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Agnew Gold Mine

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The Agnew Gold Mine, formerly the Emu Mine, is a gold mine located 3 km (1.9 mi) west of Agnew, Western Australia. It is owned by the South African mining company Gold Fields.[1] As of 2022, it is one of four mines the company operates in Australia, the others being the Granny Smith Gold Mine, St Ives Gold Mine and the Gruyere Gold Mine.

Agnew
Location
Agnew is located in Western Australia
Agnew
Agnew
Location in Western Australia
LocationAgnew
StateWestern Australia
CountryAustralia
Coordinates28°00′26″S 120°30′28″E / 28.00722°S 120.50778°E / -28.00722; 120.50778
Production
ProductsGold
Production244,900 ounces
Financial year2023
Owner
CompanyGold Fields Limited
Websitewww.goldfields.co.za
Year of acquisitionNovember 2001
Map

Ore is mined at Agnew in the under ground Waroonga complex and the open pit Songvang operation.[2]

History

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Gold mines in the Mid West region

Gold mining at Agnew commenced in the early 1900s, with mining being carried out by East Murchison United,[3] EMU, which gave the mine its original name, the EMU mine, as well as a company owned by Claude de Bernales.[4]

Western Mining (WMC) acquired the mining tenements in the early 1980s, opening an open cut mine and process plant there in 1986, near the town of Agnew. At this point the town, which had once had a population in the thousands, just consisted of a run-down hotel, the near-by newly-established mining town of Leinster serving the Leinster Nickel Mine. When WMC acquired the Leinster mine in 1989 and renamed it Leinster Nickel Operations, the gold mine at Agnew became the Leinster Gold Operations, with both operations sharing a number of facilities.[4]

In 1990, underground mining at Agnew commenced. In 1994, WMC restructured its organisation and separated the gold and nickel operations, with the gold mine becoming the Agnew Gold Operation.[4][5] A second gold mine in the area, the Lawlers Gold Mine, was operated by Barrick Gold, until purchased by Gold Fields in October 2013.[6][7]

On 13 June 1989 the mine, then called the Emu mine, was the scene of one of the worst mining disasters in Western Australia when six workers drowned in the underground operations during a flood.[8][9]

The mine was purchased by Goldfields from WMC in late 2001.[10][11] The combined price for the two Australian operations Goldfields purchased, St Ives and Agnew, was US$180 million in cash and $52 million in Gold Fields shares.

Agnew, in 2009, employed 114 permanent staff and 298 contractors.[2]

A 4 MW solar farm was added in 2019,[12] along with a 17 MW wind farm and a 13MW/4MWh battery,[13] supplying half the mine's power needs.[14]

Production

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Annual production of the mine:[10][15][2][16][17][18][19][20][21]

Year Production Grade Cost per ounce
2000 209,598 ounces 6.27 g/t
2001 185,400 ounces 6.08 g/t
Jan to June 2002 66,200 ounces 3.56 g/t A$436
2002–03 144,000 ounces 3.5 g/t A$437
2003–04 202,000 ounces 5.3 g/t A$317
2004–05 212,500 ounces 5.6 g/t A$315
2005–06 222,000 ounces 5.2 g/t A$370
2006–07 212,000 ounces 5.0 g/t A$380
2007–08 204,000 ounces 4.8 g/t A$496
2008–09 192,100 ounces 5.6 g/t A$541
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2014 7.1 g/t
2015 237,000 ounces 6.4 g/t US$959
2016 229,000 ounces 6.5 g/t US$971
2017 241,000 ounces 6.5 g/t US$977
2018 238,000 ounces 6.49 g/t US$1,026
2019 219,000 ounces 5.7 g/t A$1,656
2020 233,000 ounces 5.8 g/t A$1,528
2021 223,000 ounces 5.53 g/t A$1,741
2022 239,000 ounces 6.21 g/t A$1,875
2023 244,900 ounces 5.67 g/t A$1,939

References

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  1. ^ Agnew, Australia, Gold Archived 2012-07-17 at archive.today AME Mineral Economics website, retrieved 2009-08-09
  2. ^ a b c Review of International Operations - Agnew Gold Mine Archived 2009-09-12 at the Wayback Machine Goldfields website, retrieved 2009-08-09
  3. ^ "East Murchison United". Coolgardie Miner. Vol. 4, no. 1032. Western Australia. 1 April 1898. p. 7. Retrieved 17 March 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ a b c Gilbert M. Ralph (12 November 1994). Group Historical Information: Agnew Gold Operation (Report). WMC Resources. Retrieved 17 March 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ Western Mining Corporation Ltd Guide to Australian Business Records, retrieved 2009-08-09
  6. ^ Heber, Alex (2 October 2013). "Barrick finalises sale of three Australian gold mines". Australian Mining. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  7. ^ Lakmidas, Sherilee (22 August 2013). "Barrick to sell three Australian mines to Gold Fields". Reuters. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  8. ^ "Miners injured in collapse at underground gold mine". ABC News. 10 January 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  9. ^ Torlach, J M (10 April 1990). "SIGNIFICANT INCIDENT REPORT NO. 11: EMU MINE DISASTER" (PDF). Department of Mines, Western Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 June 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  10. ^ a b The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition, page 65
  11. ^ News briefs Mining Engineering magazine, published 2001-11-01, retrieved 2009-08-09 [dead link]
  12. ^ Mazengarb, Michael (20 November 2019). "First stage of unique solar-wind-battery hybrid project opens at Agnew gold mine". RenewEconomy.
  13. ^ Vorrath, Sophie (5 December 2019). "Huge wind turbine parts complete 630km journey to ground-breaking microgrid". One Step Off The Grid.
  14. ^ Vorrath, Sophie (5 November 2021). "Australia's biggest renewable microgrid powers gold mine up to 85%". RenewEconomy. Archived from the original on 5 November 2021.
  15. ^ Annual Report 2005 Gold Fields website, retrieved 2009-08-10
  16. ^ Quarterly report June 2009 Goldfields website, retrieved 2009-08-10
  17. ^ "2021 Integrated Annual Report" (PDF). Gold Fields Limited. p. 50. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  18. ^ "2020 Integrated Annual Report" (PDF). Gold Fields Limited. p. 71. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  19. ^ "Agnew Mine". Mining Data Solutions. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  20. ^ "Reviewed results For the year ended 31 December 2022" (PDF). Gold Fields Limited. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  21. ^ "Reviewed results for the year ended 31 December 2023" (PDF). Gold Fields Limited. Retrieved 25 February 2024.

Bibliography

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  • Louthean, Ross (ed.). The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition. Louthean Media Pty Ltd.
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