Mining Intelligence and News
South Africa

Barbrook Mine

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Australia

Barbrook Mine

Location: 25 km E from Barberton, South Africa

Address:

Level 11, 151 Macquarie Street
Sydney
New South Wales, Australia
2000

Contacts:

Additional Resources for Suppliers & Investors

Categories

Summary

Mine TypeUnderground
StatusCare and Maintenance
Commodities
  • Gold
Mining Method
  • Open stoping
  • Sub-level stoping
SnapshotVantage’s two Mpumalanga mines, Barbrook and Lily have been under business rescue since they were shut down in 2016 following the collapse of an entrance to Lily mine that buried three workers underground.

In April 2024, the DMRE approved Section 11 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) of 2002 for Vantage Goldelds to resume operations at Lily and Barbrook gold mines.

The rescue of Vantage was bedevilled by years of litigation, most of it between Australian-backed Vantage Goldfields and Arqomanzi, when it purchased Standard Bank’s loan claims against Vantage, making it the largest creditor.

In June 2025, some 99% of creditors voted and accepted proposed amendments to business rescue plans that grant Hong Kong-based Ultra Concept majority control of the mines.

Part of the rescue plan includes payment of about R320 million in creditor claims, including nearly R32 million for former workers.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Lomshiyo Investments (Pty) Ltd. 26 % Indirect
Vantage Goldfields Ltd. 74 % Indirect
Vantage Goldfields Limited (an Australian company) indirectly owns 74% of the shares in Barbrook Mines (Pty) Ltd.

2 June 2025, some 99% of creditors voted and accepted proposed amendments to business rescue plans that grant Hong Kong-based Ultra Concept majority control of the mines.

Part of the rescue plan includes payment of about R320 million in creditor claims, including nearly R32 million for former workers.

The rescue of Vantage was bedevilled by years of litigation, most of it between Australian-backed Vantage Goldfields and Arqomanzi, which entered the picture when it purchased Standard Bank’s loan claims against Vantage, making it the largest creditor.

Two creditors, Siyakhula Sonke Empowerment Corporation (SSC) and Train the Nation & Associates (TNN), brought a liquidation application against the three companies under business rescue – Vantage Goldfields, Barbrook Mines, and Makonjwaan Imperial Mining Company.

SourceSource

Deposit type

  • Banded iron formation hosted
  • Vein / narrow vein

Summary:

The Barbrook mine is situated in the Archaean Barberton Greenstone Belt. Gold is contained in mesothermal veins associated with late tectonic shears and fractures within rocks of the Barberton Supergroup, which comprises an assortment of ultramafic and mafic submarine volcanics, turbiditic greywacke sandstones and shales. Intense shearing, massive quartz veining, silicification of BIF and sulphide enrichment characterize the larger ore bodies. In the Barbrook area shearing has been focused along two lines, the Barbrook and Zwartkoppie.

Resultant shearing occurred preferentially in the anticlinal folds and listric fault zones flanking the synclines. Gold mineralisation was structurally controlled along and within these ductile fracture zones.

The ore bodies at Barbrook are associated with two such fracture zones trending east-west, respectively known as the Barbrook Line, to the south, and Zwartkoppie Line, about 1 km to the north. Both the Barbrook Line, which contains most of the known gold deposits, and the Zwartkoppie Line can be traced over 100 km of strike. Gold mineralisation occurs in lenses and pods in close proximity to the banded iron formations at the base of the Fig Tree greywacke, often where they are in contact with altered ultramafic schists.

Gold mineralization associated with shearing in these zones is primarily BIF-hosted and has been mined to a relatively limited extent in the past from steeply plunging ore shoots. Secondary mineralization also occurs in greenschist adjacent to the BIFs. Shearing is primarily concentrated along two parallel faults of regional extent, known colloquially as the Barbrook and Zwartkoppie Lines.

The ore bodies along the Barbrook Line are aligned along a succession of BIF/chert and meta volcanic lithologies. On the Zwartkoppie Line, a series of tight folds with sub-vertical fold axes form the foci of mineralization within intercalated schist, chert and BIF host rocks.

The Taylors ore body is on the Barbrook line and comprises 900 metres of disjointed orebodies aligned along E-W trending shear zones within a BIF unit. The BIF is bounded by greywacke’s. Gold-bearing fluids migrated along major feeder fractures into zones where fluid reaction with the iron-rich host rock resulted in sulphide mineralization and gold precipitation. Gold is associated with disseminated pyrite, pyrhotite and arsenopyrite, and to lesser extent base metal sulphides.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Heavy Mobile Equipment

Fleet data has not been reported.

Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Milling equipment has not been reported.

Processing

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Commodity Production

Production Costs

Commodity production costs have not been reported.

Aerial view:

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