Australian surface contract mining heavyweight NRW will develop a small openpit for Bellevue Gold at its new A$250 million Bellevue gold project in Western Australia, with the harvesting of early ounces via planned toll treatment expected to deliver cash flow and material to build a tailings facility.
ASX-listed Bellevue Gold is targeting long-term production of circa-200,000 ounces of gold a year from a large new underground mine and one million tonnes per annum carbon-in-leach process plant at the site, 40km north of Leinster, starting in the second half of this year.
The company said an early openpit start late next month or early April could deliver ore containing up to 10,000oz from the Vanguard pit by mid-2023, “well in advance of the completion of the Bellevue processing facility”. Waste from the pit would form the basis of the Bellevue tailings facility.
Meanwhile, development of the Tribune boxcut was being brought forward to open up a fifth underground production front early, Bellevue Gold said. “Strategically, this will also provide options for drilling the southern extensions of the orebody from underground and allow for a top-down mining method, which will provide the most efficient method of accessing the orebody,” it said.
NRW is being paid about A$24 million to mine Vanguard and build Bellevue’s tailings dam, in line with Bellevue Gold’s pre-production capital expenditure forecast, according to the company.
It said the Tribune boxcut was scheduled to start straight after completion of the Vanguard pit.
“Construction of the 1Mtpa nameplate processing facility continues to advance on schedule and budget. Bulk and detailed earthworks for the processing plant site have all been fully completed, structural concrete on all critical infrastructure foundations has also been completed with only very minor concrete works remaining,” Bellevue Gold said.
“The erection of structural steel for the crushing circuit is well advanced, while both secondary and tertiary crushers are on site and ready for installation.
“Work is continuing on critical path CIL tanks, with five now at full height and well ahead of schedule.”
Underground contractor Develop now has three development jumbos in full-shift production and achieving a reported plus-300m per jumbo per month on mostly capital development.