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.[2][3]
The mine is located on freehold land allocated for pastoral use by the Government of Western Australia in the late 1800s and is therefore not subject to state royalties, and exempt from certain planning and mining requirements.[4]
Discovered in 1982 by Newmont Australia Ltd as part of the Location 50 Joint Venture (with Hampton Assets and Hampton Trust), the mine opened in late 1986.[8] It was divested by Newmont into Newcrest Mining Ltd in 1991.[9] New Celebration became a subsidiary of Hill 50 Gold in August 2001, when Newcrest sold the mine for A$10 million.[10]
Harmony announced a take over bid for Hill 50 Gold Limited in December 2001 and compulsory acquired outstanding Hill 50 shares and listed options in April 2002, after achieving a 99% interest in the company.[11] Harmony paid A$233 million for this acquisition.[12]
In December 2007, Harmony in turn sold the operation to Dioro Exploration NL.[13]
Dioro settled the purchase of the mine on 30 November 2007. Harmony Gold received A$45 million for the operations, of which $25 million were in cash while the remainder was paid in Dioro shares.[14]
Dioro suffered a number of set-backs at its South Kal mine, when, on two occasions, major pit wall collapses interrupted mining. These events, in October 2008 at the Mt Marion pit and in January 2009 at the HBJ pit, made access to high-grade ore temporarily impossible and affected operational cash flow for more than six months.[15]
Ore from the South Kalgoorlie mine is processed at the nearby Jubilee Mill, commissioned in 1987,[15] which, at one point during Dioro's ownership, also processed ore from the Frog's Leg Gold Mine, which Dioro owned 49% of.[16] The former New Celebration plant, which functioned as the processing facility for the mine, was sold to Integra Mining in May 2006 for A$3 million.[2] Integra removed the processing plant by May 2008, to use it at its new Randalls Gold Mine.[3]
The South Kal operation, together with Dioro's 49% stake in the Frog's Leg mine were part of a takeover war between Avoca Resources and Ramelius Resources. Avoca, owner of the Higginsville Gold Mine and Ramelius, owner of the Wattle Dam Gold Mine, both in the area south of Kalgoorlie, were both interested in acquiring Dioro to combine their existing operations with Dioro's.[17][18] After a failed bid by Avoca in August 2009 and a subsequent extension to the bid by Ramelius, Avoca made a new offer for Dioro on 29 December 2009, despite having earlier declared that its August bid was final.[19]
Avoca, owner of the mine at the time, merged in with Anatolia Minerals Development Limited in 2011 to form Alacer Gold.[20] Alacer Gold, in turn, sold its Australian operations, consisting of South Kalgoorlie and the Higginsville Gold Mine, to Metals X in September 2013 for A$40 million. Metals X took ownership of the mine on 1 October 2013 and operated it through its subsidiary Westgold Resources.[21] In 2016, Metals X and Westgold de-merged, with the latter retaining ownership of the gold mining operations, including South Kalgoorlie.[22]
Westgold Resources, in turn, sold the mine in March 2018 for A$80 million to Northern Star Resources, of which A$20 minion was paid in cash and the remainder in shares.[23] The mine subsequently became part of the company's Kalgoorlie Operations, which consist of the South Kalgoorlie mine, the Kanowna Belle Gold Mine, the Kundana Gold Mine and the East Kundana Joint Venture (51 percent Northern Star Resources owned). At this point, mining at the South Kalgoorlie mine was carried out exclusively underground.[24]
In July 2022, Northern Star announced that it would idle the Jubilee mill in an effort to cut cost.[25]
Production figures for the combined Kalgoorlie Operations, which consist of the South Kalgoorlie mine and the Kanowna Belle Gold Mine. The Kundana Gold Mine and the East Kundana Joint Venture (51 percent Northern Star Resources ownership) were part of the Kalgoorlie Operations until sold in July 2021:[32][24][33][1]
Year
Production
Grade
Cost per ounce
2018–19
334,527 ounces
3.8 g/t
A$1,330
2019–20
317,248 ounces
3.2 g/t
A$1,564
2020–21
256,657 ounces
3.1 g/t
A$1,942
2021–22
171,027 ounces
2.6 g/t
A$1,949
2022–23
163,679 ounces
2.8 g/t
A$1,876
Notes
^[1] Production figure is for the combined Kalgoorlie Operations, which consist of the South Kalgoorlie mine and the Kanowna Belle Gold Mine. The Kundana Gold Mine and the East Kundana Joint Venture (51 percent Northern Star Resources ownership) were part of the Kalgoorlie Operations until sold in July 2021.
^[2] 2007-08 figures are for Dioro ownership only, compromising the time from 1 December 2007 to 31 August 2008. Dioro's financial year runs from 1 September to 31 August.
^Groves, David Ian, ed. (1988). "Western Australian Gold Deposits". Bicentennial gold 88 excursion guidebook. Crawley, WA: University of Western Australia. p. 87. ISBN0909704570.
