The Tomingley gold mission positioned in New South Wales (NSW), Australia is being developed by Alkane Sources as each open-pit and underground mine.
The mission obtained the mining lease in February 2013 following which development commenced. Mining operations commenced in January 2014 and the primary gold bar was produced in February 2014.
In February 2023, the planning for the $30m extension of the Tomingley gold mission was accredited.
The mission will double the lifetime of the mine till 2031 and produce 745,000oz of gold.
Tomingley gold mission location, geology
The gold mine is positioned to the south of Tomingley village and roughly 15km to the north of Peak Hill gold mine.
The open-cut mining operations embody Wyoming Three, Caloma One and Caloma Two whereas the Wyoming One is operated as an underground mine.
The Tomingley deposit is positioned inside the Japanese Belt (or the Macquarie Arc) of the early Palaeozoic Lachlan Orogen.
The Lachlan Orogen, categorised into Western, Central and Japanese Belts, contains sedimentary, volcanic and intrusive rocks of early Cambrian to early Devonian age.
Reserves
The confirmed and possible reserves at Tomingley are estimated to be roughly 11.2 tonnes (t) grading 1.9g/t of gold, as of February 2024.
The whole contained gold is estimated to be 664,000oz.
Mining methodology
The Tomingley gold mission is mined utilizing each open-pit and underground mining strategies.
Standard drill and blast adopted by load and haul are used on the open-pit mines of the Tomingley gold mission, whereas a longhole stoping methodology of mining is used on the Wyoming One underground mine, accessible by way of a portal.
The underground decline was developed utilizing a drill and blast methodology whereas the load-haul-dump unit transported the fragmented materials to the loading bay.
The mined-out stopes are backfilled utilizing waste rock materials sourced from the concurrent underground mine growth.
Tomingley gold extension mission particulars
The Tomingley gold extension mission will lengthen gold mining operations to incorporate the San Antonio and Roswell (SAR) assets to the south of the prevailing mine.
The mission consists of the event of an underground mine at Roswell and a big open-cut pit at San Antonio.
The proposed SAR open reduce will mix the San Antonio and Roswell deposits, with as much as three subpits.
The underground part on the Roswell deposit commenced in April 2024 and utilises an exploration drive that extends from Wyoming One.
Ore processing at Tomingley gold mine
The extracted ore is transported to the run-of-mine (ROM) pad by way of haul vans and is mixed by the front-end loader and delivered to the ROM coarse ore feed bin.
It’s then taken to the first jaw crusher with a throughput capability of 170t per hour. The underground loader fleet is deliberate to be upgraded to the newest CAT 2900XE diesel-electric loaders by 2024.
The crushed ore passes by a sequence of conveyors earlier than screening. The outsized materials is distributed to a secondary crusher for additional crushing whereas the undersized materials is taken to the surge bin.
The ore is handled within the carbon-in-leach circuit adopted by carbon leaching and electro-winning course of.
Gold dore bars are produced on website and saved earlier than being transferred to a gold refinery. Tailings are saved within the Residue storage facility positioned south of the processing plant.
Infrastructure amenities on the Tomingley mine
Main works included the development of three waste rock emplacements, a haulage street underpass beneath the Newell Freeway, a ROM pad, a processing plant, a crushing and grinding circuit, a carbon-in-leach processing plant, website workplaces, and related infrastructure.
The mine is accessed by way of a street connecting the positioning to the Tomingley West Street.
A brand new bypass part for the freeway is being constructed because the SAR deposits are positioned beneath the Newell Freeway.
The present Kyalite Street may even be realigned because it runs by the proposed SAR open reduce.
Water is provided by the 46km-long water provide pipeline from Woodlands property located 7km east of Narromine.
Financing for the Tomingley gold mission
The gold mine was financed by a $107m mortgage facility taken for growing the Tomingley and Dubbo Zirconia tasks.
Contractors concerned
Mintrex was awarded the engineering, procurement, development and upkeep contract for the mission.
Mintrex awarded Interquip the structural, mechanical, and piping development contract for the Tomingley gold processing plant.
RW Corkery was engaged to conduct an environmental evaluation research for the gold mine.