The Fimiston Open Pit, colloquially known as the Super Pit, is an open-pit mine in Australia. It was Australia's largest open cutgold mine until 2016 when it was surpassed by the Newmont Boddington gold mine also in Western Australia. The Super Pit is located off the Goldfields Highway on the south-east edge of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. The pit is oblong in plan view and is approximately 3.5 kilometres long, 1.5 kilometres wide and over 600 metres deep.[1][2]
Fimiston Open Pit (Super Pit) gold mine panorama, 2019 Aug
The Fimiston Open Pit is owned by Northern Star Resources. The mine produced 456,000 troy ounces (14.2 t) of gold in 2019, and employs around 1,100 employees and contractors directly on site.[3]
Originally consisting of a large number of underground mines, including the Paringa, Oroya, Brown Hill, Chaffers, and Hainault mines, consolidation into a single open pit mine was first attempted by Alan Bond, but he was unable to complete the task. The Fimiston Open Pit was eventually created in 1989 by Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines, a 50:50 corporate joint venture between Homestake Gold of Australia and Gold Mines of Kalgoorlie (a Normandy Mining subsidiary).[4][5]
Barrick Gold acquired its share of the mine in December 2001, when it took over Homestake Mining Company. Newmont became part-owner of the mine three months later, when it acquired Normandy Mining in February 2002.[6][7] Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited acquired its share of the mine on 28 November 2019, when it purchased Barrick Gold's 50% stake.[8]Northern Star Resources acquired its share of the mine on 3 January 2020, when it purchased Newmont's 50% stake.[3][9][10]
Geologyedit
Most of the gold mined in the Fimiston Open Pit occurs within ore lodes formed by ancient shears in a rock unit called the Golden Mile Dolerite. The gold mining area of Kalgoorlie-Boulder-Fimiston has long been called the Golden Mile because of the geographical concentration of rich mines in that area, even though the lodes occur in an area over 2 km in length and 1 km in depth.
Productionedit
Mining is via conventional drill and blast mining via face shovels and dump trucks. Around 15 million tonnes of rock are moved in any given year, consisting primarily of waste rock.
Gold within the Golden Mile lode system is unusual in that it is present as telluride minerals within pyrite. In order to recover the gold, the ore must be crushed, passed through a gravity circuit to recover the free gold present in some of the higher-grade lodes, and then subjected to flotation to produce an auriferous pyrite-telluride concentrate. The concentrate is then treated at an IsaMill Ultra Fine Grinding (UFG) mill at Fimiston and then cyanidised, or trucked to the Gidji Processing Plant, 20 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie. At Gidji, the concentrate is treated in ultrafine grinding (UFG) mills, and then subjected to cyanide extraction of gold.[11]
Prior to the installation of the UFG mills, concentrate was treated at Gidji in two circulating fluid bed roasters. Roasting ceased in 2015.[11]
^. KCGM. Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
^Casey, J.P. (7 March 2019). "Super mines: Australia's biggest mining projects". Mining Technology. London. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
^ ab"2019 Annual Report and Form10-K" (PDF). Greenwood Village, Colorado: Newmont Corporation. 20 February 2020. p. 41. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
^Treadgold, Tim. (1995) "History of the pit's development from 1989 to 1995", Australia's mining monthly, May 1995, pp. 31, 33-36.
^Mulligan, David, ed. (1996). Environmental Management in the Australian Minerals and Energy Industries. Sydney: UNSW Press. p. 322. ISBN978-0-86840-383-0. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
^"In the matter of Normandy Mining Limited (No 3) [2001] ATP 30" (PDF). Takeovers Panel. Melbourne: Australian Takeovers Panel. 28 January 2002. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
^MINEDEX website 2008-09-11 at the Wayback Machine Golden Mile / KCGM search result, accessed: 26 January 2010
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The Fimiston Open Pit colloquially known as the Super Pit is an open pit mine in Australia It was Australia s largest open cut gold mine until 2016 when it was surpassed by the Newmont Boddington gold mine also in Western Australia The Super Pit is located off the Goldfields Highway on the south east edge of Kalgoorlie Western Australia The pit is oblong in plan view and is approximately 3 5 kilometres long 1 5 kilometres wide and over 600 metres deep 1 2 Super PitFimiston Open Pit gold mine c 2005LocationSuper PitLocation in Western AustraliaLocationKalgoorlieStateWestern AustraliaCountryAustraliaCoordinates30 46 29 S 121 30 34 E 30 77472 S 121 50944 E 30 77472 121 50944ProductionProductsGoldProduction432 001 troy ounces 13 4367 t Financial year2022 23HistoryOpened1893OwnerCompanyNorthern Star ResourcesWebsitesuperpit wbr com wbr auYear of acquisition2020 2020 Fimiston Open Pit Super Pit gold mine panorama 2019 Aug The Fimiston Open Pit is owned by Northern Star Resources The mine produced 456 000 troy ounces 14 2 t of gold in 2019 and employs around 1 100 employees and contractors directly