10 Westgold Resources Limited Annual Report 2022 MEEKATHARRA Our Meekatharra operation is located around the regional town of Meekatharra and encompasses Westgold’s central group of assets including the historic gold mining centres of Meekatharra North, Paddy’s Flat, Yaloginda, Nannine and Reedy’s. Our Meekatharra assets include the 1.6-1.8Mtpa Bluebird processing hub, a 420-person village, and associated mining infrastructure required to support a large FIFO and DIDOmining operation. For FY22, the Bluebird plant received underground ore from the Paddy’s Flat, South Emu - Triton and Bluebird underground mines and supplementary low grade stockpiles. The Bluebird underground mine has been expanding rapidly since recommencement of mining in mid FY22, with further extensions and opportunities being identified. Overall expansion plans are being developed to determine the true potential of this asset. With the expansion of Bluebird underground, at the end of FY22Westgold paused operations at South Emu - Triton in the Reedy’s area to reassess its economics. The Bluebird processing plant processes both underground and open pit ore, performing strongly for the year treating more than 1,527,840 tonnes, slightly below the plant’s capacity of 1.6-1.8 million tonnes, with remedial works well underway to increase throughput. The metallurgical recoveries rate for the ore blend was 89.6%. In-mine exploration at and around Meekatharra focused on the extension of the Paddy’s Flat, Bluebird and Reedy’s ore systems: – At Paddy’s Flat the Prohibition lodes continued to return excellent drill results. These baseload results were complemented by numerous highgrade intersections in spur and channel lodes form the Consols lodes which were accessed for the first time in a material way during the year; – Deep drilling under the Triton orebody remains in progress at years end. Initial results have underscored the potential of the Triton deposit at depth, with multiple high-grade lodes intersected; – The footprint of the Bluebird deposit continued to be increased via drilling during the year. A number of strong results have expanded the Bluebird mine plan significantly, with the deposit remaining open to both the south and north. OUR OPERATIONS REVIEW OF OPERATIONS (CONTINUED)
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjE2NDg3