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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Granny Smith Gold Mine
The Granny Smith Gold Mine is a gold mine 21 kilometres (13 mi) south of Laverton, Western Australia near Mount Weld and operated by Gold Fields.

As of 2022, it is one of four mines the company operates in Australia, the others being the Agnew Gold Mine, St Ives Gold Mine and the Gruyere Gold Mine.

History

Gold mines in the Leonora region

The Granny Smith gold deposit was discovered in 1979 by Canadian prospector Ray Lovi Smith and named after his wife Laurende.

Construction of the mine took place in the late 1980s.

The project was originally owned by Delta Gold Ltd, which became Auriongold Ltd in February 2002. Aurion was taken over by Placer Dome Inc in 2003, who already held a 60% interest in the mine, and Placer Dome in turn by Barrick Gold in March 2006.

A large amount of ore processed at Granny Smith originated from the Wallaby deposit, approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of the mine, and was hauled to the Granny Smith mill for processing. Open pit mining at Wallaby ceased in September 2006, followed by a ramp up of underground mining at the location.

In February 2009, Barrick signed a memorandum of understanding with Crescent Gold to purchase ore from their Laverton Gold Mine and mill it at Granny Smith. In January 2010, an agreement was signed with Range River Gold to purchase ore from the Mount Morgans Gold Mine and treat it at Granny Smith from February 2010 onwards.

In October 2013, Barrick finalised the sale of their Australian Yilgarn South mines, consisting of the Granny Smith, Lawlers and Darlot mines to Goldfields. Barrick sold the mines as it considered them high-cost and required cash to compensate for the rising cost of its Pascua-Lama gold project. The three mines accounted for six percent of Barrick's annual gold output at the time. Goldfields purchased the mines for US$300 million, half of which had to be paid in cash while the other half could be issued in shares.

Environment

In 1999, abandoned mining pits at Granny Smith were used for trials on breeding silver perch and barramundi in salty water.

Production

Granny Smith

Production of the mine as an individual entity:

Year Production Grade Cost per ounce
1996 312,262 ounces
1997 376,386 ounces
1998 604,806 ounces
1999 523,092 ounces 4.52 g/t A$161
2000 412,049 ounces 3.94 g/t A$340
2001 347,179 ounces 3.28 g/t A$338
2002 358,648 ounces
2003 307,341 ounces
2004 293,228 ounces
2005 278,806 ounces
2006 314,000 ounces 0.108 oz/t US$401
2007 175,000 ounces 0.056 oz/t US$651

Yilgarn South

Production figures for the Yilgarn South operation, consisting of Darlot, Granny Smith and Lawlers:

Year Production Grade Cost per ounce
2007 410,000 ounces 0.117 oz/ton US$486
2008 325,000 ounces 0.125 oz/ton US$749
2009 352,000 ounces US$685
2010
2011
2012
2013

Granny Smith

Production of the mine as an individual operation again:

Year Production Grade Cost per ounce
2014 7.17 g/t
2015 301,000 ounces 6.97 g/t US$764
2016 284,000 ounces 6.62 g/t US$834
2017 290,000 ounces 5.54 g/t US$896
2018 280,000 ounces 5.26 g/t US$925
2019 275,000 ounces A$1,325
2020 265,000 ounces A$1,415
2021 279,000 ounces 5.23 g/t A$1,545
2022 288,000 ounces 5.66 g/t A$1,691
2023 283,900 ounces 5.0 g/t A$1,800

References

  1. ^ O’Hanlon, John (23 January 2013). "Barrick Gold: Granny Smith Mine". Business Excellence Magazine. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  2. ^ HISTORIC PICTURES RELEASED TO THE NATIONAL LIBRARY Archived 2009-12-22 at the Wayback Machine Thiess Pty Ltd announcement, published: 17 November 2009, accessed: 2 January 2010
  3. ^ Placer Dome Seeks to Buy 2 Mining Concerns for $600 Million The New York Times, published: 29 November 1996, accessed: 2 January 2010
  4. ^ MINEDEX website - Granny Smith search result Archived 2008-09-11 at the Wayback Machine, accessed: 2 January 2010
  5. ^ Wallaby infomine.com, accessed: 2 January
  6. ^ Laverton Gold Project Crescent Gold website, accessed: 2 January
  7. ^ Department of Environment and Conservation - Works approval accessed: 3 January 2010
  8. ^ Crescent Gold signs landmark MOU with Barrick Gold over WA gold resource proactiveinvestors.com.au, published: 24 February 2009, accessed: 2 January 2010
  9. ^ Deal paves way for Laverton gold mining ABC News, published: 22 June 2009, accessed: 2 January 2010
  10. ^ Mt Morgans - Ore Sale Terms agreed with Barrick River Gold ASX announcement, published: 27 January 2010, accessed: 9 February 2010
  11. ^ Heber, Alex (2 October 2013). "Barrick finalises sale of three Australian gold mines". Australian Mining. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  12. ^ Lakmidas, Sherilee (22 August 2013). "Barrick to sell three Australian mines to Gold Fields". Reuters. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  13. ^ Fishing the goldfields ABC - The World Today, broadcast: 11 October 1999, accessed: 2 January 2010
  14. ^ Granny Smith Gold Mine 24hgold.com, accessed: 2 January 2010
  15. ^ The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition, page 90
  16. ^ Fourth Quarter & Year-End Mine Statistics 2007 Archived 2010-09-22 at the Wayback Machine accessed: 1 January 2010
  17. ^ Fourth Quarter & Year-End Mine Statistics 2008 accessed: 1 January 2010
  18. ^ "2021 Integrated Annual Report" (PDF). Gold Fields Limited. p. 50. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  19. ^ "2020 Integrated Annual Report" (PDF). Gold Fields Limited. p. 71. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  20. ^ "Granny Smith Mine". Mining Data Solutions. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  21. ^ "Reviewed results For the year ended 31 December 2022" (PDF). Gold Fields Limited. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  22. ^ "Reviewed results for the year ended 31 December 2023" (PDF). Gold Fields Limited. Retrieved 25 February 2024.

Bibliography

  • Louthean, Ross (ed.). The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition. Louthean Media Pty Ltd.
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