Bronzewing Gold Mine
Encyclopedia
The Bronzewing Gold Mine is a gold mine
located approximately 83 km north-east of Leinster
, Western Australia
. The mine, owned by Navigator Resources Limited, was, until early 2010, in care and maintenance after its previous owner, View Resources Limited went into administration.
The mine is located within the Yandal Greenstone Belt
.
, becoming the prospector receiving the richest payout, having received A$
115 million for it from Great Central Mines
.
The Bronzewing Gold Mine opened in 1991, then under the ownership of Great Central Mines, a company led by the ordained Rabbi Joseph Gutnick
. Great Central Mines purchased the remaining 30% of the mine it didn't own in early 1995. On 20 May 1999, Bronzewing produced its 1,000,000th ounce of gold.
GMC was taken over by Normandy Mining
, with Bronzewing, the Jundee Gold Mine
and the Wiluna Gold Mine
, in 1999 but continued trading until mid-2000. GMC acquired the Mt McClure Gold Mine, near Bronzewing, in September 1999 and integrating it in the later. Normandy, in turn, was taken over by the Newmont Mining Corporation in February 2002.
From 1991 to 2004, the mine produced over 3.0 million ounces of gold from eleven open cut and three underground operations, with the last of the later having closed shortly before the sale of the mine to View Resources.
View Resources purchased the mine in July 2004 from Newmont for A$9.0 million, a package that also included the McClure mining operation, 8 km west of Bronzewing. The company initially placed the mine in care and maintenance and hoped to resume production in mid-2005.
It later deferred the start of production date, making the final payment to Newmont in regards to the Bronzewing purchase in July 2005. In October 2006, View announced it would redevelop the plant at Bronzewing and target a mid-2007 start date for production.
The company resumed mining at Bronzewing from underground and open pit sources in April 2007. On 17 May 2007, it announced its first gold pour at Bronzewing. It forecasted a mine life of 4.5 years at an annual production rate of 120,000 ounces of gold, hoping to extend these figures. Mining was carried out in two open pit locations, the Success and the Central Pit, and two underground declines, Discovery and Calista.
On 6 February 2008, the directors of the company announced a production short fall, with only 6,500 ounces produced instead of the expected 10,000 for the January month. This was blamed on a grade short fall. As an immediate action, View suspended underground mining.
View Resources Limited went into administration on 8 February 2008, ending all mining activities on site.
Navigator Resources announced on 2 April 2009 that it intended to purchase the Bronzewing mine for A$9.55 million plus an $6.45 million environmental bond. Navigator planned to resume mining from open pit sources in January 2010. The acquisition of Bronzewing was completed on 1 October 2009 and Navigator set the date for first gold production to April 2010. Shortly after, on 7 October, the administrators of View Resources Gold, Ferrier Hodgson
, announced that the company will eventually go into liquidation
.
Navigator carried out its first gold pour at the mine on 21 April 2010. The mine produced 11,409 ounces of gold for the financial year 2009-10, all from the final quarter of the year, with a production forecast of 101,000 ounces for the following year. Ore shortfalls caused the mine to underperform in its first full year of operation, with only 75,000 ounces processed. Navigator was forced to cut back its production projection for 2011-12 to 75,000 to 80,000 ounces and to raise additional cash through a A$32.6 million renouncable rights issue.
in recent Western Australian mining history when three employees were killed in the underground operations. Troy Terrence Woodard (26),Timothy Lee Bell (21) and Shane Hamill (45) were trapped 450 metres underground when 18,000 cubic metres of sand-slurry, sludge, mud and rock broke through a storage area on 26 June 2000.
In May 1998, Francis Thomas Grubb (34) was fatally crushed against a wall by the bucket of an 11-metre loader.
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...
located approximately 83 km north-east of Leinster
Leinster, Western Australia
Leinster is a town in the northern goldfields area of Western Australia. The town is located 4 km east of the Goldfields Highway, in the Shire of Leonora Local Government Area, northeast of the state capital, Perth...
, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. The mine, owned by Navigator Resources Limited, was, until early 2010, in care and maintenance after its previous owner, View Resources Limited went into administration.
The mine is located within the Yandal Greenstone Belt
Greenstone belt
Greenstone belts are zones of variably metamorphosed mafic to ultramafic volcanic sequences with associated sedimentary rocks that occur within Archaean and Proterozoic cratons between granite and gneiss bodies....
.
History
Discovered by Mark Creasy, the sale of the Bronzewing deposit earned him an entry into the Guinness Book of RecordsGuinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
, becoming the prospector receiving the richest payout, having received A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
115 million for it from Great Central Mines
Great Central Mines
Great Central Mines was an Australian gold mining company.The company lost its independence in 1999, when it was taken over by Normandy Mining, and was renamed Normandy Yandal Operations Limited in 2000. The company's takeover however led to lengthy court proceedings, initiated by the Australian...
.
The Bronzewing Gold Mine opened in 1991, then under the ownership of Great Central Mines, a company led by the ordained Rabbi Joseph Gutnick
Joseph Gutnick
Joseph Isaac Gutnick is an Australian businessman and mining industry entrepreneur. He is also an ordained rabbi and is well known for his philanthropy in the Jewish world.-Business holdings:Among Gutnick's business holdings:...
. Great Central Mines purchased the remaining 30% of the mine it didn't own in early 1995. On 20 May 1999, Bronzewing produced its 1,000,000th ounce of gold.
GMC was taken over by Normandy Mining
Normandy Mining
Normandy Mining was an Australian mining company which predominantly mined gold. Normandy was, during much of the late 20th century, Australia's largest gold miner....
