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The
Norseman Project, located 725 km east of Perth, Western Australia, is
Australia’s longest continuously running gold mining operation. Gold
was first found on the Norseman field in 1894 and over the last 65
years it has produced over 5.5 million ounces of gold. The mine is
producing at a rate of around 80,000 ounces per annum, sourced from two
high-grade narrow-vein underground mines - the Bullen and the
Harlequin. Currently, it has a total resource inventory of 20 million
tonnes at a grade of 5.5 g/t gold for 3.7 million ounces, with a
reserve inventory of 1.4 million tonnes at a grade of 8.9 g/t gold for 400,000 ounces.
The exploration potential of the Central Norseman area
is considered good at both the brownfield and greenfield level, with
targets identified both along strike and at depth of the existing mines,
as well as advanced targets located close to infrastructure that have
the potential to become future ore sources.
The tenements cover a 1,614 sq km area centred on the Norseman Township.
The landholding comprises 179 contiguous tenements consisting of 13
Exploration Licences, 106 Mining Licences, 45 Prospecting Licences, 15
Miscellaneous Licences and 29 Mining Lease Applications.
The Norseman Project contains key strategic infrastructure including a
700,000 tonnes per annum CIL treatment plant, administration offices
and housing. The operations are well serviced with power, water and
access via the sealed Kalgoorlie-Esperance Highway. The operation has
approximately 200 employees and contractors.
The Company’s strategy is focussed on extending the mine life through
the conversion of resources into reserves and identifying additional
resources. Management aims to increase the reserves at the mine
through exploration drilling from the current level of 400,000 ounces
to 500,000 to 750,000 ounces within the next two years, thereby
providing a mine life of approximately five years. Thereafter, the
Company will be seeking to expand the mine life to ten years.
Regional Geology
The Norseman area lies at the southern extent of the Norseman-Wiluna
Greenstone Belt of the Eastern Goldfields Province of the Yilgarn
Block Western Australia. Gold was first discovered at Norseman in 1894
following discoveries at Dundas, 22km to the south, in 1892. The
majority of production has come from the Mararoa-Crown (Main Field) and
North Royal reefs and totals in excess of 5.5 million ounces to June
2006.
Gold has principally been mined from narrow, broadly N-S striking,
east-dipping quartz veins hosted by biotite-altered and sheared mafic
and ultramafic rocks of the Woolyeenyer Formation. Relatively minor
mineralisation occurs as sulphidation systems within the upper
banded-iron units of the Noganyer formation.
Plan of Simplified Regional Geography >
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