Beyond the Black Stump Pt 2
Ok, here's a follow up to my post yesterday morning. I didn't take any of the photos here, although I do have photos I took of the place that I might upload later for anyone interested in taking a look. The photos are perhaps a bit large, but anyone on dialup these days needs to get with it!
This is the plane I flew in on, taken from a trip earlier this year. It seats about 12-13 people and is actually quite comfy, compared to the one I flew home in. Still nothing on a nice 777 though!
This is what the site looks like from the plane a few kays out. You can see the edge of the landing strip on the left, the open cut pit just left of centre with waste water "pond" below that. To the right of centre is the refining area, this is obviously where the gold is extracted from the mined material and is then poured into blocks. Also located here are all the work areas for admin staff, geologists and lab techs. The comms hut I was working in is located pretty much in the centre of these buildings. On the far right you can just see the village, located here are the mess areas, the huts where everyone sleeps and a tennis court!
This is the open cut mine. They stopped the open cut process a year or so ago I think as it stopped being viable. They are now exclusively mining underground. You can see the entrance to the underground mine where the orange pipe is at the bottom of the pit. To give you an idea of how much gold is produced, in December of last year over $8 million dollars worth of gold was mined. Another gold deposit has been found the other side of the village and another open cut mine will be started in 3-4 months time.
This is a closer picture of the refining area, and the village to the top of the photo. The village is about 1km away, there is a walking track to the left of the main road.
Another view of the refining area, showing the buildings were the everyone other than the miners work. It's possible to see, almost in the centre a small square structure right behind a couple of satellite dishes, this is the comms hut where I spent most of my time.
This is what it looks like underground! I have not been underground yet, although I will most likely get a look in one of my subsequent trips. Fingers crossed I can find a gold nugget or two and pocket it with noone looking!
And this is what it's all about! Not quite so posh looking as the gold bullion you always see getting stolen in movies, but worth lots of money none-the-less
So, there you have it. One gold mine in the middle of nowhere!
This is the plane I flew in on, taken from a trip earlier this year. It seats about 12-13 people and is actually quite comfy, compared to the one I flew home in. Still nothing on a nice 777 though!
This is what the site looks like from the plane a few kays out. You can see the edge of the landing strip on the left, the open cut pit just left of centre with waste water "pond" below that. To the right of centre is the refining area, this is obviously where the gold is extracted from the mined material and is then poured into blocks. Also located here are all the work areas for admin staff, geologists and lab techs. The comms hut I was working in is located pretty much in the centre of these buildings. On the far right you can just see the village, located here are the mess areas, the huts where everyone sleeps and a tennis court!
This is the open cut mine. They stopped the open cut process a year or so ago I think as it stopped being viable. They are now exclusively mining underground. You can see the entrance to the underground mine where the orange pipe is at the bottom of the pit. To give you an idea of how much gold is produced, in December of last year over $8 million dollars worth of gold was mined. Another gold deposit has been found the other side of the village and another open cut mine will be started in 3-4 months time.
This is a closer picture of the refining area, and the village to the top of the photo. The village is about 1km away, there is a walking track to the left of the main road.
Another view of the refining area, showing the buildings were the everyone other than the miners work. It's possible to see, almost in the centre a small square structure right behind a couple of satellite dishes, this is the comms hut where I spent most of my time.
This is what it looks like underground! I have not been underground yet, although I will most likely get a look in one of my subsequent trips. Fingers crossed I can find a gold nugget or two and pocket it with noone looking!
And this is what it's all about! Not quite so posh looking as the gold bullion you always see getting stolen in movies, but worth lots of money none-the-less
So, there you have it. One gold mine in the middle of nowhere!