Overview of Operations
The Company's goal is to build a profitable mid-tier Australian-based gold mining company.
Bendigo Mining is producing gold at is wholly-owned operations at the Kangaroo Flat Mine in Victoria and the Henty Gold mine in Tasmania.
The Kangaroo Flat Mine is located towards the southern end of wholly-owned Bendigo Goldfield, Australia's second largest goldfield having produced some 22 million ounces of gold, to an average depth of 750 metres. Production of around 30-40,000 oz gold is currently planned. Exploration is continuing beneath and along from historic mines on the richest lines of mineralisation within the goldfield.
The Henty Gold Mine has been in operation for 13 years and has produced in excess of one million ounces of gold at an average grade of 12 g/t gold. Bendigo Mining acquired the mine in July 2009 and plans to produce at a similar rate to the Kangaroo Flat Mine during Calender 2009.
Future production at both sites is dependent on the ongoing conversion of resources to reserves and results from exploration. At both mines, the exploration focus is on building resources in the respective mining lease areas, with the aim of delivering a reliable and growing base of gold production.
At the Bendigo Goldfield, the strategy is targeting resources down to a depth of around 1000 m, beneath and along from historic mines, on the richest lines of mineralisation within the goldfield. The key lines are Garden Gully and New Chum as they accounted for some 70% of historic production. At Henty, the strategy is to target untested areas for near mine extensions of known mineralisation and to also test for potential repetitions of the mineralised system, up-dip and across strike.
Exploration drilling is conducted from underground locations in both Kangaroo Flat Mine and the Henty Gold Mine both of which have been developed down to depths of some 900 metres and over strike lengths of some three kilometres. Both mines have multiple targets which remain untested.
Assets such as a 600,000 t/y process plant at Kangaroo Flat and the 300,000 t/y process plant at Henty, together with similar capacity mining equipment and infrastructure (ventilation, water treatment plant and pipelines) are in place to capitalise on any future exploration success.
