Bungarra Open Pit Mining Operation
Bungarra Gold Mine at the North Laverton Gold Project (NLGP)
The Bungarra Open Pit commenced mining in December 2020 and is the first of the Open Pit mining operations within the NLGP to be brought into operation. Stage One of the Bungarra Pit is planned to be mined throughout 2021 with gold ore being transported by road to a nearby processing facility. First ore was mined from the pit in March 2021 and mining remains on track to deliver Bullseye's first gold production in the September Quarter 2021.
Bullseye's JV partner Blue Cap Mining mobilised a mining fleet including 6 x CAT777 Trucks, 1 x 150T Hydraulic Excavator, 1 x 80T Hydraulic Excavator and associated auxiliary fleet in late 2020.
The mining fleet was mobilised to Bullseye’s flagship North Laverton Gold Project in October and November 2020, ready to commence mining operations at the Bungarra open pit.
Extensive site and infrastructure works took place in late 2020, in preparation to break first ground at the Bungarra Project. The image above shows the site offices in the foreground, with the Run of Mine (ROM) Pad and waste-dump being established to the centre-right and rear-right. A Turkey’s Nest (water storage) is seen to the centre-left, with the Bungarra open-pit in the background, ready for mining to commence.
A momentous occasion as first ground is broken with the ‘first blast’ at the Bungarra Gold mine in December 2020.
Mining commenced at Bungarra in December 2020 with a modern and high-quality Caterpillar (CAT) and Liebherr mining fleet. The mining of Bungarra has involved the removal of a significant overburden of waste tonnes, taking over 4 months to remove, prior to reaching the Gold ore.
Excavation and development works have steadily progressed over recent months. The image above shows the defining of the Bungarra open-pit in the foreground, with the ROM Pad to the top-right and the waste-dump to the top-left.
The joint venture has been very fortunate to develop a highly competent and skilled mining team, during what has been a very buoyant and busy time for the West Australian mining industry, with skilled personnel in high demand.
The image above shows strong development of the Bungarra open-pit as it approaches ‘Pay-Dirt’ in March 2021 and mining Gold ore and progressively stocking the ore on the ROM Pad in preparation for road haulage to the Gold processing plant.
The above image shows the Bungarra mine site in late April 2021 with mining of Gold ore progressing rapidly. The Bungarra open-pit can be seen in the foreground-right, with the Bungarra mine camp in the background-right. The main waste dump can be seen centre-left, with the ROM Pad in the background-left and the Gold ore stockpiles steadily increasing.
The image above is a recent in-pit shot at the Bungarra Gold mine and provides an indication of the current depth of the open-pit. The large 130 tonne Liebherr 9150 Excavator provides a good scale reference.
The above image shows the ROM Pad in May 2021 with approximately 50,000 tonnes of high-grade Gold ore ready for road haulage to the toll treatment plant to then be processed into Gold bars.
Ore Haulage
The haulage of ore from the Bungarra Mine commenced in July with 4 triple road trains hauling Bungarra ore to the Wiluna Gold Processing Centre. Since that time, the number of road trains has gradually stepped-up to 8, with an additional 2 further road trains due to join the haulage fleet during this month.
To date, over 26,000 wet tonnes of ore have now been hauled to the Wiluna Gold Processing Centre with additional Stage 1 Bungarra tonnes arriving daily by road train and batch processing due to commence in September 2021, followed by the pouring of Bullseye’s first Gold Bar.
ROM Stockpiles at the Bungarra Gold Mine
Mine-site ore stockpiles continue to grow as Bungarra mining advances, with a further approximately 85,000 wet tonnes of ore currently situated on the Bungarra ROM stockpiles to be progressively hauled to the Wiluna Gold Processing Centre.
ROM Stockpiles at the Wiluna Gold Processing Centre
Bungarra ore is accumulating daily on the Wiluna ROM surface stockpile shown below, where 26,000+ wet tonnes @ 3.5g/t Au, of Bungarra Gold ore has so far been hauled in preparation for processing at the Wiluna Gold Processing Centre in September
Bungarra Open Pit Mining
Stage 1 mining is now successfully completed at Bungarra.
Stage 2 open pit mining has now successfully commenced at Bungarra.
The Bullseye/Blue Cap joint venture is now actively assessing further stages of the Bungarra Gold Mine and will update shareholders in due course.
The approximate outline of the Stage 2 open pit at Bungarra is shown below.
Stage 2 mining operations now successfully underway.
