Hera

The Hera underground gold mining project is being developed by YTC Resources 100 kilometres south east of Cobar in western New South Wales. The project involves underground mining development in the Cobar Basin near the town of Nymagee.

The Hera Project is Being Developed by YTC Resources Limited
YTC Resources Limited is a mineral exploration and development
company based on Orange New South Wales that began the Hera underground project in January 2013 with full scale development taking place in March 2013, following it receiving Major Project Approval from the New South Wales government in August 2012.

PYBAR Awarded Contract to Develop and Operate the Hera Underground Operation
Construction of the Hera project surface earthworks was carried out by Neills Earthmoving of Nyngan in NSW. This work entailed the construction of the site access road, a three stage tailings storage facility, sediment basins and water catchment dams. PYBAR mining contracting company has been chosen to develop and operate the underground operation.

Hera Mine to Produce Gold Dore as Well as Lead and Zinc Concentrate
The Hera Project gold processing plant is being constructed by Gekko Systems of Ballarat in Victoria. The processing plant contains the following main components; primary and secondary crushing, milling, gravity gold circuit, rougher flotation, regrind, leach circuit and Merrill Crowe and cleaner flotation. When completed the processing plant will be able to produce gold dore as well as bulk lead and zinc concentrate.

Hera Mine to Produce 350,000 Tonnes of ore a Year
The underground operation being undertaken by PYBAR Mining Services will use the sub-level bench stoping method of mining that will be able to operate at a peak production rate of 350,000 tonnes of ore a year. In order to achieve overall stability of the Hera underground gold mine the pillars are to remain in-situ within the ore body to ensure stope dimensions are kept below recommended sizes. The mine is to be broken up into stoping areas by placement of cemented rock fill sill pillars so that open stopes without fill can be limited to 100 vertical metres within each lens. The cemented rock fill will be used in the areas where a higher grade of ore is located as this approach will allow adjacent stopes to be mined along strike without the need for pillars.

The development of the underground mining operation will be carried out by means of a conventional and proven drill and blasting method that is practiced in most metalliferous underground mines in Australia.

Hera Development to Co-exist With the Nymagee Copper Project
The Hera gold mining project being undertaken by YTC Resources Limited is the first stage of a two stage mining development known as the Hera ñ Nymagee project. The Hera gold mining project is being developed first to fast track revenue in order to self fund the development and integration of the larger Nymagee high grade copper deposit. An accommodation camp has also been constructed to house the mine workforce.

YTC Resources Limited is planning to incorporate the Hera gold and Nymagee copper mines into a combined operation that produces zinc, lead, silver, copper and gold. In the initial stages the Hera development represents a high margin, mining and processing activity that can be built on to ensure the ultimate success of the Nymagee operation.
†