Marvel Loch Gold Mine
Encyclopedia
The Marvel Loch Gold Mine is a gold mine
located at Marvel Loch
, 30 km south of Southern Cross
, Western Australia
.
It is operated by St Barbara Limited. Apart from Marvel Loch, St Barbara also operates the Gwalia Gold Mine
at Leonora
and owns the Tarmoola Gold Mine
, which is placed in care and maintenance.
All three mines were previously owned by the now defunct mining company Sons of Gwalia Limited. Sons of Gwalia went into administration on 30 August 2004 and the company's gold mining operations were sold to St Barbara in March 2005 for A$
38 million, having been valued by the Sons of Gwalia directors at A$ 120 million. While Marvel Loch was operational before and after the sale, the Gwalia mine was already placed in care & maintenance at the time of the transaction. A fourth mine, the Carosue Dam Gold Mine
, ceased operation in June 2005 and has since been sold by St Barbara.
Sons of Gwalia mined the Marvel Loch deposit as a surface mine
for the most part of the mines history since reopening in the 1990s, upgrading its production facility in 2001. In February 2001, the company announced it consolidated its Southern Cross operations, acquiring the remaining 30% of the Yilgarn Star Gold Mine it didn't own and merging the operation with Marvel Loch, closing the Yilgarn Star mill. It also acquired other interessts in the region in this transaction. Since then, production from Yilgarn has been listed under Marvel Loch.
After a rapid rise of the company, unauthorised gold and foreign exchange trading activities by chief financial officer Eardley Ross-Adjie in the year to June 2000, ended up costing Sons of Gwalia more than A$190 million. Sons of Gwalia went into administration on 30 August 2004, following a financial collapse, with debts exceeding $800 million after suffering from falling gold reserves and hedging losses. Sons of Gwalia was Australia's third-largest gold producer and also controlled more than half the world's production of tantalum.
St Barbara purchased the mine from insolvent Sons of Gwalia in March 2005.
Since the purchase of the Mine by St Barbara, mining has been carried out both in surface and underground operations. In July 2009, St Barbara suspended open pit mining at Marvel Loch and decided that the treatment plant will be operated on a week-on, week-off basis.
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 at Marvel Loch
Marvel Loch, Western Australia
Marvel Loch is a small townsite of less than 100 people, some 401 km east of Perth, Western Australia. It is located 32 km south west of Southern Cross, along the Perth to Kalgoorlie Great Eastern Highway...
, 30 km south of Southern Cross
Southern Cross, Western Australia
Southern Cross is a town in Western Australia, 371 kilometres east of Perth on the Great Eastern Highway. It was founded by gold prospectors in 1888, and gazetted in 1890. It is the major town and administrative centre of the Shire of Yilgarn...
, 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 operated by St Barbara Limited. Apart from Marvel Loch, St Barbara also operates the Gwalia Gold Mine
Gwalia Gold Mine
The Gwalia Gold Mine is located at Gwalia, a few kilometres south of Leonora, Western Australia. It was originally established by Welsh miners in the late 19th century and Herbert Hoover, the later President of the United States, served as the mine manager in its early days from May to November...
at Leonora
Leonora, Western Australia
Leonora is a town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, located northeast of the state capital, Perth, and north of the city of Kalgoorlie. At the 2006 census, Leonora had a population of 401, about a third of whom are of Aboriginal descent. The area is extremely arid, with a...
and owns the Tarmoola Gold Mine
Tarmoola Gold Mine
The Tarmoola Gold Mine is a gold mine located 29 km north-west of Leonora, Western Australia. The mine has been placed in care and maintenance since September 2004, when a pit wall failure forced its closure.It is owned by St Barbara Limited...
, which is placed in care and maintenance.
