St Ives lies within the Kambalda domain, a subset of the Norseman-Wiluna Belt. The Kambalda domain is bound by the north-northwest trending Boulder-Lefroy fault (BLF) and Zuleika shear. The region has undergone four compressional events predated by early extension, and has been metamorphosed to upper greenschist or lower amphibolite facies.

The main structural feature of the St Ives area is the gently south-plunging Kambalda anticline, which extends 35km from the south end of the Kambalda dome to the Junction mine. The majority of known gold deposits are proximal to the trace of the anticlinal axis. A major second order structure known as the Playa shear splays off the BLF shear zone and can be traced through the St Ives field for a distance in excess of 10km.

There are several styles of gold mineralisation at St Ives. Individual deposits may contain more than one of these styles:

• Lode mineralisation: Archaean lode mineralisation typically consisting of 0.5m to 20m wide mesothermal vein complexes that may also have hydraulic breccias and/or mylonites. Mineralisation is typically discontinuous with short range predictability
• Supergene mineralisation: Broad zones of flat-lying gold mineralisation in weathered Archaean and overlying tertiary sediments
• Palaeoplacer mineralisation: Placer deposits hosted by palaeochannels in the unconsolidated tertiary sediments that overlie the Archaean basement.

St Ives currently operates two underground mines and one open pit. The undergrounds are accessed via a decline. Mining contractors deploy long-hole stoping and paste/rock fill. Current underground mines are relatively shallow and configured to mitigate geotechnical seismic risk through mine design, scheduling and defined ground support regimes.

Open pits are mined using conventional drill and blast with truck and shovel. Surface mining operations are conducted using an owner-operator mining fleet.

Ore from both open pit and underground operations is transported with road trains from individual mining operations to the central St Ives processing RoM pad.

Ives plant includes a gravity circuit and consists of a primary gyratory crusher, followed by a single-stage SAG mill (with pebble crusher).

Ives plant includes a gravity circuit, gravity, leaching and CIP. The mine utilises a metallurgical CIP plant with a 4.7Mtpa name plate throughput capacity. The St. Ives operation obtains electricity pursuant to a contract with BHP Nickel-West that expires in January 2023 and has access to water, rail, air and road infrastructure. Consumables and supplies are trucked in locally from both Perth and Kalgoorlie.