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11 July, 2004
Beaconsfield revival as good as gold
Sunday, 11 July 2004
THE formerly troubled Beaconsfield gold mine is set to pass two significant milestones this month.
Last week the historic West Tamar mine, resurrected after being closed since 1914, mined its millionth tonne of ore since mining began in 1995.
The ore has yielded 450,000 ounces of gold worth $240 million.
And the mine is set to descend below the 1000m-level as it follows one of the richest gold veins in Australia.
Drill testing to 1300m has so far shown no signs of the vein petering out.
Mine manager Matthew Gill last week said the mine was processing between 4000 and 5000 tonnes of ore a week, recovering 2000-3000 ounces of gold a week worth $1 million to $1.5 million.
In 2003 the mine produced 136,900 ounces of gold.
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Optimism: Plant manager
Matthew Gill. |
Beaconsfield Mine Joint Venture is a joint venture between major partner and mine manager Allstate Explorations (owns 51.51 per cent) and Beaconsfield Gold NL (48.49 per cent).
Mr Gill said the good result was due to the high grade of the ore and significant production effort.
A major underground drilling programme started in January is aimed at extending the life of the mine beyond 2006.
Beaconsfield's Tasmania reef is one of the richest gold veins in Australia, averaging 20g of gold to the tonne compared to the average 3g a tonne in West Australian mines.
The latest results represent a dramatic turnaround in the mine's fortunes from the dark days of 2001 when Beaconsfield Gold NL was placed in receivership and Allstate Explorations went into voluntary administration. Each had debts of around $32 million.
Allstate remains under administration but a $14.5 million funding deal earlier this year saw Beaconsfield Gold NL's receiver withdrawn in March and the company relisted on the Australian Stock Exchange on April 2.
Mr Gill said the journey of recovery for the mine had been painful and going into administration had been like a "near- death experience".
"There was a time when it was pretty tough on everyone. When you went into the town the people in the shops were very disappointed and you could feel for them. And shareholders lost a lot," he said.
"It's been good to stick at it and see it through.
"Optimism can be contagious. We're kicking goals and when you're doing well there is that momentum behind that which a lot of things feed off, morale in particular.
"The future is in the hands of the diamond drilling programme. We're looking to continue the good success by spending money to drill to add to that future. |
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