Australia
Overview and Locality
Underground mining, carried out by Barminco under an alliance contract, is now the primary source of ore, following the cessation of mining in the open pit in 2014. The underground mine produces approximately 2.7Mt of ore annually, which is supplemented by low-grade stockpiles generated during open cut mining to fill the processing plant.
Ore from the Golden Delicious open pit, 12 km from the processing plant, will contribute approximately 1Mt of ore annually for several years to displace some of the stockpiled material from mill feed. Surface infrastructure in place includes the site’s gas-fired power station, sealed airstrip, accommodation village, Central Tailings Discharge facility and workshops
The 4.1 Mtpa processing plant comprises conventional gravity and CIL circuits and a flotation/fine grind circuit. A major multi-year underground exploration programme underway at the site has identified extensions to known mineralisation and several significant new ore zones.
A Brief History
Open pit production began in 1997 and the main pit was completed at a final depth of 500m below surface in 2014. Underground mining started in 2003 with a number of different mining methods being applied, depending on the style of mineralisation and grade of the geological domain.
Installation of a new fine grind and flotation circuit was completed in the second half of 2018. In 2021, mining commenced at the Golden Delicious satellite pit using open cut mining methods. A new higher-grade and shallower orebody, Frankie, was accessed by year-end 2021
Overview and Locality
Tropicana is a joint venture between AngloGold Ashanti Australia Ltd (70%), which manages the operation, and Regis Resources Ltd (30%).
Open pit and underground mining is carried out by Macmahon under an alliance contract. Open pit mining uses conventional drill and blast and load and haul methods, while underground mining uses jumbo development and mechanised open stoping. Since start-up, ore has been sourced from the Tropicana, Havana, Havana South and Boston Shaker pits. From 2021-2023 the Boston Shaker pit will be the main source of open cut ore while a major cutback of the Havana pit is carried out. Open pit material will be supplemented by approximately 1.2 Mtpa of ore mined from the Boston Shaker underground mine, and stockpiles.
The Tropicana processing plant has achieved a throughput capacity of between 8-9 Mtpa following several upgrades, including the installation of a second ball mill. The processing plant comprises a three-stage crushing circuit, inclusive of energy-efficient high-pressure grinding rolls, followed by conventional ball mill grinding and CIL recovery. Tropicana’s infrastructure includes a gas-fired power station, sealed airstrip, workshops, two borefields, a tailings facility and a modern village complex.