The Henty Gold Mine is located at the head of the
Henty River
The Henty River is a perennial river in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. The river generally lies north of and south of .
Location and features
Formed by the confluence of the Dobson and Newton Creeks, the river rises below Lake ...
on the edge of the
West Coast Range
The West Coast Range is a mountain range located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia.
The range lies to the west and north of the main parts of the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park.
The range has had a significant numb ...
in
Western Tasmania
The West Coast of Tasmania is mainly isolated rough country, associated with wilderness, mining and tourism. It served as the location of an early convict settlement in the early history of Van Diemen's Land, and contrasts sharply with the mor ...
. It is approximately 30 km north of
Queenstown. It is east of
Zeehan
Zeehan is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia south-west of Burnie. It is part of the West Coast Council, along with the seaport Strahan, and neighbouring mining towns of Dundas, Rosebery and Queenstown.
History
The greater ...
and south of
Rosebery. It can be reached by the
Hydro
Hydro from Ancient Greek word ὕδωρ (húdōr), meaning ''water''.
Hydro may also refer to:
Energy technologies
* Water-derived power or energy:
** Hydropower, derived from water
** Hydroelectricity, in electrical form
* "Hydro", AC mains ...
-built
road
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
that passes between the Henty River and Tullah.
History
Operations began in the 1990s. Its orebody and viability was ascertained from earlier exploration in the area during the 1970s when the priority was for other forms of mineralization within the
Mount Read Volcanic Belt.
Henty lies within the mineral rich Mt. Read Volcanic Belt in Western Tasmania that hosts the Hellyer, Que River, Rosebery, Hercules and Mount Lyell base metal deposits. The eastern side of the belt is dominated by the Henty Fault which runs north-east for over 60 kilometres between Mount Charter and Mount Read. The Henty operation is based on a series of structurally complex high-grade zones of gold mineralisation that occur within a package of highly altered volcanic rock adjacent to the Henty Fault.
The Henty Gold Mine was operated by
Barrick Gold
Barrick Gold Corporation is a mining company that produces gold and copper with 16 operating sites in 13 countries. It is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It has mining operations in Argentina, Canada, Chile, Côte d'Ivoire, Democrati ...
– currently the largest gold producing company in the world, which acquired the mine through the takeover of
Placer Dome
Placer Dome Inc. was a large mining company specializing in gold and other precious metals, with corporate headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
In August 2005, the company had interests in 16 gold mining operations in 7 countrie ...
in 2006.
The Henty mine was expected to close on or before November 2009, with subsequent rehabilitation, due to depletion of ore reserves.
Henty Gold was acquired by Bendigo Mining mid-2009. Bendigo specialise in small scale operations and expect to extend the mine's life and also own the
Kangaroo Flat Mine at
Bendigo
Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital.
As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...
. The mine continued to operate under Bendigo, producing 43,178 ounces of gold in the 2009–10 financial year, after investing A$3.8 million into mining equipment for the mine.
At stages of the mine's history, environmental monitoring studies were conducted on adjacent waterways.
The Henty Gold Mine has produced about 1.3 million ounces of gold over a 16-year mine life.
Death of mine worker
On 23 January 2020 a mine worker was missing underground following a fall of ground at the mine. By the next day, it was reported as unlikely that he could have survived due to the amount of rock which had fallen. The mine was still unstable so only drones had been able to explore the rockfall. On 25 January, mining services company Pybar Mining Services stated "following a site visit yesterday afternoon by the Tasmanian State Coroner and Tasmanian Police, it is with sadness that we acknowledge that the most likely outcome of our missing work colleague is that he is deceased." Police also confirmed the presumed death of 44-year-old Cameron John Goss in a statement released to media.
Production
Past production figures of the mine were:
See also
*
West Coast Tasmania Mines
The mines of the West Coast of Tasmania have a rich historical heritage as well as an important mineralogical value in containing or having had found, specimens of rare and unusual minerals. Also, the various mining fields have important roles ...
References
{{Reflist, 30em
Gold mines in Tasmania
Underground mines in Australia
Barrick Gold
West Coast Range