Raleigh

The Raleigh underground gold mine, that is located 20 kilometres from Kalgoorlie in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia, belongs to the Kanowna group of mines that includes the Kanowna Belle and Bullant mines as well as the Raleigh mine itself. All three mines are owned by global miner Barrick Gold.

The Raleigh mine is mined by long hole stoping as well as long hole bench stoping that incorporates paste backfill methods. The mine also incorporates a geotechnical ground support system that optimises the mining sequence that effectually minimises ground stress introduced by the underground mining operation. Gold deposit stacked lenses at the Raleigh mine have been identified to exist to a depth of over 1000 metres across a strike length of 600 metres.

Gold From the Raleigh Mine is Processed at the Kanowna Belle Mill
The first discovery of gold at Kanowna occurred in 1893 and during 2010, 251,000 ounces was produced from both free milling and refractory ore types. The ore recovered from the Raleigh gold mine is processed at the Kanowna Belle mill where it is crushed to a uniform 200mm. It is then subjected to a two stage grinding operation that consists of ball and SAG milling after which it is treated to a floatation process. The resulting floatation concentrate is washed, thickened and subjected to a two stage roasting process. When this process is completed it is nearing the final stage where it is subjected to leaching with cyanide. This forces the gold to be captured by means of activated carbon in seven adsorption vessels. The carbon is then stripped and gold electrowinned with the use of steel wool. The final stage itself occurs when the gold is smelted into gold bars. The tailings are also treated in a similar manner before being finally disposed of. Over 1.8 million tonnes of ore is processed at the Kanowna Belle Processing Mill each year.

Raleigh Gold Mine Survived an Earthquake in 2010
In April 2010 the Raleigh underground gold mine had to be evacuated temporarily owning to an earthquake. It was the first earthquake to hit the area for 16 years and much damage was done to many of the older buildings in Kalgoorlie, some required demolishing. However, no damage was occasioned at the Raleigh mine and when the aftershocks ceased production resumed.

The Three Mines are all that's Left of a Once Vibrant Mining Town
The three underground mines of Kanowna Belle, Raleigh and Bullant are all that's left of the once vibrant mining town that existed there. There is no town of Kanowna anymore but in 1905 it was home to 12,000 people. The town which is now no more than memories and rubble once boasted no less than two breweries and 16 hotels. There was also a train service into Kalgoorlie, 20 kilometres away that ran an hourly timetable. Kanowna was originally known as 'White Feather' after gold was first discovered there in 1893. A year later so many people descended on the area a town site had been selected and by 1895 a battery was opened to service the 4,000 miners who had arrived. Kanowna was declared a municipality in its own right in 1896.

Over the following years the gold got harder to find and in many cases rich lodes were well hidden beneath rock at greater depths. When the depression of the 1930's arrived the post office and railway were forced to close. The local school closed after the Second World War and when the final hotel closed in 1952 it was the last straw for the remainder of the population. Workers at the three mines currently working at Kanowna now live in Kalgoorlie and drive into work each day.