Wattle Dam gold mine, Spargoville, Coolgardie Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Wattle Dam gold mine	Mine
Spargoville	- not defined -
Coolgardie Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

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. Ramelius, listed at the Australian Securities Exchange since 2003, discovered Wattle Dam in 2005 and begun mining the deposit in 2006.

Ore from Wattle Dam is not treated on site but rather taken to the company's Burbanks Treatment Plant, 8 km south of Coolgardie, near the Burbanks Gold Mine which is owned by Barra Resources Limited.

Ramelius has made headlines in 2009 when it became engaged in a bitter dispute with Avoca Resources Limited over conflicting takeover bits for Dioro Exploration NL. Avoca eventually had to drop its bit for Dioro, having reached an 44.85% interest in Dioro at the close of the offer on 20 August, short of the 50% needed. Ramelius's offer for the company closes on 8 February 2010. Avoca made a renewed takeover offer for the company in late December 2009. Avoca eventually succeeded in its bit for Dioro and, on 21 April 2010, Dioro was delisted from the ASX.

Ramelius instead purchased the Hill 50 Gold Mine from Harmony Gold for A$40 million in July 2010.

History

Discovered in 2005, Ramelius begun mining the deposit in March 2006. After two periods of open pit mining in 2006 and 2008-09, underground development commenced in May 2009. The company expects high grade underground ore to be available for milling in December 2009.

The ore is treated at the Burbanks Treatment Plant, which is located 65 km from Wattle Dam. Ramelius purchased the plant in November 2006 for A$2.8 million. Ramelius spent a further $1.3 million on refurbishing the facility, which has a capacity to treat up to 180,000 tonnes of ore per annum. When not used for Wattle Dam ore, the facility toll treats third party ore, like from July to September 2009. Before the purchase of Burbanks, Ramelius had its ore treated at the plant of the Higginsville Gold Mine, owned by Avoca Resources.

Production of the mine:

Year Production Grade Cost per ounce
2005-06 [13] 4,190 ounces g/t A$
2006-07 [12] 16,963 ounces 8.36 g/t A$
2007-08 [14] 16,154 ounces 5.25 g/t A$
2008-09 [11] 16,283 ounces 3.74 g/t A$

Ramelius:

The Wattle Dam Gold Mine is located approximately 25 km southwest of Kambalda in Western Australia. The project is held 100% by Ramelius Resources Limited and commenced mining operations in March 2006. Underground development at Wattle Dam commenced in May 2009, with the commencement of the portal and decline.

Development and mining continued during the June quarter at Ramelius’ wholly-owned Wattle Dam underground gold mine. In May 2010, the decline was completed to the base of the current mine plan and halted at the 130RL. A diamond drill site was developed at the 137RL.

Mining for the quarter increased significantly, with a record production month of 20,430t, being reported for June 2010. No significant interruptions to the mining schedule occurred and production is currently progressing ahead of plan. Production claimed for the full June 2010 quarter was 49,903t compared to 28,358t for the March 2010 quarter.

Ore development focused on the lower B block footwall ore drives (145 & 165) and upper A block hangingwall ore drives (225 & 241). Stoping was completed for the Block A footwall stopes in April and recommenced for the Block A hangingwall stopes in June 2010. Stoping of the 205-225 hangingwall panels adjacent to the previously mined and backfilled footwall panels occurred for the first time during June. The CRF (cement rock fill) remained in place during mining of the hangingwall panels. Stope mining at Wattle Dam has now been refined with fast cycle times, optimised drill and blast methods and minimal ore loss. Mine production for the quarter was almost 50,000 tonnes of ore at an estimated grade of 18 g/t.

Total milled gold production since underground milling commenced late in November 2009 now totals over 60,000 ounces of gold, just 8,000 ounces less than the original mine plan.

Geology
The Wattle Dam gold deposit is hosted in sheared and metamorphosed mafic to ultramafic rocks. The deposit contains two main lodes, the West Zone and the East Zone, with the bulk of the gold mineralisation contained in the East Zone, a high grade plunging shoot.

Mining
There have been two phases of open cut mining at Wattle Dam in 2006 and 2008-9. Underground mining commenced in May 2009. To date the project has produced in excess of 100,000 oz of gold.

Milling
Ramelius Resources wholly owns Burbanks treatment plant, which is capable of treating up 200,000 tonnes per annum of Wattle Dam ore.

Resource Definition
Resource definition drilling programs are ongoing, with both surface and underground diamond rigs operating at Wattle Dam. A program of deep diamond drilling to test depth extensions at Wattle Dam commenced in June 2010.

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