Granny Smith Gold Mine

The Granny Smith Gold Mine is a gold mine 21 kilometres (13 mi) south of Laverton, Western Australia near Mount Weld.

For other uses, see Granny Smith (disambiguation).
Granny Smith
Location
Granny Smith Gold Mine
Location in Australia
LocationLaverton
StateWestern Australia
CountryAustralia
Coordinates28°48′50″S 122°25′27″E
Production
Production352,000[1]
Financial year2009
Owner
CompanyGoldfields
WebsiteBarrick website
Year of acquisition2006

It is operated by Goldfields and, since the end of 2013, part of its Yilgarn South operation, which consists of Granny Smith, the Lawlers Gold Mine and the Darlot-Centenary Gold Mine.

History

The Granny Smith gold deposit was discovered in 1979 by Canadian prospector Ray Lovi Smith and named after his wife Laurende.[2]

Construction of the mine took place in the late 1980s.[3]

The project was originally owned by Delta Gold Ltd, which became Auriongold Ltd in February 2002. Aurion was taken over by Placer Dome Inc in 2003, who already held a 60% interest in the mine,[4] and Placer Dome in turn by Barrick Gold in March 2006.[5]

A large amount of ore processed at Granny Smith originated from the Wallaby deposit, approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of the mine, and was hauled to the Granny Smith mill for processing.[6][7] Open pit mining at Wallaby ceased in September 2006, followed by a ramp up of underground mining at the location.[8]

In February 2009, Barrick signed a Memorandum of understanding with Crescent Gold to purchase ore from their Laverton Gold Mine and mill it at Granny Smith.[9][10] In January 2010, an agreement was signed with Range River Gold to purchase ore from the Mount Morgans Gold Mine and treat it at Granny Smith from February 2010 onwards.[11]

Gold mines in the Leonora region.

Environment

In 1999, abandoned mining pits at Granny Smith were used for trials on breeding Silver Perch and Barramundi in salty water.[12]

Production

Granny Smith

Production of the mine as an individual entity:[13]

Year Gold
production		 Grade Cost per ounce
1996 312,262 ounces
1997 376,386 ounces
1998 604,806 ounces
1999[14] 523,092 ounces 4.52 g/t A$161
2000[14] 412,049 ounces 3.94 g/t A$340
2001[14] 347,179 ounces 3.28 g/t A$338
2002 358,648 ounces
2003 307,341 ounces
2004 293,228 ounces
2005 278,806 ounces
2006[15] 314,000 ounces 0.108 oz/t US$ 401
2007[15] 175,000 ounces 0.056 oz/t US$651

Yilgarn South

Production figures for the Yilgarn South operation, consisting of Darlot, Granny Smith and Lawlers.

Year Gold
production		 Grade
oz/ton		 Cost per ounce
(US$/oz)
2007[16] 410,000 ounces 0.117 486
2008[16] 325,000 ounces 0.125 749
2009 352,000 ounces 685

Sources

References
  1. Combined figure for the Yilgarn South operation
  2. O’Hanlon, John (23 January 2013). "Barrick Gold: Granny Smith Mine". Business Excellence Magazine. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  3. HISTORIC PICTURES RELEASED TO THE NATIONAL LIBRARY Archived 2009-12-22 at the Wayback Machine Thiess Pty Ltd announcement, published: 17 November 2009, accessed: 2 January 2010
  4. Placer Dome Seeks to Buy 2 Mining Concerns for $600 Million The New York Times, published: 29 November 1996, accessed: 2 January 2010
  5. MINEDEX website - Granny Smith search result Archived 2008-09-11 at the Wayback Machine, accessed: 2 January 2010
  6. Wallaby infomine.com, accessed: 2 January
  7. Laverton Gold Project Crescent Gold website, accessed: 2 January
  8. Department of Environment and Conservation - Works approval accessed: 3 January 2010
  9. Crescent Gold signs landmark MOU with Barrick Gold over WA gold resource proactiveinvestors.com.au, published: 24 February 2009, accessed: 2 January 2010
  10. Deal paves way for Laverton gold mining ABC News, published: 22 June 2009, accessed: 2 January 2010
  11. Mt Morgans - Ore Sale Terms agreed with Barrick River Gold ASX announcement, published: 27 January 2010, accessed: 9 February 2010
  12. Fishing the goldfields ABC - The World Today, broadcast: 11 October 1999, accessed: 2 January 2010
  13. Granny Smith Gold Mine 24hgold.com, accessed: 2 January 2010
  14. The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition, page 90
  15. Fourth Quarter & Year-End Mine Statistics 2007 Archived 2010-09-22 at the Wayback Machine accessed: 1 January 2010
  16. Fourth Quarter & Year-End Mine Statistics 2008 accessed: 1 January 2010
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