground
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Gold
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
  • Avoca
  • Longhole open stoping
  • Transverse open stoping
  • Longitudinal stoping
  • Open stoping
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SnapshotCarosue Dam Operations includes the Carosue Dam Project, the Porphyry Project and the Deep South Project.

Growth projects planned for FY24: Pre-production of Porphyry underground and Wallbrook open pit as feed sources for Carosue Dam Operations.
Related Asset

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Northern Star Resources Ltd. 100 % Indirect
The Scheme of Arrangement in relation to the merger of Northern Star and Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited (Saracen) was implemented on 12 February 2021, As a result, Saracen became wholly owned subsidiarie of Northern Star on 12 February 2021.

Karari: mining Leases M28/166 and M28/167 are held 100% by Northern Star Resources Limited.

Dervish: the tenements are held 100% by Northern Star (Carosue Dam) Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Northern Star Resources Limited.

Porphyry, Million Dollar,Enterprise, Wallbrook: the tenements are held 100% by Northern Star Resources Limited.

Deep South, Safari Bore, Box Well (Moody’s Reward): the tenement is held 100% by Northern Star Resources Limited.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • Breccia pipe / Stockwork
  • Vein / narrow vein
  • Porphyry

Summary:

The Carosue Dam Operations (CDO) assets include the Carosue Dam Project (comprising the Karari and Whirling Dervish gold deposits), the Porphyry Project (consisting of the Porphyry, Million Dollar, Enterprise and Wallbrook gold deposits) and the Deep South Project (consisting of the Deep South, Safari Bore and Box Well (Moody’s Reward) gold deposits).

Karari-Dervish
The Karari-Dervish deposits are lithologically and structurally controlled and have been offset along a series of major faults running NE-SW and NW-SE, as well as intruded by large lamprophyre units post mineralization. 60 degrees. Mineralisation is dominated by pyrite and hosted in broad hematite altered sandstone units with a central high grade siliceous core light-moderately dipping to the North.

Dimensions
Mineralisation at Karari-Dervish has continuity over 1000m along strike, 1100m down dip and 250m across strike. High grade mineralisation is controlled by 60° East dipping shear zones. Mineralisation is hosted within extensive quartz vein breccia zones adjacent to the shears. The high-grade mineralisation is associated with intense haematite, silica and sericite alteration that occurs predominantly where flatter cross-linking structures intersect with the steeper dipping shears.

Porphyry
Mineralisation, especially high gold values is associated with intense shearing and confined to thin, intensely sheared bands approximately 10cm thick. The edge of the mineralisation feathers out into multiple, thin low grade bands. Generally, a halo of weak sheared and carbonatisation envelope the strongly sheared and mineralised zone of quartz-pyrite veining and hematite alteration.

The most obvious guides to gold mineralisation are shearing, quartz-pyrite veining and strong hematite alteration. Mineralisation is structurally controlled. The deposit is segregated into a series of lenses, with the largest measuring 400m by 150m. The ore lenses maybe separated by faults, but are generally stacked en echelon. Within each lens, the distribution of gold mineralisation is a complex series of en echelon sub-lens of 20m to 40m in width, segregated by waste bands. The lenses contain ore pods that strike perpendicular to the orebody and may dip approximately 40° south. (Smith, 2004). Ore lenses also step to the right in longitudinal section suggesting sinistral movement on the north-south portion of the mineralised structure.

Dimensions
The gold mineralisation at Porphyry strikes about 1.6 km in length spanning over an area with 900m in width. The mineralisation extends to below 300m below surface.

Million Dollar
Gold mineralisation is associated with albite-silica-hematite-sericite-pyrite alteration and quartz pyrite veining. Structural controls on the mineralisation are shallow easterly dipping north striking brittle shear zones related to the NNW trending regional faults. The thickness of the shear zones vary between 1m and 10m wide.

Dimensions
Million Dollar mineralisation extends from 6,704050mN to 6,702,450mN, 430,800mE to 431,400mE and 260 metres below surface.

Enterprise
The Enterprise mineralisation lies within a synformal, south plunging (25 degree) zone that is postulated to occur at the intersection of strongly deformed andesites occurring within N-S trending shear/fault zones. These structures dip moderately to steeply to the east and a series of quartz stockwork vein arrays trending NNW (330 to 340 deg) dip steeply to the west. This mineralised system forms pipe-like bodies, which plunge gently to the south.

