A revised geological model established for the orebody, which takes into account operational experience to date and actual grades achieved during mining, has cut 120,000 ounces from the reserves.
Eldridge, about 200km south-west of Cairns, now has proved reserves of 5.39 million tonnes grading at 1.31 grams per tonne for 226,966oz of contained gold and probable reserves of 737,000t at 1.08gpt for 25,590oz of contained gold.
Gold production for 2000 has also been revised downwards to 240,000oz from about 290,000oz, after which 100,000oz is expected to be produced for the remainder of the mine life until closure in mid-2001.
“The same amount of material will be mined as originally planned, but at a lower gold content,” said company spokesman Ian Williams. “It has been an enormously successful mine, but it really is in its closure phase.”
“We have extended the minelife several times since operations began in 1984, but exploration for further deposits in the area has proven fruitless.
“During the 1980s the mine produced the second highest yield in Australia and returned $335 million to shareholders over its life.”
The deposit was originally wholly-owned by Canadian miner Placer Dome, which was forced to float Kidston Gold Mines in the early 1980s to satisfy Australian foreign ownership regulations.
