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Australia

Cue Gold (Big Bell Mine, Comet Mine) Operation

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Australia

Cue Gold (Big Bell Mine, Comet Mine) Operation

Location: 26 km NW from Cue, Western Australia, Australia

Address:

Level 6 197 St Georges Terrace
Perth
Western Australia, Australia
6000

Contacts:

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Categories

Overview

Mine TypeUnderground
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Gold
Mining Method
  • Sub-level caving
  • Sub-level open stoping (SLOS)
  • Bench stoping
  • Longhole stoping
Backfill type ... Lock
Production Start... Lock
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotCue Gold Operations (CGO) incorporates the 1.2-1.4 Mtpa Tuckabianna processing hub. The Tuckabianna plant receives ore from the CGO's Big Bell, Comet, and Fender underground mines.

The Big Bell mine achieved commercial production in April 2022.
The Comet mine has been under care and maintenance since 2023 and is still under review to determine if and when it should be restarted.
The Fender was restarted late Q2 FY24.
The Great Fingall decline development commenced in October 2023. The first ore from Great Fingall is scheduled in Q1, FY25 (Q3, CY24).

Clean Energy Transition (CET) Project
Tuckabianna new hybrid (gas power, battery and solar) power facility has been operational since early August 2023. Big Bell gas power facility was commissioned in October 2023, with solar and battery due Q3 FY24.
Related Asset

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnershipInvestor's Info
Westgold Resources Ltd. 100 % Indirect
The Central Murchison Gold Project (CMGP or Murchison Operations) incorporates the Meekatharra Gold Operations (MGO) and Cue Gold Operations (CGO).

The CMGP tenements are held by the Big Bell Gold Operations (BBGO) of which Westgold has 100% ownership.

Contractors

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SourceSource

Deposit type

  • Metamorphic hosted
  • Porphyry

Summary:

CGO is located in the Achaean Murchison Province, a granite-greenstone terrane in the northwest of the Yilgarn Craton. Greenstone belts trending north-northeast are separated by granite-gneiss domes, with smaller granite plutons also present within or on the margins of the belts.

Mineralisation at Big Bell is hosted in the shear zone (Mine Sequence) and is associated with the post-peak metamorphic retrograde assemblages. Stibnite, native antimony and trace arsenopyrite are disseminated through the K-feldspar-rich lode schist. These are intergrown with pyrite and pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite. Mineralisation outside the typical Big Bell host rocks (KPSH), for example 1,600N and Shocker, also display a very strong W-As-Sb geochemical halo.

Numerous gold deposits occur within the Cuddingwarra Project area, the majority of which are hosted within the central mafic-ultramafic ± felsic porphyry sequence. Within this broad framework, mineralisation is shown to be spatially controlled by competency contrasts across, and flexures along, layer-parallel D2 shear zones, and is maximised when transected by corridors of northeast striking D3 faults and fractures.

The Great Fingall Dolerite hosts the majority gold mineralisation within the portion of the greenstone belt proximal to Cue (The Day Dawn Project Area). Unit AGF3 is the most brittle of all the five units and this characteristic is responsible for its role as the most favourable lithological host to gold mineralisation in the Greenstone Belt.

The Big Bell Trend is mineralised a strike length of >3,900m, a lateral extent of up +50m and a depth of over 1,500m.

Great Fingall is mineralised a strike length of >500m, a lateral extent of >600m and a depth of over 800m.

Black Swan South is mineralised a strike length of >1,700m, a lateral extent of up +75m and a depth of over 300m.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Milling equipment has not been reported.

Processing

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Production

CommodityUnits202320222021202020192018
Gold oz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe68,2558,917
All production numbers are expressed as metal in doré.

Operational metrics

Metrics202320222021202020192018
Annual processing capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe1.4 Mt1.4 Mt
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe791,482 t32,745 t
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe1,169,527 t204,269 t

Production Costs

CommodityUnits2021202020192018
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Gold AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 1,449 / oz **   1,623 / oz **  
C1 cash costs Gold AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 1,338 / oz **   1,445 / oz **  
All-in costs Gold AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 2,347 / oz **   2,525 / oz **  
C2 total cash costs Gold AUD  ....  Subscribe
** Net of By-Product.

Financials

Units2021202020192018
Capital expenditures M AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 81.4   50.6  
Revenue M AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 120.7   14.4  
Gross profit M AUD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe -1  

Heavy Mobile Equipment

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AV - Autonomous

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Nov 24, 2023
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....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Nov 24, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Nov 24, 2023

Total WorkforceYear
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...... Subscription required 2021

Aerial view:

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