Centenary

The Centenary gold mine in the Yilgarn District of mid east Western Australia is a part of the Darlot gold project, 58 kilometres from Leinster. The Centenary deposit was discovered in 1996 and it was first mined by Homestake Mining Company in 1998. The first owner of the deposit, however, was Plutonic Resources, one of Australia's major gold exploration and mining companies. However, Plutonic never worked the deposit in its own name and it was not until Plutonic was acquired by Homestake before the deposit bacame mined. Homestake was acquired by Barrick Gold, a Canadian based global gold miner, in 2001.

Centenary Gold Mine Operated by Barrick Gold Since 2008

Barrick Gold have continued operating the Centenary-Darlot gold mine since early 2008 in conjunction with its Yilgarn South group of gold mines that consist of the following:

All three mines are situated within the Yandal Greenstone Belt.

Centenary Ore Processed at Yilgarn South Mining Centre

All ore from Barrick Gold's Yilgarn South group is processed at the Yilgarn South Mining Centre by means of a traditional carbon in leach (CIL) process and in 2010 the group produced 314,000 ounces of gold. At the end of December that year Centenary ñ Darlot had contributed 723,000 tonnes of ore at a grading of 5.3745 grams a tonne which delivered the company 120,000 ounces in its own right.

Gold ore Reserves Total Three Million Tonnes

Probable and proven gold reserves at the end of 2010 stood at almost three million tonnes of ore at a grading of 4.262 grams a tonne that would deliver 402,856 ounces of gold. The inferred, indicated and measured resource stood at just over two million tonnes, with a grading of 5.320 gram per tonne that could be expected to produce 346,000 plus ounces of gold.

New Mining Fleet Introduced in 2008

The Centenary underground mine is worked via a room and pillar method with a decline access. The earlier open pit operation has ceased mining operations. In 2008 Barrick Gold upgraded its entire load and haulage fleet with the intention of increasing output while using less more efficient equipment. The new fleet supplied by Sandvik, which is contracted to supply the mining equipment at the centerary Mine, consisted of Three TH660 60 tonne underground haulage trucks andrnLH62-21 tonne capacity loaders. This is the only loader in the world with an authentic 21 tonne capacity. The marriage of the two means that a maximum load can be achieved with only three loader passes required.

Sandvik LH621 Loader Reaches 30,000 Hours

The previous loader at the mine was an old Sandvik LH621 (Toro 11). It was the second such loader built in the world and at the time of its replacement was the oldest such loader still in use anywhere in the globe. This specific loader passed the 30,000 hour mark on Valentines Day 2008. It is believed that no other loader anywhere has ever reached that milestone. It averaged 100 hours a week for six years and has undergone a rebuild which saw it back at work loading ore at the mine for another 30,000 hours.