The Wattle Dam 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 25 km south west of

Kambalda, Western Australia Kambalda is a small mining town about from the mining city of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, within the Goldfields. It is split into two townsites apart, Kambalda East and Kambalda West; and is located on the western edge of a giant salt ...

and is owned by

Maximus Resources Maximus (Hellenised as Maximos) is the Latin term for "greatest" or "largest". In this connection it may refer to: * Circus Maximus (disambiguation) * Pontifex maximus, the highest priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome People Roman hi ...

. It is formerly owned by Ramelius Resources. Ramelius, listed at 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 ...

since 2003, discovered Wattle Dam in 2005 and began mining the deposit in 2006.Ramelius website - Company Overview
accessed: 6 September 2009 Ore from Wattle Dam was not treated on site but rather taken to the company's Burbanks Treatment Plant, 8 km south of Coolgardie,Ramelius website - Burbanks Treatment Plant
accessed: 6 September 2009 near the Burbanks Gold Mine which was owned by

Barra Resources Limited Barra (; gd, Barraigh or ; sco, Barra) is an island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and the second southernmost inhabited island there, after the adjacent island of Vatersay to which it is connected by a short causeway. The island is na ...

. Mining at Wattle Dam ceased in 2012, with the mine 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 ...

since.

History

Ramelius discovered the deposit in 2005 and began mining in March 2006. After two periods of

open-pit 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 ...

in 2006 and 2008–09, underground development commenced in May 2009. The company expects high grade underground ore to be available for milling in December 2009.Ramelius website - Wattle Dam
accessed: 6 September 2009 The ore was treated at the Burbanks Treatment Plant, 65 km from Wattle Dam. Ramelius purchased the plant in November 2006 for A$2.8 million. Ramelius spent a further $1.3 million on refurbishing the facility, which has a capacity to treat up to 180,000 tonnes of ore per annum. When not used for Wattle Dam ore, the facility toll treats third party ore, for example from July to September 2009.Ramelius quarterly report June 2009
accessed: 6 September 2009 Before the purchase of Burbanks, Ramelius had its ore treated at the plant of 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 ...

, owned by Avoca Resources.Ramelius annual report 2007
accessed: 6 September 2009 Ramelius made headlines in 2009 when it became engaged in a bitter dispute with

Avoca Resources Limited Avoca Resources LimitedAVO was an Australian gold mining company, based in Perth, Western Australia. It merged in with Anatolia Minerals Development Limited in 2011 to form Alacer Gold. The company currently operates two gold mines, both in Wes ...

over conflicting takeover bids for

Dioro Exploration NL Dioro may refer to *Dioro, Mali Dioro is a town and rural commune in the Cercle of Ségou in the Ségou Region of southern-central Mali. The commune extends over an area of approximately 586 square kilometers on the right bank of the Niger Rive ...

. Avoca eventually had to drop its bid for Dioro, having reached a 44.85% interest in Dioro at the close of the offer on 20 August, short of the 50% needed. Ramelius's offer for the company closes on 8 February 2010. Avoca made a renewed takeover offer for the company in late December 2009. Avoca eventually succeeded in its bid for Dioro and, on 21 April 2010, Dioro was delisted from the ASX. The mine ceased production in 2012, having produced 213,650 ounces of gold from its underground operations between 2006 and 2012, reaching a depth of 365 metres, and at a grade of 14.9 grams per tonne. Open pit mining at Wattle Dam, which finished in 2008, produced a further 52,700 ounces, at a grade of 5.3 grams per tonne. Both the underground and surface mining grade is considered high by industry standards. Ramelius purchased the

Hill 50 Gold Mine 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.Harmony Gold for A$40 million in July 2010,Quarterly report June 2010
Ramelius ASX announcement, published: 23 July 2010, accessed: 29 July 2010 and eventually opted to focus on this operation instead. Ramelius sold the mine to Tychean Resources in 2013 who, in turn, sold the mine on to Maximus Resources two years later.

Production

Annual production of the mine:Ramelius annual report 2008
accessed: 6 September 2009

References

Bibliography

External links

*
MINEDEX website: Wattle Dam - Spargoville Gold
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 Surface mines in Australia Underground mines in Australia Shire of Coolgardie 2006 establishments in Australia