The ‘Central’ underground mine is to be the focus of future mining operations and is the area planned to be reopened. It is scheduled to grow progressively, contributing to aim of being a 300,000 ounces annual producer.
The early development plans are, in summary:
•The Central Mine access tunnel is to be extended by circa 2,000 metres roadway length down to a vertical depth approaching 430 metres (RL530m bottom of the Queen), with the initial mining starting at circa 280 metres (RL680 top of the Queen).
•The first gold reefs (lodes) scheduled to be opened are the C03W, C38, and C39 and then move on to C05. Access tunnels (ramps and crosscuts) to the C03W, C38, and C39 will come off the Central Main access tunnel extension. The in-ore gold reef access tunnels (drives) will be excavated at a nominal 20 metre vertical spacing along the length of the reefs to provide closelyspaced grade control samples for the highgrade ore to be extracted. Waste remains as pillar.
•Gold ore extraction (stoping) will commence once these tunnels are developed. With this solid data foundation to build on, the plan is to have up to 15 working areas underground (‘stopes’) that are available for ore extraction, ensuring sufficient tonnage to meet the schedule.
The mining method selected is long-hole open stoping, which was used in the Imperial Mine (Warrior and Sons of Freedom reefs) from 2006-2015 and is planned to be used in the Central Mine in its Sunburst, ........