Hill 50 galaxy pits

The Mt Magnet gold project is located in the Murchison Goldfield 600 kilometres north of Perth. It consists of a number of open pit and underground gold mines of which Hill 50-Galaxy Pits was the largest and most productive over many years of operation.

Ramelius Resources Purchased Hill 50-Galaxy Pits in 2010
Ramelius Resources is the also owner of the Wattle Dam Gold Mine. It
purchased the Hill-50-Galaxy Pits in mid 2010 and has since been busy proving up resources before deciding on when will be the most favourable time to recommence production at the mine. In April 2011 Ramelius Resources approved the ongoing development of the Mt Magnet Project with the main focus being placed on redeveloping the Titan, Saturn and Mars open pits. These pits have become known as the Galaxy mining area.

Hill 50-Galaxy Pits Established in a Rich Mining Area
The Mt Magnet Project, that includes the Hill 50-Galaxy Pits, is located on long established prospecting and established mining leases covering an area of 225,000 square kilometres. Historical mining on these tenements has so far produced more than 5.6 million ounces of gold since mining began in the area in 1891. The Hill 50 underground mine itself produced 2.1 million ounces of gold itself making it the largest gold producer of the group before it closed in 2007. At the time of closure mining was being carried out to a depth of 1,500 metres.

The Hill 50 Mine is situated four kilometres north west of Mt Magnet itself and up until the time it was purchased by Ramelius Resources Limited, in 2010, it was owned by Harmony Gold who had earlier placed it on care and maintenance in 2007. For a short time in 2008 it was owned by Monarch Gold Mining Company but this company went into administration shortly after and never got around to producing any gold. The mine ownership was then returned to Harmony Gold. Harmony Gold acquired the Hill 50 Mine in 2002 from a company named Hill 50 Gold NL. Before that, between 1974 and 1988, the Hill 50 Mine was partly owned by WMC Resources and Hill 50 Gold Mine Limited . Hill 50 Gold Mine Limited had owned the mine from 1934.

Hill 50 Mine Began Production in 1936
Hill 50 Gold Mines Limited was initially incorporated in 1934 and mining commenced at the Hill 50 Mine in 1936. By the outbreak of World War Two the mine had produced 13,500 ounces. Mining continued throughout the war with a reduced workforce despite its reserves falling to 73,000 tonnes during the wartime period. In 1949 successful drilling increased reserves and the mine remained open. In 1956 a steel shaft bought across from Broken Hill was erected at the mine.
Between 1955 and 1961 the Hill 50 Mine was Australia's most profitable gold mine producing almost 100,000 ounces of gold annually. However, after 1961 the ore quality dropped off and mining at a depth of over 1,000 metres was proving problematic. It closed for the first time in 1976 after producing 1.4 million ounces of gold from the mining of 3.6 million tonnes of ore.

The Hill 50-Galaxy Pits Preferred Over Re-development of the Underground Mine
The Hill 50 Mine opened again in the 1980's and ultimately became part of Harmony Gold's operations. Harmony claimed the mine lacked production reserves, closed it in December 2007 and put it on the market. However, Harmony was not able to find a buyer, apart from the short stint with the
ill-fated Monarch Gold Mining Company, and it was then decided to look seriously at the option of incorporating Hill 50-Galaxy Pits into the one large super pit rather than reopen the underground operation known as the Galaxy Mining Area.
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