The newest gold mine in the Placer Dome Group, Big Bell in Western Australia, poured its first bar of gold in early February. The company said it expects another mine, Dona Lake in northwestern Ontario, to pour its first gold later this month. This Canadian underground mine, owned 100% by Placer Dome, is scheduled to produce 40,000 oz of gold per year.
Placer Dome’s share of production at the Big Bell open pit operation located 330 miles northeast of Perth is expected to be 61,000 oz per year for the first six years, reflecting the 38% interest it holds in the mine. Proven ore reserves, including dilution, are estimated at 20.5 million tons at an average grade of 0.097 oz gold per ton. Production is projected to be 160,000 oz during the initial six years of open pit mining.
The property was developed by Placer Dome’s project development team for Placer Pacific Ltd., its 75.8%-owned Australian subsidiary, and Australian Consolidated Minerals Ltd., each of which has a 50% interest in the mine.
Construction of the project was completed two months ahead of schedule at an approximate capital cost of $130 million. The plant and open pit mine is currently operating near design capacity of 2.9 million tons of ore per year using conventional carbon-in-pulp technology.
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