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Australia
Mt Charlotte Mine (KCGM Operation)

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 Location:
0 km E from Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia, Australia

  Address:
Black Street PMB 27
Kalgoorlie
Western Australia, Australia
WA 6433
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  • Overview
  • Owners
  • Geology
  • Mining
  • Processing
  • Production
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  • Fleet
  • Personnel
  • Filings & News

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Overview

StageProduction
Mine TypeUnderground
Commodities
  • Gold
Mining Method
  • Stoping under rockfill (SURF)
  • Sub-level caving
  • Longhole open stoping
  • Avoca
  • Backfill
Processing
  • ACACIA reactor
  • Gravity separation
  • Desliming
  • Carbon re-activation kiln
  • Flotation
  • Concentrate leach
  • Agitated tank (VAT) leaching
  • Carbon in leach (CIL)
  • Carbon in pulp (CIP)
  • AARL elution
  • Carbon adsorption-desorption-recovery (ADR)
  • Elution
  • Solvent Extraction & Electrowinning
  • Cyanide (reagent)
  • Roasting
Mine Life2024
The history of mining at Mt Charlotte stretches back to 1893. Large scale underground mining began in 1963 and has been managed by Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines Pty Ltd (KCGM) since 1989.
Latest NewsKCGM awards five-year contracts to SRG Global, Mitchell Services     April 9, 2019


Owners & OPERATOR

Source:
CompanyInterestOwnership
Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd. 50 % Indirect
Northern Star Resources Ltd. 50 % Indirect
Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines Pty Ltd. (operator) 100 % Direct
In November 2019, Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited purchased Barrick Gold Corporation’s 50% stake in KCGM. In January 2020, Newmont Goldcorp sold its 50% share of the operations to Northern Star Resources Limited.

With 50/50 Joint Venture Owners Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited and Northern Star Resources Limited, KCGM is now 100% Australian owned for the first time in its 31 year history.

Deposit Type

  • Breccia pipe / Stockwork
  • Vein / narrow vein


Summary:

The stratigraphy covered by the KCGM tenements consists of a basal ultramafic unit called the Hannan Lake Serpentinite. This ultramafic unit is overlain successively by the high magnesian Devon Consols Basalt, Kapai Slate, tholeiitic Paringa Basalt and the Black Flag sediments. Differentiated zones of dolerite and gabbro texture occur within the mafic sequence. The Golden Mile Dolerite, hosting the bulk of the Golden Mile and Mount Charlotte gold mineralisation, is a strongly differentiated layered gabbro, approximately 700m in thickness. The Golden Mile Dolerite is situated conformably between the Paringa Basalt and the Black Flag sediments. This entire stratigraphic sequence is intruded by numerous porphyry dykes of intermediate to felsic composition.

The Mt Charlotte style gold mineralisation is hosted within the Golden Mile Dolerite and is predominantly associated with pyrite in carbonate alteration haloes around quartz veins, with a minor proportion as relatively coarse free gold within the veins, commonly close to their margins. The veins vary in width from a few millimetres to a maximum of about two metres but are commonly between two centimetres and 50 cm wide. The vein spacing varies from 20 cm to tens of metres but is typically from 50 cm to two metres in areas mined as ore. Quartz is the dominant vein-fill mineral; accessory vein minerals include calcite, ankerite, scheelite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, and gold.

The Hidden Secret style gold mineralisation is hosted within the Williamstown Dolerite at the contact with the Kapai Slate and Devon Consols Basalt and spatially associated with a porphyritic intrusion and the Towns Fault. Gold is hosted in deformed a quartz vein 2- 20cm wide. Vein minerals include pyrite, telluride, silica, carbonate and fuchsite.

Multiple drill programs were completed in FY2020 across various project areas at Mt Charlotte. Results are encouraging with more drilling planned in FY2021 as the full scale of the mineralised system and how it interacts with Fimiston is being modelled and tested. [Saracen, 2020, AR, p.20]

Mt Ferrum is a shear-hosted Fimiston-style lode located 600m east of the Sam Pearce decline of the Mt Charlotte mine. Mineralisation is hosted within Paringa Basalt and strikes NNE. Infill resource definition drilling has identified a series of hangingwall and footwall structures, and stockwork mineralisation in Williamstown Dolerite to the west of the main lode. Mineralisation is thought to be controlled by the structural architecture and is the subject of a geological review currently underway. [Saracen, 2020, AR, p.20]

Kal East is a narrow, high-grade Fimiston-style lode lying 250m to the east of existing infrastructure at the Mt Charlotte mine. Infill resource definition drilling has identified more complexity than expected, defining a series of hangingwall and footwall structures. Mineralisation is hosted primarily within Williamstown Dolerite and the highest grade is constrained within a steeply dipping southerly plunging shoot. Internal zones within the Williamstown Dolerite are important in controlling the distribution of gold. [Saracen, 2020, AR, p.20]

Belgravia is a series of mineralised lodes lying 100m north of existing infrastructure at the Mt Charlotte mine. Mineralisation is hosted within pillowed and variolitic Devon Consols Basalt in proximity to the Hannans Lake Serpentinite, the contact of which is intruded by felsic porphyritic rocks. Infill resource definition drilling has identified eight separate NNW- striking lodes with en échelon geometry. The lodes are overprinted by stockwork mineralisation, with veins dipping to the north similar to the Mt Charlotte-style stockwork orientations. [Saracen, 2020, AR, p.20]


Mining Methods

  • Stoping under rockfill (SURF)
  • Sub-level caving
  • Longhole open stoping
  • Avoca
  • Backfill


Summary:

Mt Charlotte Underground Mine
The main historical method of mining at Mt Charlotte was open stoping. Typically, large stable open stopes were mined and then the rib/crown pillars were mass blasted, with waste rock fill above cascading onto the broken ore.

