Groundrush - a model mine!
Gold was first discovered in the
Tanami Desert of the Northern Territory
in 1900; over the next 30 years small
amounts were extracted from alluvial
deposits and quartz veins. Modern
mining began in 1983, and Newmont
Australia Ltd (formerly Normandy
NFM) now operates an underground
mine in the area. Groundrush is 100
km north of The Granites Gold Mine
and 650 km northwest of Alice Springs.
VULCAN was chosen for Groundrush
because it was already in use at
several Newmont sites in Australia, and the
standardisation would facilitate transfer
of technical staff between sites.
Mining began at Newmont’s Groundrush
open pit in September 2001 and finished in
September 2004, almost three years to the
day. Site rehabilitation and demobilisation
was completed just one week later!
Six years earlier, the Talbot South Exploration
Licence Application was acquired from
Pegasus (formerly Zapopan) as part of a
package that included known deposits at The
Granites. No previous modern exploration had
been conducted on the ground.
The surface expression of the deposit
showed a classical bullseye target of
anomalous gold covering nearly 10 square
kilometres. The prospect was identified from
a quartz outcrop visible in air photos; when
the exploration team arrived on the ground,
visible gold was found amongst the quartz.
Exploration in 1998 quickly discovered the
extent of the Groundrush project using soil
sampling. Drilling confirmed its prospectivity.
By the end of 1999 it was obvious that
Groundrush was an economic deposit; a
program of detailed drilling enabled the
calculation of a resource. In early 2001, the
resource was stated at 740,000 ounces at an
average grade of 4.6 g/t.
Groundrush gold mine
www.vulcan3d.com
Model of Groundrush open pit with 3D orebodies
A detailed feasibility study during 2000-2001
compared the economics of the different
options for treating the Groundrush ore:
building a new mill; trucking ore to The
Granites; or trucking and treatment at the
Tanami Mill. The latter was the best option.
Mining commenced less than three years
after initial exploration. The open cut mining
contractor has mined 30 Mt of waste to extract
4.4 Mt of ore at an average grade of 4.4 g/t.
This is close to 600,000 ounces of gold.
Mining was staged in four sub-pits to allow
a blend of oxide and sulphide ore to be fed
into the mill at all times. The deepest part of
the pit is 150 m below the surface; the final
pit is 1.6 km long and up to 400 metres wide
in places.
The secondary haulage contractor has
trucked over 3.5 Mt of ore to the mill, and
will complete the job by mid 2005, weather
permitting. A significant wet weather stockpile
has been built up at the mill and the haul road
was sealed to ensure continuity
of supply.
VULCAN has been used at
Groundrush since inception, for
all technical services including
geology, grade control, survey,
engineering and open cut design.
Maptek consultants set up
systems on site to streamline
use of the Hole Design and
Blockout options.
Geologists used VULCAN
to design grade control and
exploration holes; these were
then exported via an ODBC link to a
Datashed database. Laboratory assay data
was imported into the database and viewed
in VULCAN. As grade control data came
in, a block model was updated for grade
estimation using multiple indicator kriging.
Ore blockout was done based on the block
model and known geological contacts.
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Field mapping information was input
into a VULCAN geotechnical database,
and was used to define unstable wall
areas for further monitoring.
Mapping data and drill logs were
used to build a 3D geological model
in VULCAN, tied in with wall photos
registered onto pit wall triangulations,
allowing the geologist to build up a
very accurate picture of the geology of
the deposit.
End of month data was generated in
VULCAN and used for reconciliation of actual
grade against estimated grades from the
resource model.
The survey team used VULCAN for all mine
survey tasks and to maintain their survey
database. New pit surveys were added
seamlessly to the model, so geologists and
mine planners could access the data.
The engineering department used VULCAN
to design and modify pits, and to plot maps
for weekly production meetings. Because
VULCAN was used by all technical services
teams, modelling and mine planning was
accomplished more efficiently.
Groundrush also worked towards achieving a
streamlined interface between the mining and
environmental departments and the mining
contractors. Rehabilitation best practice of
the overburden and site was an important
aspect of the planning, and final rehabilitation
sign-off was achieved in the same month as
mine closure. A factor in the success of this
model mine has been the ability to access
and share data effectively.
Pit model showing drillholes
Thanks to Vern Langdale
Open Cut Mine Superintendent
Tony Macolino, Exploration Geologist
Groundrush Operation
Reproduced from Forge 4 2004
©2004 Maptek Pty Ltd info@maptek.com.au