Name: Higginsville Gold Operations.

Location: About 75 km south of the Beta Hunt mine, in Higginsville, Western Australia.

Mine Owner/s: Karora Resources.

Brief Description: The Higginsville Gold Operations include 192 mining tenements, including the Baloo, Pioneer, Fairplay North, Mitchell, Wills, Challenge and Mount Henry deposits.

Mining is being conducted from the Baloo and Fairplay North openpit mines.

Brief History: Avoca Resources acquired the Higginsville exploration assets from Gold Fields in June 2004.

The Trident underground deposit, historically the biggest deposit at the Higginsville Gold Operations, was discovered by Avoca in the same year, with mining starting at the deposit in 2007. In April 2007, Avoca bought the neighbouring Chalice deposit from Chalice Gold Mines. Gold production began in 2008, with the first gold poured in July 2008.

Alacer Gold Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alacer Gold, acquired the Higginsville operation after it had merged with Avoca Resources in 2011.

Alacer Gold Corporations completed the sale of its Australian business unit in October 2013, which included the Higginsville Gold Operations and its assets, to Metals X subsidiary Westgold Resources.

In July 2015 Metals X acquired the Mt Henry gold project from Panoramic Resources and Matsa Resources.

Westgold Resources demerged from Metals X in December 2016. Avoca remained a subsidiary of Westgold Resources and was part of the resultant demerger.

Karora Resources acquired HGO from Westgold Resources in June 2019.

Primary Metals/Minerals: Gold.

Secondary Metals/Minerals: None stated.

Geology/Mineralisation: Higginsville is located almost entirely within the well-mineralised Archean Kalgoorlie Terrane, between the Norseman and Saint Ives gold mining centres. The Archaean stratigraphy has a general northward trend, comprising deformed ultramafic gabbro basalt successions adjoined by sediments to the west and east. Shearing and faulted contacts are common. The units have been structurally repeated by east- over west-thrust faulting.

The majority of gold mineralisation is found along the Trident line of lode and is hosted by Poseidon gabbro and high magnesium oxide dyke complexes.

Mineralisation is hosted within or marginal to quartz veining and is structurally and lithologically controlled. Higginsville is also host to significant palaeochannel mineralisation. Mineralised zones comprise placer gold, generally near the base of the channel-fill sequences, and chemically precipitated secondary gold within the channel-fill materials and underlying saprolite. These gold concentrations commonly overlie or are adjacent to primary mineralised zones within Archaean bedrock.

Reserves: Total proven and probable reserves as at September 30, 2020, were estimated at 17.75-million tonnes grading 1.5 g/t gold.

Resources: Total measured and indicated resources as at September 30, 2020, were estimated at 29.99-million tonnes grading 1.5 g/t gold. Inferred resources were estimated at 4.58-million tonnes grading 2.1 g/t gold.

Mining Method: Openpit and underground.

Major Infrastructure and Equipment: Processing is conducted through Karora Resources' 1.4-million-tonne-a-year Higginsville processing plant.

The mine includes tailings storage facilities, openpit and underground mines, as well as haul roads.

The current workforce  is  accommodated  on  site  during its rostered-on periods.

Prospects: The processing plant is being expanded from 1.4-million tonnes a year to 1.6-million tonnes a year. Thereafter, the facility is expected to be expanded to a capacity of 2.5-million tonnes by 2024.

Contact Details:
Karora Resources
Tel +1 416 363 0649
Email info@karoraresources.com
Website https://www.karoraresources.com/