On August 24, Australia's Focus Minerals Limited announced that Gold production at Coolgardie Gold Operations was resuming as planned, The Three Mile Hill concentrators have been put into operation, producing the first batch of three gold ingots weighing 15 kg in the first gold smelting.
Fox Mining is listed on the ASX and is 63.18 per cent owned by Shandong Gold International Mining Co LTD, part of Shandong Gold Group.
From left, Executive Chairman Yang Wanghong, Site Manager Toby Field and Site Manager Gavin Gane
Fox said in October it plans to produce about 400,000 ounces (12.4 tons) of gold over the seven-year mine life, with mining to take place at Greenfields, CNX and BrilliantSouth open-pit mines and the BonnieVale underground project. The ore reserves announced at the time were 7.48 million tonnes at a grade of 1.81 g/t and 436,532 oz (13.6 t) of gold metal.
Fox awarded MACA Interquip a $39.7 million contract aimed at returning the Three Mile Hill plant to its original design of 1.2 million tons per year, a project that was completed last month. The company announced last month that it had awarded Ozland Mining Services a three-year contract for open pit works, with mining starting at the Greenfields open pit and waste rock stripping on the north and south pit slopes.
Mr. Yang Wanghong, Executive Chairman of Fox, said:
"Congratulations to the Fox team and the contractors involved in achieving this transformational milestone for the safe and successful delivery of the first batch of gold in Coolgardie. Fox is the latest gold producer in Western Australia. We are accelerating our development and are committed to entering commercial production at nameplate capacity within the current quarter."
