I recently participated in a site trip to five gold mines in the eastern goldfields of Western Australia. The visit was put together based on investor demand with a particular focus from international funds who had a strong view that the Australian operated gold miners were more focused and effective in progressing and expanding their mines when compared to international peers.
Three mines were new plants built over the last two years: Bellevue (Bellevue Gold), King of the Hills (RED5) and Norseman (Pantoro). The Kalgoorlie Superpit (Northern Star) and Beta Hunt (TSX-listed Karora) have been mined for many years. A key takeaway was all five mines have operated either continuously or have previously been mined and shut down. None of these are “new” gold fields or discoveries, they have all been known and mined by previous companies over the decades.
Of particular interest is the new plants at Bellevue, King of the Hills and Norseman have been built because the new geological exploration models identified significant reserves & resources that the previous miners ignored or missed. In the case of Bellevue, the key discovery was the significant displacement from a known thrust fault, which halted previous mining. At King of the Hills, it was recognition of mineralisation associated with extension veins perpendicular to the main quartz load which was not assayed by previous owners.
