Granny Smith gold mine - Key developments and material issues
- Exploration drilling continues to discover, extend and convert high-margin resource ounces from the Wallaby ore body which remains open both at depth and laterally
- Discovery of a new mineralised zone at Blurry BIF, 10km south-east of Wallaby, beneath the surface of Lake Carey
- Early-stage surface exploration over the greater tenement package has continued to return a large number of air core anomalies for follow-up
- The mine will be entering a new era of deep level mining with Zone 110/120 where haulage and ventilation constraints and disciplined mining extraction sequencing will determine overall production capacity
- Mining infrastructure work has commenced to provide access to deeper areas, i.e. Zone 120, including capital development, ventilation and paste infrastructure
- Ongoing plant upgrades and refurbishment during 2017 has continued to improve metal recovery
- Focus on the geotechnical modelling to determine the geotechnical and mining parameters required in the deeper zones of Wallaby continues