The Kanowna Belle Gold Mine is a

gold mine Gold Mine may refer to: *Gold Mine (board game) *Gold Mine (Long Beach), an arena *"Gold Mine", a song by Joyner Lucas from the 2020 album '' ADHD'' See also * ''Gold'' (1974 film), based on the novel ''Gold Mine'' by Wilbur Smith *Gold mining ...

north-east of

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, near the

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

of Kanowna. It is operated by

Northern Star Resources Northern Star Resources is an Australian gold mining company with operations in Western Australia, Northern Territory and Alaska. History Northern Star Resources (NSR) was founded in December 2003 to search for and develop ore deposits in the E ...

.Kanowna Belle Gold Mine
Northern Star Website , accessed: 30 August 2015 Kanowna Belle has one viewing platform and an

interpretive centre An interpretation centre, interpretive centre, or visitor interpretive centre is an institution for dissemination of knowledge of natural or cultural heritage. Interpretation centres are a kind of new-style museum, often associated with visitor c ...

History

The gold deposit was discovered in 1989 by Delta Gold NL and Geopeko Gold and construction begun in 1992, with mining in open pit operation starting in 1993.Kanowna Belle Gold Mine, Kalgoorlie, Australia
mining-technology.com, accessed: 4 January 2010 The mine was officially opened by Western Australian Premier

Richard Court Richard Fairfax Court (born 27 September 1947) is a former Australian politician and diplomat. He served as Premier of Western Australia from 1993 to 2001 and as Australian Ambassador to Japan from 2017 to 2020. A member of the Liberal Party, ...

on 19 November 1993. The project was solely owned by Delta Gold from 1999, when it purchased the remaining 50% for A$90 million. Delta later merged with fellow Australian company Goldfields to form Auriongold in February 2002. Aurion was taken over by

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 countries ...

in 2003, who already, at this stage, held a 60% interest in the mine, and Placer Dome in turn by Barrick Gold in March 2006 for US$10.4 billion. The Kanowna Belle processing plant, as of 2008, treated ore from three

underground operations Underground Operations was an independent punk rock record label based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1995, the label was originally based in Ajax, Ontario. Operated by Mark Spicoluk, former Closet Monster member and former bass p ...

, Kanowna Belle, Raleigh and Bullant. In 2016 ore was sourced from Raleigh-Rubicon at Kundana, and from Kanowna Belle. In August 2009, Daniel Williams, a truck driver working 900 metres underground, fell to death at the mine. It was the fourth fatal accident in Australian mining in 2009 and the eighth in 14 months. In early 2014,

purchased the Kanowna Belle Gold Mine,

Plutonic Intrusive rock is formed when magma penetrates existing rock, crystallizes, and solidifies underground to form '' intrusions'', such as batholiths, dikes, sills, laccoliths, and volcanic necks.Intrusive RocksIntrusive rocks accessdate: March ...

and Kundana Gold Mines from

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 ...

for US$100 million. Following this, in June 2014, Northern Star Resources completed the purchase of the

Jundee Gold Mine The Jundee Gold Mine is an active gold mine in Western Australia, approximately 47 km north east of the town of Wiluna, owned by Northern Star Resources.Newmont Newmont Corporation is a gold mining company based in Greenwood Village, Colorado, United States. It is the world's largest gold mining corporation. Incorporated in 1921, it owns gold mines in Nevada, Colorado, Ontario, Quebec, Mexico, the Domin ...

at a cost of $US82.5 million, thereby making the company Australia's second-largest gold producer, behind

Newmont Newmont Corporation is a gold mining company based in Greenwood Village, Colorado, United States. It is the world's largest gold mining corporation. Incorporated in 1921, it owns gold mines in Nevada, Colorado, Ontario, Quebec, Mexico, the Domin ...

, at the time. The mine subsequently became part of the company's Kalgoorlie Operations, which consist of the

South Kalgoorlie Gold Mine The South Kalgoorlie Gold Mine is a gold mine located south-west of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. The mine is sometimes also referred to as "South Kal Mines - New Celebration", being a merger of the former New Celebration Gold Mine and the Jub ...

, purchased in 2018, the Kanowna Belle Gold Mine, the Kundana Gold Mine and the East Kundana Joint Venture (51 percent Northern Star Resources owned), with ore from the later two processed at the Kanowna Belle plant.

Technology

The Kanowna site is underground a trial of Caterpillar's Minegem autonomous loader technology.Proceedings 11th AusIMM Underground Operators' Conference – Case Study Comparison of Teleremote and Autonomous Assist Underground Loader Technology at the Kanowna Belle Mine
/ref>

Production

Kanowna Belle Gold Mine

Annual production of the mine:''The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003–2004 Edition'', page 98Fourth Quarter & Year-End Mine Statistics 2007
accessed: 1 January 2010Fourth Quarter & Year-End Mine Statistics 2008
accessed: 1 January 2010

Kalgoorlie Operations

Production figures for the combined Kalgoorlie Operations, which consist of the

and the Kanowna Belle mine. The Kundana Gold Mine and the East Kundana Joint Venture (51 percent Northern Star Resources ownership) were part of the Kalgoorlie Operations until sold in July 2021:

Notes

* Production figure is for the combined Kalgoorlie Operations, which consist of the Kanowna Belle mine and

. The Kundana Gold Mine and the East Kundana Joint Venture (51 percent Northern Star Resources ownership) were part of the Kalgoorlie Operations until sold in July 2021. * Figures for January to September 2002 only.

References

Bibliography

External links

*
MINEDEX website: Kanowna - Golden Valley
Database of the

Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety is a department of the Government of Western Australia. The department was formed on 1 July 2017, out of the former Department of Mines and Petroleum and Department of Commerce. A restr ...

{{Barrick Gold Gold mines in Western Australia Surface mines in Australia Underground mines in Australia City of Kalgoorlie–Boulder Barrick Gold 1993 establishments in Australia