on site 3 Contents 1 Earlier stages 2 Geology 3 Production 3 1 Figures 4 References 4 1 Bibliography 5 External linksEarlier stages editOriginally consisting of a large number of underground mines including the Paringa Oroya Brown Hill Chaffers and Hainault mines consolidation into a single open pit mine was first attempted by Alan Bond but he was unable to complete the task The Fimiston Open Pit was eventually created in 1989 by Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines a 50 50 corporate joint venture between Homestake Gold of Australia and Gold Mines of Kalgoorlie a Normandy Mining subsidiary 4 5 Barrick Gold acquired its share of the mine in December 2001 when it took over Homestake Mining Company Newmont became part owner of the mine three months later when it acquired Normandy Mining in February 2002 6 7 Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited acquired its share of the mine on 28 November 2019 when it purchased Barrick Gold s 50 stake 8 Northern Star Resources acquired its share of the mine on 3 January 2020 when it purchased Newmont s 50 stake 3 9 10 Geology editMost of the gold mined in the Fimiston Open Pit occurs within ore lodes formed by ancient shears in a rock unit called the Golden Mile Dolerite The gold mining area of Kalgoorlie Boulder Fimiston has long been called the Golden Mile because of the geographical concentration of rich mines in that area even though the lodes occur in an area over 2 km in length and 1 km in depth Production editMining is via conventional drill and blast mining via face shovels and dump trucks Around 15 million tonnes of rock are moved in any given year consisting primarily of waste rock Gold within the Golden Mile lode system is unusual in that it is present as telluride minerals within pyrite In order to recover the gold the ore must be crushed passed through a gravity circuit to recover the free gold present in some of the higher grade lodes and then subjected to flotation to produce an auriferous pyrite telluride concentrate The concentrate is then treated at an IsaMill Ultra Fine Grinding UFG mill at Fimiston and then cyanidised or trucked to the Gidji Processing Plant 20 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie At Gidji the concentrate is treated in ultrafine grinding UFG mills and then subjected to cyanide extraction of gold 11 Prior to the installation of the UFG mills concentrate was treated at Gidji in two circulating fluid bed roasters Roasting ceased in 2015 11 nbsp Gold mines in the Kalgoorlie region Figures edit Past production figures were 12 13 14 15 Year Production Grade Cost per ounce 1998 99 16 718 554 ounces 2 37 g t US 236 2000 715 164 ounces 2 27 g t A 325 2001 616 344 ounces 2 14 g t A 397 2002 720 050 ounces 1 73 g t A 222 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 628 000 ounces 1 53 g t 2008 612 000 ounces 1 56 g t 2009 690 000 ounces US 609 2010 815 000 ounces 2011 815 000 ounces 2012 660 000 ounces 2013 660 000 ounces 2014 670 000 ounces 2015 645 000 ounces 2016 655 000 ounces 2017 700 000 ounces 2018 650 000 ounces 2019 450 000 ounces 2019 20 2020 21 472 089 ounces A 1 385 2021 22 486 001 ounces 1 4 g t A 1 426 2022 23 432 001 ounces 1 3 g t A 1 596References edit About us KCGM Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines Archived from the original on 8 January 2020 Retrieved 10 April 2020 Casey J P 7 March 2019 Super mines Australia s biggest mining projects Mining Technology London Retrieved 10 April 2020 a b 2019 Annual Report and Form10 K PDF Greenwood Village Colorado Newmont Corporation 20 February 2020 p 41 Retrieved 10 April 2020 Treadgold Tim 1995 History of the pit s development from 1989 to 1995 Australia s mining monthly May 1995 pp 31 33 36 Mulligan David ed 1996 Environmental Management in the Australian Minerals and Energy Industries Sydney UNSW Press p 322 ISBN 978 0 86840 383 0 Retrieved 9 April 2019 In the matter of Normandy Mining Limited No 3 2001 ATP 30 PDF Takeovers Panel Melbourne Australian Takeovers Panel 28 January 2002 Retrieved 17 March 2020 MINEDEX website Archived 2008 09 11 at the Wayback Machine Golden Mile KCGM search result accessed 26 January 2010 ASX Limited Annual Report 2019 PDF Toronto ON Barrick Gold Corporation 25 March 2020 p 57 Archived from the original PDF on 8 October 2021 Retrieved 10 April 2020 ASX Limited a b Mineral Processing The Super Pit Kalgoorlie WA KCGM 2019 Retrieved 9 April 2019 The Australian Mines Handbook 2003 04 Edition page 127 2021 Annual Report www nsrltd com Northern Star Resources Retrieved 8 April 2022 2022 Annual Report www nsrltd com Northern Star Resources Retrieved 1 March 2023 2023 Annual Report www nsrltd com Northern Star Resources Retrieved 25 February 2023 Normandy Mining Ltd 1999 Mine by Mine Operating Results Archived 2003 08 29 at the Wayback Machine accessed 14 February 2010 Bibliography edit Louthean Ross ed The Australian Mines Handbook 2003 2004 Edition Louthean Media Pty Ltd External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Super Pit Gold Mine Super Pit Kalgoorlie Deposit Summary Official website MINEDEX website Golden Mile KCGM Database of the Department of Mines Industry Regulation and Safety Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Super Pit gold mine amp oldid 1210165094, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
