Burbanks

The future of the Burbanks Mine near Coolgardie in Western Australia is fully dependant on its owner, Barra Resources Limited, retaining the financial support of its major shareholder FMR Investments Pty Ltd.

Barra Resources Have Called on FMR Investments to Secure the Future of the Burbanks Mining Centre
Barra Resources Limited's own future depends on it being able to grow the
gold assets it holds without running any financial risks and the speed of getting its mines into active production. One such project is the Burbanks Mine. To this end, in 2011, Barra Resources signed an agreement with FMR Investments to speed up the development of the Burbanks Mine. Desktop assessments and mine planning is currently continuing in advance of underground mining resuming at Burbanks in the near future.

Burbanks Shear is the Most Significant Gold Feature Within the Coolgardie Goldfield
The Burbanks Mining Centre is located adjacent to the Coolgardie-Nepean Road nine kilometres from Coolgardie on the same lease as the Burbanks Shear, the most significant gold producing feature within the entire mineral rich Coolgardie Goldfield.

Agreement Gives Burbanks Access to FMR's Greenfield Gold Processing Plant
The tribute arrangement Barra Resources signed with FMR Investments also provides access to the FMR Greenfields Gold Treatment Plant near the Burbanks Mine, it also gives Barra Resources access to FMR's considerable underground mining expertise. FMR being formerly known as mining contracting company Barminco.

Birthday Gift Underground Mine at Burbanks to be Main Beneficiary of the Agreement
The Burbanks Mining Centre includes the Birthday Gift underground gold mine that takes in Toms Pits, East, Christmas, and Lady Robinson mines, as well as the underground Main Lode to its north. The tribute agreement with FMR specifically refers to the development of the Birthday Gift Mine. Production from these open pit and underground operations has historically exceeded 400,000 ounces of gold. Most of it being recovered from the surface to no more than 140 metres deep. This has delivered 2,800 ounces of gold for every vertical metre. The Birthday Gift Mine itself grading at 27.4 grams of gold for each tonne of ore mined. This makes it one of the richest mines in the Eastern Goldfields. Historically there have been more than 20 small mining operations working the Burbank Shear exploiting its high grade mineralisation.

The agreement signed with FMR Investments requires FMR to fully fund the extension of the existing decline at the Birthday Gift gold mine as well as manage the whole mining operation for a profit split of 50/50. The initial focus is to mine the already known and identified high grade ore zones lying below areas of previous production from the old four level to the seven level.

Gold Processing Plant Servicing Local Miners for 20 Years
The FMR Greenfields Gold Processing Mill is located three kilometres from Coolgardie, adjacent to the Great Eastern Highway. It has been providing toll milling services to gold miners in the area for the last 20 years. It is unique in that it has three ball mills and the circuit can be optimised to suit the different users needs. This feature maximises the different miners' gold recovery. It can treat up to one million tonnes of gold bearing ore a year after being subjected to a number of upgrades over recent years.

Barra Resources Limited was incorporated in June 2000. its major shareholder was Barminco, that is now FMR, one of Australia's leading underground mining contractors.