Bullant

The owner of the Bullant underground gold mine in the Kalgoorlie Goldfields of Western Australia, Kalgoorlie Mining Company Limited, are preparing the mine for production again having tendered for underground operations to re-commence as soon as current underground work is completed. The mine has been on care and maintenance since February 2012, following a period of high operating costs and missed production targets.

Rich Underground Mine Close to Kalgoorlie City

The Bullant underground gold mine, that is located 50 kilometres from Kalgoorlie, has signed an agreement to have Norton Goldfields carry out their ore processing on their behalf, when they once again return to mining. Ore deliveries from the Bullant mine are due to arrive at Norton Goldfields processing plant at Paddington in April 2013 and will continue until December 2014, under the new agreement. It is expected that the Bullant mine will supply around 280,000 tonnes of ore to be processed at Norton's Paddington processing facility. This ore will be blended with other feed sources being processed at the plant.

New Mining Operation got off to a Shaky Start

The Kalgoorlie Mining Company began operations at the Bullant mine in mid 2011 after installing a crushing circuit the previous December. At that time official commissioning of the project was planned to take place in the latter half of 2012. However, missed production goals and higher than estimated processing costs saw the company suspend operations while a detailed review of the project was undertaken.

Owner Name Change to Better Reflect its Ambitions

Kalgoorlie Mining Company Limited was formally known as U.S. Nickel. A Perth based company that focussed much of its attention on mining projects in North America. It changed its name to Kalgoorlie Mining Company Limited in May 2011 to better represent its involvement in the Bullant gold mining project. The company purchased the Bullant operation from Barrick Gold for just over $10 million in early 2011.

Barrick Gold Walked Away From Bullant Mine in 2009

Barrick gold had closed the Bullant mine in December 2009 and in doing so removed the water pumps that would have controlled water entering the lower reaches from various rains during that time. The unattended mine had been collecting water for 12 months before Kalgoorlie Mining Company limited took over ownership. The first task the new owner had after re-establishing ventilation was to set up a pumping system that once again cleared the lower levels of the mine in preparation for re-starting production.

The acquiring of the mine from Barrick was assisted with Barrick agreeing to purchase ore from the new owner. Other attractions to the purchase included the surface infrastructure remaining stable, water availability, power to the site and the high grade ore being geotechnically stable.

Further Gold Ore Found at Greater Depths

The Bullant underground gold mine is currently mined to a depth of 700 metres and it has been reported that exceptional potential is present to at least 1,000 metres. Significant mineralisation has been discovered at 45 metres below the current mining levels as well as at 210 metres and again at 330 metres. This gives a potential realisation of a further 200,000 ounces based on the 630 ounces for every metre currently being realised. However, further underground and surface drilling is required to confirm the full potential of these ore bodies.