, with Bronzewing, the Jundee Gold Mine
Jundee Gold Mine
The Jundee Gold Mine is an active gold mine in Western Australia, approximately 55 km north east of the town of Wiluna, owned by Newmont Mining.-History:...
and the Wiluna Gold Mine
Wiluna Gold Mine
The Wiluna Gold Mine is an active gold mine in Western Australia near the town of Wiluna. The mine was active from 1984 till its closure in 2007; when it was put into care and maintenance; and again since late 2008....
, in 1999 but continued trading until mid-2000. GMC acquired the Mt McClure Gold Mine, near Bronzewing, in September 1999 and integrating it in the later. Normandy, in turn, was taken over by the Newmont Mining Corporation in February 2002.
From 1991 to 2004, the mine produced over 3.0 million ounces of gold from eleven open cut and three underground operations, with the last of the later having closed shortly before the sale of the mine to View Resources.
View Resources purchased the mine in July 2004 from Newmont for A$9.0 million, a package that also included the McClure mining operation, 8 km west of Bronzewing. The company initially placed the mine in care and maintenance and hoped to resume production in mid-2005.
It later deferred the start of production date, making the final payment to Newmont in regards to the Bronzewing purchase in July 2005. In October 2006, View announced it would redevelop the plant at Bronzewing and target a mid-2007 start date for production.
The company resumed mining at Bronzewing from underground and open pit sources in April 2007. On 17 May 2007, it announced its first gold pour at Bronzewing. It forecasted a mine life of 4.5 years at an annual production rate of 120,000 ounces of gold, hoping to extend these figures. Mining was carried out in two open pit locations, the Success and the Central Pit, and two underground declines, Discovery and Calista.
On 6 February 2008, the directors of the company announced a production short fall, with only 6,500 ounces produced instead of the expected 10,000 for the January month. This was blamed on a grade short fall. As an immediate action, View suspended underground mining.
View Resources Limited went into administration on 8 February 2008, ending all mining activities on site.
Navigator Resources announced on 2 April 2009 that it intended to purchase the Bronzewing mine for A$9.55 million plus an $6.45 million environmental bond. Navigator planned to resume mining from open pit sources in January 2010. The acquisition of Bronzewing was completed on 1 October 2009 and Navigator set the date for first gold production to April 2010. Shortly after, on 7 October, the administrators of View Resources Gold, Ferrier Hodgson
Ferrier Hodgson
Ferrier Hodgson is a group of Accounting firms specialising in Insolvency in the Australian and Asia Pacific region, with offices in all major capital cities in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Japan...
, announced that the company will eventually go into liquidation
Liquidation
In law, liquidation is the process by which a company is brought to an end, and the assets and property of the company redistributed. Liquidation is also sometimes referred to as winding-up or dissolution, although dissolution technically refers to the last stage of liquidation...
.
Navigator carried out its first gold pour at the mine on 21 April 2010. The mine produced 11,409 ounces of gold for the financial year 2009-10, all from the final quarter of the year, with a production forecast of 101,000 ounces for the following year. Ore shortfalls caused the mine to underperform in its first full year of operation, with only 75,000 ounces processed. Navigator was forced to cut back its production projection for 2011-12 to 75,000 to 80,000 ounces and to raise additional cash through a A$32.6 million renouncable rights issue.
Fatalities
The mine suffered one of the worst disastersFatality statistics in the Western Australian mining industry
These are Fatality statistics in the Western Australian mining industry which capture the number of people killed in the industry in the Australian state of Western Australia. The Department of Mines and Petroleum, DMP, the governing authority for the industry in the state, has published statistics...
in recent Western Australian mining history when three employees were killed in the underground operations. Troy Terrence Woodard (26),Timothy Lee Bell (21) and Shane Hamill (45) were trapped 450 metres underground when 18,000 cubic metres of sand-slurry, sludge, mud and rock broke through a storage area on 26 June 2000.
In May 1998, Francis Thomas Grubb (34) was fatally crushed against a wall by the bucket of an 11-metre loader.
Production
Annual production of the mine: On 20 May 1999, Bronzewing produced its 1,000,000th ounce of gold.| Year | Production | Grade | Cost per ounce |
| 1997-98 | 272,524 ounces | 5.00 g/t | A$256 |
| 1998-99 | 291,415 ounces | 5.30 g/t | US$204 |
| 2000 | 197,681 ounces | 4.04 g/t | A$ 387 |
| 2001 | 311,506 ounces | 5.1 g/t | A$ 294 |
| 2002 1 | 197,846 ounces | 4.38 g/t | A$ 403 |
| 2006-07 | 1,731 ounces | ||
| July - September 2007 | 17,600 ounces | ||
| October - December 2007 | 25,406 ounces | 1.86 g/t | |
| 2009-10 | 11,409 ounces | 1.17 g/t | |
| 2010-11 | 75,423 ounces | 1.18 g/t | A$ 1,135 |
- 1 Figures for January to September 2002.
Sources
- The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition, Louthean Media Pty Ltd, Editor: Ross Louthean
- Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistics Digest 2008 Page 34: Principal Mineral and Petroleum Producers - Gold
External links
- Place Names Search Results - Bronzewing Geoscience AustraliaGeoscience AustraliaGeoscience Australia is an agency of the Australian federal government. It carries out geoscientific research.On a user pays basis it produces geospatial products such as topographic maps and satellite imagery.-History:...
website - View Resources Limited website