Challenger Mine
Encyclopedia
The Challenger Mine is a gold mine in the Far North of South Australia
, 165 km west of the Stuart Highway
and 740 km north-west of Adelaide
. It is operated by Dominion Mining.
It produced 43,547 troy ounce
s of gold in the year to 30 June 2005 and 108,080 ounces in 2006.
The mine has a reserve of 512,000 ounces of gold from a resource of 1 million ounces of gold as of June 2007. The mine village houses up to 250 personnel who work on a fly-in fly-out
roster. Henry Walker Eltin is the underground mining contractor.
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, 165 km west of the Stuart Highway
Stuart Highway
The Stuart Highway is one of Australia's major highways. It is a segment of Australia's Highway 1 extending from Darwin, Northern Territory, in the north, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta, South Australia, in the south—a distance of...
and 740 km north-west of Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
. It is operated by Dominion Mining.
History
The ore body was first discovered in 1995. The mine was initially an open pit commenced in 2002 and converted to underground mining in 2005.It produced 43,547 troy ounce
Troy ounce
The troy ounce is a unit of imperial measure. In the present day it is most commonly used to gauge the weight of precious metals. One troy ounce is nowadays defined as exactly 0.0311034768 kg = 31.1034768 g. There are approximately 32.1507466 troy oz in 1 kg...
s of gold in the year to 30 June 2005 and 108,080 ounces in 2006.
The mine has a reserve of 512,000 ounces of gold from a resource of 1 million ounces of gold as of June 2007. The mine village houses up to 250 personnel who work on a fly-in fly-out
Fly-in fly-out
Fly-in fly-out is a method of employing people in remote areas. It is often abbreviated to FIFO when referring to employment status. This is common in large mining states in Australia...
roster. Henry Walker Eltin is the underground mining contractor.
Production
Production figures of the recent past were:| Year | Production | Grade | Cost per ounce |
| 2005-06 | 108,080 ounces | 9.52 g/t | A$ 280 |
| 2006-07 | 108,191 ounces | 9.66 g/t | A$ 309 |
| 2007-08 | 109,326 ounces | 8.35 g/t | A$ 367 |
| 2008-09 | 98,755 ounces | 7.54 g/t | A$ 438 |
| 2009-10 | 80,570 ounces | 5.0 g/t | A$ 697 |