The Paulsens 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 ...

located 105 km south of

Pannawonica, Western Australia Pannawonica is an iron-ore mining town located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, near the Robe River, about south-west from Karratha and North from Perth. At the 2016 census, Pannawonica had a population of 695. In 2011 and again i ...

, within the

pastoral lease A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands. Australia Pastoral lease ...

of the Mount Stuart Station.Paulsens pours first gold
ferret.com.au, retrieved 2009-08-02 It is fully owned by

Black Cat Syndicate Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...

, having purchased the mine from

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 ...

in June 2022. Production at the mine was halted in December 2017 and is currently 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 ...

. It is located within the Ashburton Mineral Field of Western Australia.

History

The Paulsens Deposit was discovered and mined in the early 1930s and was then called the Melrose Mine.History & Tenements
NuStar Mining website, retrieved 2009-08-02 A feasibility study was completed out by Taipan Resources NL in 1999, but a review continued until 2001, when St Barbara Limited purchased 88% of Taipan. The Paulsens mine was developed by the NuStar Mining Corporation, which came into existence through a merger of Taipan Resources NL with St Barbara Limited in 2004, but as a separate entity of the latter. In 1999, Taipan had completed a pre-feasibility study and, in 2001–02, a follow-up review was carried out. Shortly after the merger, in May 2004, development of the mine commenced. St Barbara sold their interest in the mine in 2005 to be able to finance its purchase of the gold division of insolvent mining company

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,ingot An ingot is a piece of relatively pure material, usually metal, that is cast into a shape suitable for further processing. In steelmaking, it is the first step among semi-finished casting products. Ingots usually require a second procedure of sh ...

was poured. In June 2006, NuStar Mining Corporation merged with Intrepid Minerals Corporation to form Intrepid Mines Limited, a company listed both on the

Australian Securities Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as ...

and the

Toronto Stock Exchange The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX; french: Bourse de Toronto) is a stock exchange located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the 10th largest exchange in the world and the third largest in North America based on market capitalization. Based in t ...

. Intrepid Mines Limited in turn merged with Emperor Mines Limited in March 2008. The company's Australian headquarters are in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

.Fast facts
Intrepid Mines website, retrieved 2009-08-02 In July 2010, Northern Star Resources purchased the mine for A$40 million from Intrepid. On 15 November 2015, Adam Perttula (28), a jumbo drilling offsider, collapsed underground in hot conditions at the mine, and died the next day. Northern Star was fined A$90,000 in 2017 for his death. In December 2017, Northern Star halted production at the mine and relocated staff to other operations, placing the mine into

Mine

The Paulsens mine has 140 employees. Ore is mined in

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 ...

along two headings and treated on-site. The ore could also have been mined through

open-cut mining Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of mining ...

but NuStar decided on an underground approach because of its lower establishment costs and an earlier positive cash flow. The mine has a production target of 70,000 to 80,000 ounces per annum with a throughput of approximately 320,000 tonnes of ore per annum. A number of the components of the plant were second-hand, including a

ball mill A ball mill is a type of grinder used to grind or blend materials for use in mineral dressing processes, paints, pyrotechnics, ceramics, and selective laser sintering. It works on the principle of impact and attrition: size reduction is done ...

from the

Higginsville Gold Mine The Higginsville Gold Mine is a gold mine located near Higginsville, 45 km north of Norseman, Western Australia. The mine has been owned and operated by Karora Resources since 2019 and is one of two mines operated by the company in Wester ...

. In December 2008, the mine delivered the final ounces under existing hedge arrangements at A$627, now allowing the mine to enjoy full exposure to the spot gold price. The mine was expected to cease production in early 2010, when its currently known resources were depleted. Intrepid was aiming to extend the mine life by further exploration drilling. In the first half of 2009, the mine has produced 44,656 ounces of gold. The plant was placed in

in February 2010, but recommenced production in June. Intrepid sold the mine to

in July 2010 for A$40 million.Sale of Paulsens to NST approved by Intrepid
Northern Star ASX announcement, published: 21 July 2010, accessed: 29 July 2010 In June 2022 the mine was sold to Black Cat Syndicate as part of a package of assets which also included the

Coyote Gold Mine The Coyote Gold Mine is a gold mine located in the remote Tanami Desert in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The mine, processing plant and camp are 17 km west of the Northern Territory border. The mine was closed in 2013 and pla ...

. Exploration for new resources is scheduled to commence in September 2022.

Production

Annual production of the mine:

References

Bibliography

External links

*
MINEDEX website: Paulsens
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 ...

{{Gold Mines in Western Australia Gold mines in Western Australia Underground mines in Australia Shire of Ashburton 2005 establishments in Australia