The Golden Grove zinc-copper-gold-silver-lead deposits occur within the Warriedar Fold Belt (“WFB”) which is located in the southern part of the Yalgoo-Singleton greenstone belt of the Murchison Province within the Archaean Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia.

The Golden Grove volcanic-hosted massive sulphide (VHMS) mineralisation occurs predominantly within the Golden Grove Formation (“GGF”) and the Scuddles Formation (“SCF”) of the Gossan Hill Group (“GHG”). The GHG lies along the northeast flank of the WFB forming the eastern limb of a regional syncline and has an average thickness of 3km and a strike length of around 28km. The stratigraphy is west facing and dips steeply to the southwest (75-80°); the regional syncline has been cut by extensive northeast trending, steeply dipping dextral faults and a major regional structure, the Mougooderra Fault, is located to the west of Golden Grove.

Zinc and copper mineralisation are largely hosted in the Golden Grove Formation which is divided into six members (GG1-6) based on lithology and alteration. The GGF comprises a footwall sequence of rhyolite flows and tuffs, a host sequence of volcaniclastic litharenites and crystal tuffs, and a hangingwall sequence of felsic lavas. Mineralisation forms a series of steeply dipping lodes with most of the mineralisation occurring in the GG4 and GG6 members of the GGF, with stratiform zinc concentrated principally at the GG6 horizon and copper mineralisation typically l ........

Development of the Scuddles mine started in 1988 with a decline and shaft sink; production commenced two years later. The Gossan Hill decline was started in 1994 and production commenced in 1998. A number of open pits have been mined in the past for copper and gold ores, but no open pit mining is currently being undertaken.

Scuddles is accessed via a 630m shaft and a 1 in 7 gradient decline to a depth of 1,105m with deep drilling having identified ore grade mineralisation to depths of around 1,950m; Gossan Hill to the south is accessed by decline only, to a current depth of around 1,370m at Hougoumont and 1,437m at Xantho. The decline branches off to provide access to the two major current producing orebodies, Xantho and Hougoumont; deep drilling has identified ore grade mineralisation to depths of around 2,180m.

Gossan Hill is currently the primary source of ore, which is hauled to the surface via the decline, stockpiled at the Gossan Hill ROM, crushed and conveyed around 3km by surface conveyor to the processing plant adjacent to the Scuddles shaft; ore from Scuddles is crushed underground and hoisted to the surface by skips operating in the main shaft.

Production in the last two years came from a total of eight ore zones mined at Gossan Hill and Scuddles. The major ore producer over the last two years has been Hougoumont, with 30-40% of production coming from this ore zone. Xantho has been the next most significant ore source contributing ........

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