The Mount Charlotte underground mine is accessed via a portal Sam Pearce decline within the Fimiston Open Pit. Production in Mount Charlotte is carried out utilising a combination of remnant Sublevel caving, modified Avoca and conventional longhole open stoping. Where possible, stopes are backfilled with development waste to save haulage costs.

Currently stoping under rock fill (SURF) is used to recover remnant resources. Extraction is from drawpoints until waste rock dilution becomes excessive. Ore from Mt Charlotte is transported to the Fimiston Plant via the Sam Pearce Decline. The underground stopes are backfilled with either mine waste or crushed rock for stability purposes. Fill is delivered through the Glory Hole. Development of the Hidden Secret deposit located 400m east of Mt Charlotte commenced during 2016. Planned stope extraction will utilise the modified Avoca method.

Overland Conveyor
A conveyor previously used to transport ore has been reversed and is now used to convey waste rock from the Fimiston Operational Area to the Glory Hole for underground fill. The conveyor passes under Boorara Road and over Williamstown Road. An unsealed access road is in place along the length of the conveyor.

The Mt Charlotte Underground Mine currently produces ore at the rate of 1.15M tonnes per annum (tpa) which is transported directly to the ROM at the Fimiston Plant via the Sam Pearce decline located within the Fimiston Open Pit north eastern wall. Waste rock produced during mining at Mt Charlotte is not brought to the surface, instead it is used to backfill underground voids. Small volumes of waste rock from the Fimiston Open Pit are crushed at Fimiston before being conveyed to the ‘Glory Hole’ Pit to be used for backfilling of underground stopes at Mt Charlotte.


Crushing and Grinding
Crusher / Mill TypeModelSizePowerQuantity
Pebble crusher 1
SAG mill 2
Ball mill 3
Ultra Fine Grind (UFG) 3


Processing

  • ACACIA reactor
  • Gravity separation
  • Desliming
  • Carbon re-activation kiln
  • Flotation
  • Concentrate leach
  • Agitated tank (VAT) leaching
  • Carbon in leach (CIL)
  • Carbon in pulp (CIP)
  • AARL elution
  • Carbon adsorption-desorption-recovery (ADR)
  • Elution
  • Solvent Extraction & Electrowinning
  • Cyanide (reagent)
  • Roasting

Flow Sheet: Subscription required

Summary:

The ore from the Fimiston Open Pit and Mt Charlotte Underground Mine is processed at KCGM’s Fimiston and Gidji Processing Plants. The Fimiston and Gidji Processing Plants were commissioned in 1989.

The Fimiston Processing Plant operates in accordance with Prescribed Premises Licence L6420/1988/14 with an approved production capacity of 14,500,000 tonnes per year, whilst the Gidji Gold Processing Plant operates in accordance with Prescribed Premises Licence L5946/1988/13 with an approved production capacity of 438,000 tonnes per year.

The Crushing Services International (now CSI Mining Services) team crush raw material mined from Mt Charlotte and the open pit, where it then heads to the processing plant, or as waste to the Glory Hole. The team also supplies stemming material for the Blast Crew to use when backfilling blast holes and road base to sheet mine roads.

The Crushing Facilities and Stockpiles consist of contractor owned ‘secondary’ crushing fac ........

Recoveries & Grades:

CommodityParameter2020
Gold Recovery Rate, %  ......  Subscription required
Gold Head Grade, g/t 2.4
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Production:

CommodityUnits2020
Gold oz  ......  Subscription required
All production numbers are expressed as metal in ore.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Operational Metrics:

Metrics20202019201820172016
Ore tonnes mined  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required1,006 kt
^ Guidance / Forecast.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Reserves at June 30, 2020:
Underground Mineral Resources use a 1.4g/t Au cut-off grade.

CategoryTonnage CommodityGradeContained Metal
Proven 290 kt Gold 2.4 g/t 23 koz
Probable 7,200 kt Gold 2.1 g/t 490 koz
Proven & Probable 7,500 kt Gold 2.1 g/t 510 koz
Indicated 21,000 kt Gold 2 g/t 1,300 koz
Inferred 7,200 kt Gold 2.4 g/t 550 koz
Total Resource 28,200 kt Gold 2.1 g/t 1,900 koz

Operating Costs:

Units2019201820172016
UG mining costs ($/t mined) USD 3844.534.732.1


Heavy Mobile Equipment as of January 1, 2015:
HME TypeModelQuantity
Drill (long hole) ....................... Subscription required 1
Drill (long hole) ....................... Subscription required 1
Drill jumbo (two boom) ....................... Subscription required 1
Drill jumbo (two boom) ....................... Subscription required 1
Grader ....................... Subscription required 1
Loader ....................... Subscription required 2
Loader ....................... Subscription required 2
Underground truck ....................... Subscription required 6
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Dec 21, 2020
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Dec 21, 2020
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Staff:

EmployeesYear
Subscription required 2020
Subscription required 2017

Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
................................... Subscription required 2020
................................... Subscription required 2020
................................... Subscription required 2020
................................... Subscription required 2020
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2018
Other 2017
Quarterly Report 2017
Other 2014
Other 2006
Annual Report 1966
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

News:

NewsDate
KCGM awards five-year contracts to SRG Global, Mitchell Services April 9, 2019

Aerial view:

Subscription required - Subscription is required.

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