PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed WPG Resources has pulled the trigger at the Tarcoola mine, in South Australia, transforming the junior into a midtier gold producer.
The board decision to mine followed approval by the South Australian Department of State Development of the project’s programme for environment protection and rehabilitation payment into a significant benefit vegetation clearance offset account, and the lodgment and registration of the mine closure rehabilitation bond.
WPG told shareholders on Friday that the company would progress the project’s immediate development, with all contracts already being awarded, and that the equipment necessary for work to start had been mobilised to site.
Staff and contractors would be deployed to the site from next week.
South Australian Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis has previously welcomed the mine development, adding that the rigorous approvals process should assure the community that the mine will meet its environmental protection and rehabilitation obligations during and after the two- to three-year mine life.
An updated 2015 feasibility study estimated that the project will require a capital spend of A$4-million to support production of 20 000 oz/y of gold. Ore from the mine will be trucked to the recently acquired Challenger gold project for treatment at an established plant.
The project is expected to have a mine life of two years and a treatment period of three-and-a-half years.
It will provide employment to 40 people.
Edited by: Mariaan Webb
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online
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