Hill 50

The Hill 50 Gold Mine, now referred to as the Mount Magnet Gold Mine, is a gold mine located 4 km north-west of Mount Magnet, Western Australia.MINEDEX website - Hill 50 - Mt Magnet search result
accessed: 17 January 2010 The mine was, until July 2010, owned by Harmony Gold and had been placed in care and maintenance since 2007.Mt Magnet
Harmony website, accessed: 18 January 2010 In July 2010, Harmony sold the mine to Ramelius Resources, owner of the Wattle Dam Gold Mine, for A$40 million.Quarterly report June 2010
Ramelius ASX announcement, published: 23 July 2010, accessed: 29 July 2010

The mine was, for a short time in 2008, owned by Monarch Gold Mining Company Ltd, who went into administration in June 2008.MONARCH GOLD MINING COMPANY LIMITED (MON)
delisted.com.au, accessed: 15 January 2010 Hill 50 never entered production under Monarch's ownership. Throughout its history, since 1891, the mine has produced in excess of 5.6 million ounces of gold.

History

At the turn of the 19th century, Hill 50 was the dominant mine out of 30 gold mines in Mount Magnet. It was regarded as a mine which would last forever, but fell into decline after 1915, when many miners went off to fight in the First World War.

Hill 50 Gold Mines N.L., which was floated on the Perth Stock Exchange in 1934 to acquire the Sidar leases at Boogardie, started mining Hill 50 in 1936. From a moderate sized operation, the Hill 50 mine grew to produce 13,500 ounces per annum by the outbreak of World War II. Mining continued, on reduced manpower, during the war.Mining
Shire of Mount Magnet website, accessed: 20 January 2010

Hill 50's ore reserves were depleted to 73,000 tonnes during the war but, unlike the Hill 60 and St George mines, Hill 50 produced some successful drilling results in 1949 and remained operating. A steel shaft, transported across from Broken Hill, was erected at the mine in 1956.

Up until 1959, ore was hauled from the underground operations via a steam winder. In the late 1950s, the mine produced almost 100,000 ounces of gold per annum, resulting in a yearly profit of close to A£1 million at the time, or A$30 million in current value. This result made Hill 50 Australia's most profitable mine between 1955 and 1961.

From 1961 onwards, profits gradually decreased because of lowering grade and the increasing depth the ore was hauled up from, below 1,000 meters. When Hill 50 closed in 1976, it had produced 1.4 million ounces of gold from 3.6 million tonnes of ore for a value of A$700 million.

In 1974, Western Mining, later to be renamed WMC Resources, acquired an interest in Hill 50 Gold Mines Ltd. WMC later took complete control of the company and mine in 1987.Western Mining Corporation Ltd
Guide to Australian Business Records, accessed: 20 January 2010

When the mine reopened in the 1980s, its main source of ore was the Morning Star shaft, which had already been mined from 1966 to 1976.

Wattle Gully Gold Mines, later to become Hill 50 Gold, a company with an initial capital of A$50,000, acquired the mine from WMC Resources in 1997 and achieved a turnaround of the old but declining mining operations at Hill 50.''The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition'', page: 467, accessed: 18 January 2010

Hill 50 Gold acquired a second gold mine when it purchased the New Celebration Gold Mine from Newcrest Mining in June 2001 for A$10 million.

Harmony announced a take over bid for Hill 50 Gold Limited in December 2001 and compulsory acquired outstanding Hill 50 shares and listed options in April 2002, after achieving a 99% interest in the company. Harmony paid A$233 million for this acquisition. The driving forces behind Hill 50 Gold, Sydney businessmen Peter Cook and Peter Newton, later also sold another gold mining company to Harmony, Abelle Limited, for A$155 million in 2003.

Hill 50 became part of Harmony's Australian operations, consisting of Hill 50, the South Kalgoorlie Gold Mine, the Big Bell Gold Mine (closed June 2003) and the Gidgee Gold Mine