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
...
9 km east of
Laverton, Western Australia
Laverton, originally known as British Flag, is a town in the Goldfields region of Western Australia, and the centre of administration for the Shire of Laverton. The town of Laverton is located at the western edge of the Great Victoria Desert, no ...
. It was formerly owned by Crescent Gold Limited, under whom it recommenced mining in August 2009, after having been shut for just over one year,Laverton Gold Project Crescent website, accessed: 28 January 2010 but has been owned by
Focus Minerals
Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to:
Arts
* Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film
*''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore
* ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...
since 2012. The mine is sometimes also referred to as the ''Barnicoat Gold Mine'', named after its processing facility.
The mine is located on the
native title
Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. The requirements of proof for the recognition of aboriginal title, ...
of the
Wongatha
Wangkatha, otherwise written Wongatha, Wongutha, Wankatja, Wongi or Wangai, is a language and the identity of eight Aboriginal Australian peoples of the Eastern Goldfields region. The Wangkatja language groups cover the following towns: Coolgar ...
Aboriginal people, whom Crescent signed a Land Access Agreement with on 2 March 2005. In exchange for access, Crescent granted the representative of the Wongatha, the Wongatha Claim Group, up to 350,000 Crescent shares and between 0.2 and 0.4% in royalties of the future gold production. A similar agreement between the Wongatha and the owners of the BrightStar Gold Mine had taken place in 2004.
History
The mine was owned by
Sons of Gwalia
Sons of Gwalia was a Western Australian mining company that mined gold, tantalum, spodumene, lithium and tin. It was Australia's third-largest gold producer and also controlled more than half the world's production of tantalum,Focus Technologies Limited for A$2.68 million, who changed their name to Apollo Gold Mining in December 2002.''The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition'', page: 104, accessed: 28 January 2010
In June 2004, Apollo changed its name to Crescent Gold Limited.
The mine reopened after commissioning in March 2007, with the plant upgrade having finished in August 2007. Mining ceased once more on 7 July 2008, the official reason being that Crescent was to review the operation.Annual Financial Report 2009 - Crescent Gold Ltd published: 30 September 2009, accessed: 28 January 2010 Crescent incurred a loss of A$28.8 million for the 2007-08 financial year, leaving the company with A$50 million in cash in hand.Annual Financial Report - 30 June 2008 published: 30 September 2008, accessed: 28 January 2010
In February 2009, Crescent and
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 ...
Granny Smith Gold Mine
The Granny Smith Gold Mine is a gold mine south of Laverton, Western Australia near Mount Weld and operated by Gold Fields.
As of 2022, it is one of four mines the company operates in Australia, the others being the Agnew Gold Mine, St Ives ...
rather than Crescent's Barnicoat processing facility, which would remain in
care and maintenance Care and maintenance is a term used in the mining industry to describe processes and conditions on a closed minesite where there is potential to recommence operations at a later date. During a care and maintenance phase, production is stopped but t ...
.
Mining and haulage operations re-commenced in August 2009, with ore to be processed at the processing plant of Granny Smith, 20 km away.
A first gold pour at Granny Smith from Crescent's ore was announced on 21 October 2009.
Focus Minerals Limited, owner of the
Coolgardie Gold Mine
The Coolgardie Gold Mine is a gold mine located at Coolgardie, Western Australia, currently owned by Focus Minerals Limited. The mine and its Three Mile Hill Processing Plant has been in care and maintenance since June 2013.
History
Historic ...
, placed a friendly takeover offer for Crescent Gold Limited in June 2011 which would place Focus in the top-five of the Australian gold producers with an annual production of 230,000 ounces. The bid values Crescent at A$66 million. Previous to the offer, Focus had already supplied the struggling Crescent with A$13 million in loans. After takeover of the mine by Focus Minerals, mining at Laverton continued, with ore continuing to be processed at Granny Smith, until operations were suspended in May 2013.
Focus Minerals carried out exploration at Laverton and its other operation, the Coolgardie Gold Mine, shut at the same time, following termination of mining. In the 2021 calendar year, it spent A$12.5 million on exploration at the two sites. In December 2021 the company approved a plan to resume mining at Coolgardie but no such plan had been made for the Laverton mine at this point.
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 ...