Lawlers

The Lawlers gold mine, located about 660 kilometres north east of Perth in Western Australia and 23 kilometres from the gold mining town of Leinster, consists of an underground and open pit mine. It is part of the Yilgarn South mining operation that is made up of three gold mines; Darlot, Granny Smith and the Lawlers mine, often referred to as the New Holland mine.

First Lawlers Mine Owner and Operator was Plutonic Resources
The Lawlers Mine was originally owned and operated by Plutonic Resources that sold its interests to Homestake Mining Company in 1998. Homestake sold the mine to Barrick Gold at the end of 2001 and South African miner, Gold Fields, acquired Lawlers in August 2013 from Barrick Gold, along with the other two Yilgarn South gold mines Granny Smith and Darlot.

Gold Discovered at Lawler in 1892
Gold was discovered in the Yilgarn South area near the town of Lawler in 1892. The town being named after Patrick Lawler, the man who discovered the first gold there, in a creek bed. The town of Lawler has now long gone, with only the old police station remaining.

Lawlers Gold Bearing Ore Treated On-site
Oxide and sulphide gold bearing ore mined from the Lawlers Mine is treated on-site at the Lawlers gold treatment plant. At the end of 2012 proven and probable mineral reserves at the Lawlers Mine totalled 387,000 ounces of gold. The three mines in the area that make up the Yilgarn South gold mining operation have an annual gold production of 452,000 ounces. They have 2.6 million ounces of gold in reserves and 1.9 million ounces available as a resource.

Lawlers Purchase Boosts Gold Fields's Production
The latest purchase of the three Western Australian mines by Gold Fields makes their Australian assets their biggest gold production centre, as the South African listed company already owns the Agnew and St Ives gold mines in Western Australia. Forty two percent of Gold Fields total gold production now comes from its Australian interests, Ghana produces 34 percent, Peru 13 percent and South Africa 11 percent.

Lawlers Mine to be Combined With the Agnew Mine Operations
An attractive feature in Gold Fields acquiring the Lawlers mine was its proximity to the company's already owned Agnew gold mine. This gives the company the opportunity to operate both mines, in the future, as one entity. By doing this it will be rationalising the processing infrastructure and on-site administration costs. The Agnew gold mine is known as being one of the lowest cost gold producers in Australia and the amalgamation of the Lawlers acquisition, with this successful operation, will assist it in also becoming a low cost operation into the future. An important aspect of gold mining as the world gold price continues to fluctuates.

Workers Looked After at the Lawlers Mine
Workers at the Lawlers Mine are accommodated on-site when rostered on. The accommodation includes all messing facilities, a recreation room and gymnasium, squash courts, swimming pool and Foxtel television.
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