Dimensions
The mineral resource extends a 900m area to 200m below surface, with local coordinates 800mE – 1200mE, 4700mN – 6200mN and 380mRL – 242.5mRL. Within that area the main ore lodes commonly dip moderately to the west with a steeper east dipping lode on the eastern margins.

Wallbrook
At Wallbrook a mineralised quartz vein stockwork has developed within and adjacent to a small syenogranitic intrusion within metabasalt. Locally however, the wall rocks at Wallbrook comprise relatively incompetent felsic schists. Quartz veins formed a conjugate set while the local principal stress axis was oriented northeast – southwest.

Dimensions
Redbrook and Eleven Bells deposits stretch from 6694800mN to 6695800mN and 433800mE to 434400mE to 300m below surface. The ore lodes have strike lengths from 25m to 260m and plunge extents and widths up to 330m.

Deep South
Mineralisation occurs in two loads concordant to geology, the Butler and Scarlett lodes, and is confined between layered metasedimentary and felsic volcaniclastic units on both the hanging wall and footwall. The two lodes are separated by a high magnesium basalt and an ultramafic unit. The Butler lode is located in the hanging wall and is strongly silica and pyrrhotite-pyrite altered, and well laminated (appearing like a BIF within the oxidise portion). The contrasting physical properties of this unit to the surrounding unit have created fluid pathways and traps, as well as the high iron content of the unit providing a chemical trap, for gold deposition.

The Scarlett lode is strongly weathered in the upper oxide portion to a gossanous material comprising hematite, goethite and quartz fragments. Weathering at Deep South has been preferential along Scarlett lode due to its high carbonate content. Where fresh, the lode is a fine grained banded carbonate unit with variable pyrrhotite, pyrite and magnetite. It is weakly foliated in line with the regional foliation.

Dimensions
Both mineralised lodes at Deep South have continuity over 500m along strike and 400m down dip. The Scarlett lode averages 5m in width and the Butler lode averages 2m in width. Both lodes strike North north-west and dip steeply at 75 degrees to the west. The higher grade plunge direction is to the north, pitching 70 degrees in the Scarlett but more steeply at 80 degrees in the Butler. The south plunging shoot in the Scarlett pitches at approximately 65 degrees.

Safari Bore
Mineralisation within this sequence occurs in multiple structural and lithological settings, in four discreet lodes (red, green, purple and Serengeti), all associated with quartz-carbonate-albite hydraulic breccia veins. Serengeti and red lodes lie within the margins of gently southerly plunging felsic porphyry. Green and purple lodes are sub vertical sheets oriented sub-parallel to foliation.

Dimensions
The gold mineralisation at Safari Bore strikes about 1.3 km in length spanning over an area with 300m in width. The mineralisation extends to below 280m below surface.

Moody’s Reward
Locally the geology of the Moody’s Reward area consists of intermediate schists and igneous intrusives adjacent to sediments. Basaltic andesite, felsic volcanics and volcaniclastics trend in a north west- south east direction.

Dimensions
The zone of mineralization extends for approximately 1500 m along strike, 3 to 30 m across strike and from near surface (1-2 m BSL) up to 180 m vertically. Limited drilling has occurred between 100 metres and 180 metres vertical depth.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

CommodityUnits20232022202120202019201820172016
Gold oz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe199,743171,301155,970157,191
All production numbers are expressed as metal in doré.

Operational metrics

Metrics20232022202120202019201820172016
Annual milling capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe2.4 Mt2.4 Mt2.4 Mt2.4 Mt
Waste  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe877,724 t
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe1,976 kt1,718,000 t1,566,000 t1,000,000 t
Tonnes milled  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe2,437 kt2,479,000 t2,469,000 t2,321,000 t
Total tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe2,853,724 t

Production Costs

CommodityUnits2023202220212020201920182017
Credits (by-product) Gold AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Cash costs Gold AUD  ....  Subscribe 828 / oz   935 / oz   1,037 / oz  
Total cash costs (sold) Gold AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Gold AUD  ....  Subscribe 1,056 / oz   1,199 / oz   1,413 / oz  
All-in sustaining costs (sold) Gold AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
All-in costs Gold AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
** Net of By-Product.

Operating Costs

Currency20202019
Processing costs ($/t milled) AUD 22.9  21  
G&A ($/t milled) AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Financials

Units202320222021202020192018
Growth Capital M AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 96.3   24.1  
Revenue M AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 311.5   276.2  
Pre-tax Income M AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 86.4   51.7  
EBITDA M AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Operating Cash Flow M AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 139.9   84.6  

Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Personnel

Mine Management

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Total WorkforceYear
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Aerial view:

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