Frog's Leg Gold Mine
Encyclopedia
The Frog's Leg Gold Mine is a gold mine
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...

 located 19 km west of Kalgoorlie
Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
Kalgoorlie, known as Kalgoorlie-Boulder, is a town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, and is located east-northeast of state capital Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway...

, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

.

It is jointly owned by La Mancha Resources (51% - operator) and Avoca Resources Limited
Avoca Resources Limited
Avoca Resources Limited 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....

 (49%).

History

The gold deposit at Frog's Leg was discovered in 1999 and mining originally occurred in an open pit operation
Open-pit mining
Open-pit mining or opencast mining refers to a method of extracting rock or minerals from the earth by their removal from an open pit or borrow....

 from April 2004 to October 2005, when operations ceased again. To the frustration of Dioro, Mines and Resources Australia Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 company Areva
Areva
AREVA is a French public multinational industrial conglomerate headquartered in the Tour Areva in Courbevoie, Paris. AREVA is mainly known for nuclear power; it also has interests in other energy projects. It was created on 3 September 2001, by the merger of Framatome , Cogema and...

, delayed the development of an underground mine at the location, an impass only solved by the sale of its 51% stake.

In September 2006, La Mancha Resources announced the takeover of Mines and Resources Australia's 51% share of the project and begun a major drilling program to define potential resources. With this transaction, La Mancha also acquired the White Foil Gold Mine
White Foil Gold Mine
The White Foil Gold Mine is a gold mine 23 km south-west of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. It is currently owned by La Mancha Resources and has been in care and maintenance since 2003, but is scheduled to reopen in March 2010....

. In mid-2007, the company begun to develop an underground operation. In May 2008, the first gold was poured at the mine and, on 1 January 2009, commercial production was achieved.

Dioro's ore from the Frog's Leg mine is processed at the Dioro-owned Jubilee Mill, located at the South Kalgoorlie Gold Mine
South Kalgoorlie Gold Mine
The South Kalgoorlie Gold Mine is a gold mine located south-west of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. The mine is sometimes also referred to as South Kal Mines - New Celebration, being a merger of the former New Celebration Gold Mine and the Jubilee Gold Mine, which were combined in 2002.It was...

, which was commissioned in 1987.

Dioro's 49% stake in the Frog's Leg mine, together with the South Kal operation were part of a takeover war between Avoca Resources and Ramelius Resources. Avoca, owner of the Higginsville Gold Mine
Higginsville Gold Mine
The Higginsville Gold Mine is a gold mine located near Higginsville, 45 km north of Norseman, Western Australia.It is currently owned by Avoca Resources Limited. Avoca has made headlines in 2009 when it became engaged in a bitter dispute with Ramelius Resources over conflicting takeover bids...

 and Ramelius, owner of the Wattle Dam Gold Mine
Wattle Dam Gold Mine
The Wattle Dam Gold Mine is a gold mine located 25 km south west of Kambalda, Western Australia.It is currently owned by Ramelius Resources...

, both in the area south of Kalgoorlie, were both interested in acquiring Dioro to combine their existing operations with Dioro's. After a failed bit by Avoca in August 2009 and a subsequent extension to the bit by Ramelius, Avoca made a new offer for Dioro on 29 December 2009, despite having earlier declared that its August bit was final. Avoca eventually succeeded in its bit for Dioro and, on 21 April 2010, Dioro was delisted from the ASX.

La Mancha

La Mancha's financial year runs from 1 January to 31 December:
Year 1 Gold
production
Grade Cost per ounce
2008 15,375 ounces
2009

Dioro

Dioro's financial year runs from 1 September to 31 August:
Year 1 Gold
production
Grade Cost per ounce
2007-08 10,814 ounces 3.98 g/t
2008-09 41,946 ounces 5.24 g/t US$ 472

Sources


External links

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