Western Tanami
The Western Tanami Operations comprises two mining centres being the Coyote underground mine and the Bald Hill open pit operations, both of which feed into the centrally located 350,000 tonnes per annum Western Tanami treatment facility.
Over the past twelve months, a number of operational improvements at the Coyote Mine have resulted in the significant increase in gold production, a decrease in operating costs and a steady underground development program.
The Western Tanami Operations achieved gold production of 40,542 ounces for the 2010-2011 financial year. For the full year, the Coyote underground operations supplied approximately 55% of the mill feed (126,052 tonnes at 8.5g/t Au) with the remaining 45% from Bald Hill open pits (104,812 tonnes at 2.2g/t Au). The majority of the underground ore was sourced from the Gonzales Lode, the high-grade South Zone and the newly accessed Bommie Lode.
Underground drilling at Coyote initially focused on infill holes to convert Mineral Resources to Ore Reserves to provide greater confidence in mine planning and more consistent production outcomes. The current drill strategy at Coyote has one drill focused on infill drilling with the second completing extensional drilling and investigating new targets.
Following an optimisation study of the Bald Hill open pits (Kookaburra and Sandpiper) and the awarding of the mining contract, mining recommenced in late November 2010. Over 550,000 tonnes of ore will be mined over the first twelve months, however, this is expected to be extended with further optimisation studies based on recent drilling. The opportunity for additional pits in the Bald Hill area also looks promising and will be assessed during 2011.
With annualised production around 50,000 ounces from the Western Tanami Operations, the focus is now on a substantial uplift in production. The upgrade of the Western Tanami treatment plant to increase capacity from 250,000tpa to 350,000tpa (a 40% increase) was completed on schedule and within budget.