$167m mining revival brings back 200+ jobs to CQ

A proven gold producer has received the nod to resume mining operations in Central Queensland, reviving more than 200 jobs.

The Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection recently granted final approval for Resolute Mining’s amended Environmental Authority (EA) about recommencement of mining at the Sarsfield Open Pit within the Ravenswood Expansion Project, 95km southwest of Townsville.

The EA satisfies requirements for resuming mining, and extends the Resolute’s local operations for a further 13 years to at least 2029. It is anticipated to increase average annual gold production to more than 120,000 ounces, and generate life-of-mine all-in sustaining costs of $1166 per ounce.

“The amended EA we have received is a critically important aspect of our plans to expand production and extend the mine life of our Ravenswood Gold Mine. We have already successfully recommenced open pit mining at the nearby Nolans East Pit and have increased processing capacity to 2.8 million tonnes per annum while we continue underground operations at Mt Wright,” managing director and CEO John Welborn says.

“The next stage of our expansion plans require approvals to recommence mining activities at the Sarsfield Open Pit Mine before advancing to the adjacent Buck Reef West Deposit.”

BGC Contracting previously won the operational tender, and is collecting expressions of interest for dozens of roles, including:

• administration – expression of interest various mining / civil
• allrounder operator – expression of interest civil (NSW)
• civil operators – expression of interest civil (Qld)
• civil operators – expression of interest civil (WA)
• commercial manager – expression of interest civil (NSW)
• community and stakeholder officer – expression of interest civil (NSW)
• concreter – expression of interest civil (NSW)
• concreter – expression of interest civil (WA)
• construction manager – expression of interest civil (WA)
• environmental manager – expression of interest civil (WA)
• experienced drill and blast personnel – expression of interest mining (WA)
• formwork carpenter – expression of interest civil (NSW)
• formwork carpenter – expression of interest civil (WA)
• graduate engineer – expression of interest civil (Qld)
• graduate engineer – expression of interest civil (WA)
• graduate engineer – expression of interest civil (NSW)
• HSE manager – expression of interest civil (NSW)
• HSET coordinator – expression of interest mining (Qld)
• maintenance superintendent/supervisor-expression of interest mining (Qld)
  management – expression of interest various mining / civil
• mining plant operator – expression of interest mining (Qld)
• mining plant operator – expression of interest mining (SA) Whyalla
• mining plant operator – expression of interest mining (WA)
• mobile plant support services trades – expression of interest civil (Qld)
• mobile plant support services trades – expression of interest mining (WA)
• mobile plant tradesperson – expression of interest civil (Qld)
• mobile plant tradesperson – expression of interest mining (WA)
• mobile plant tradespersons – expression of interest mining (SA) Iron Knob Operations (Whyalla)
• OHP operators – expressions of interest mining (WA)
• planner – expression of interest civil (NSW)
• planning manager – expression of interest civil (WA)
• production supervisor – expression of interest mining (Qld)
• project engineers – expression of interest various mining / civil
• project manager – expression of interest civil (NSW)
• project manager – expression of interest civil (WA)
• quality manager – expression of interest civil (WA)
• quality manager – expression of interest civil (NSW)
• quantity surveyor – expression of interest civil (NSW)
• safety manager – expression of interest civil (WA)
• senior project engineer – expression of interest civil (NSW)
• site administrator – expression of interest mining (Qld)
• site engineer – expression of interest civil (WA)
• site engineer – expression of interest civil (Qld)
• site engineer – expression of interest civil (NSW)
• steel fixer – expression of interest civil (NSW)
• superintendent – expression of interest civil (NSW)
• surveyor – expression of interest civil (NSW)
• trainee dump truck operators – expression of interest mining (WA)

Click here to apply: bgc.cc/careers/our-vacancies

Resolute previously received prescribed project status from the State Government.

“The approval to recommence mining at Sarsfield is a testament to our status as a responsible operator and also demonstrates the collaborative support we are receiving from the Queensland Government and local agencies. The prescribed project status has streamlined administrative decisions and allowed for improved communication between the various stakeholders,” Welborn says.

“The Ravenswood Expansion Project balances the important local and regional interests of heritage, environmental impacts, economic development, and community. Extending the mine life at our Ravenswood operations will help maintain long-term employment for our local workforce of approximately 280 people and provide a short-term boost of up to 100 new construction jobs … the amended approval allows us to process and place additional tailings resulting from our expansion plans using an innovative dry stacked tailing system.

“We will now work with the various Queensland Government agencies, using the assistance of the Coordinator General’s department, to ensure the remaining approvals we require, most importantly for open pit mining to commence at Buck Reef West, are also received on a timely basis”.

During 2016 Resolute completed a feasibility study, which established a 13-year mine life for the operation based on a return to large scale open pit mining at the Nolans East, Buck Reef West and Sarsfield deposits.

The project will follow this development sequence:

• Mt Wright underground operations continuing until eventual closure (2017)
• open pit mining recommenced from Nolans East and continuing (2017)
• processing capacity increased to 2.8 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa)
• regulatory approvals for recommencement of mining at Sarsfield obtained in (March 2017)
• regulatory approvals for open pit mining of Buck Reef West expected in (mid-2018)
• expansion of the mill to 5Mtpa from FY2018

Resolute originally initiated the EA process required to reopen the Sarsfield Pit in 2011. A draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was submitted in 2012, and then progressed through the submission process until being suspended pending further design changes.

A revised EIS was submitted in 2014 and then progressed through the EIS completion phase with the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection issuing an EIS Assessment Report in June 2014. The REP contained a number of key changes to the project to address some of the key issues raised in the EIS Assessment Report.

Key changes include:

• modification of the proposed tailings management system which now includes a Dry Stack Tailings Storage Facility (DSTSF) within and adjacent to the existing Nolans Pit; A change to the project footprint area due to a reduction in the Waste Rock Dump (WRD) footprint and location of the DSTSF (reduced in volume due to dry stacking), in an area of existing land disturbance
• plan to manage accumulated legacy water in the Sarsfield Pit using a Reverse Osmosis Plant, instead of evaporative fans as originally proposed

Resolute hopes to finalise its Ravenswood Mining Landscape and Chinese Settlement Heritage Agreement by mid-2017 and the Buck Reef West Environmental Authority Amendment by mid-2018.