All three mines were previously owned by the now defunct mining company Sons of Gwalia Limited. Sons of Gwalia went into administration on 30 August 2004 and the company's gold mining operations were sold to St Barbara in March 2005 for A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
38 million, having been valued by the Sons of Gwalia directors at A$ 120 million. While Marvel Loch was operational before and after the sale, the Gwalia mine was already placed in care & maintenance at the time of the transaction. A fourth mine, the Carosue Dam Gold Mine
Carosue Dam Gold Mine
The Carosue Dam Gold Mine is a gold mine located south of Laverton, Western Australia.It is currently owned by Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited.Carosue Dam was previously owned by the now defunct mining company Sons of Gwalia Limited...
, ceased operation in June 2005 and has since been sold by St Barbara.
History
Mining in the area around Marvel Loch dates back to the early 1900s and between 1905 and 1986, 136,300 ounces of gold were recorded as having been mined.Sons of Gwalia mined the Marvel Loch deposit as a surface mine
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....
for the most part of the mines history since reopening in the 1990s, upgrading its production facility in 2001. In February 2001, the company announced it consolidated its Southern Cross operations, acquiring the remaining 30% of the Yilgarn Star Gold Mine it didn't own and merging the operation with Marvel Loch, closing the Yilgarn Star mill. It also acquired other interessts in the region in this transaction. Since then, production from Yilgarn has been listed under Marvel Loch.
After a rapid rise of the company, unauthorised gold and foreign exchange trading activities by chief financial officer Eardley Ross-Adjie in the year to June 2000, ended up costing Sons of Gwalia more than A$190 million. Sons of Gwalia went into administration on 30 August 2004, following a financial collapse, with debts exceeding $800 million after suffering from falling gold reserves and hedging losses. Sons of Gwalia was Australia's third-largest gold producer and also controlled more than half the world's production of tantalum.
St Barbara purchased the mine from insolvent Sons of Gwalia in March 2005.
Since the purchase of the Mine by St Barbara, mining has been carried out both in surface and underground operations. In July 2009, St Barbara suspended open pit mining at Marvel Loch and decided that the treatment plant will be operated on a week-on, week-off basis.
Marvel Loch
| Year | Production | Grade | Cost per ounce |
| 1997-98 | 90,008 ounces | ||
| 2000 | 138,491 ounces | 2.48 g/t | A$ 416 |
| 2001 | 176,026 ounces | 2.89 g/t | A$ 419 |
| 2002 | 176,756 ounces | 2.49 g/t | A$ 480 |
| 2002-03 | 217,019 ounces | A$ 454 | |
| 2003-04 | 182,891 ounces | A$ 452 | |
| 2005 1 | 53,719 ounces | 2.94 g/t | A$ 336 |
| 2005-06 | 166,000 ounces | 2.4 g/t | A$ 443 |
| 2006-07 | 171,182 ounces | 2,6 g/t | A$ 508 |
| 2007-08 | 157,477 ounces | 2.5 g/t | A$ 550 |
| 2008-09 | 156,105 ounces | 2.5 g/t | A$ 888 |
- 1 2005 results for 28 March to 30 June only.
Yilgarn Star
| Year | Production | Grade | Cost per ounce |
| 1997-98 | 88,417 ounces | ||
| 2000 | 103,122 ounces | 4.43 g/t | A$ 384 |
| 2001 1 . | 23,511 ounces | 3.76 g/t | A$ 491 |
- 2 January to June 2002 only.
Sources
- The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition, Louthean Media Pty Ltd, Editor: Ross Louthean
- Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistics Digest 2008 Page 34: Principal Mineral and Petroleum Producers - Gold
External links
- Place Names Search Results - Marvel Loch Geoscience AustraliaGeoscience AustraliaGeoscience Australia is an agency of the Australian federal government. It carries out geoscientific research.On a user pays basis it produces geospatial products such as topographic maps and satellite imagery.-History:...
website - St Barbara website - Southern Cross operations
- Video: Blasting at Marvel Loch
- MINEDEX website
- How sons of Lalor built, then sank, Sons of Gwalia The Sydney Morning HeraldThe Sydney Morning HeraldThe Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
- Article on the collapse of Sons of Gwalia