|
The Sandstone Gold Mine is a gold mine located 6 km south east of Sandstone, Western Australia. It is currently owned by Troy Resources NL. While not a particularly large mine, Sandstone has been very profitable for Troy in the past, having been the lowest-cost gold producing mine in Australia in the early 2000s.〔''The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition'', page 530〕 ==History== Gold mining at the Sandstone area stretches back over the past century. In 1894 a prospector discovered gold about 20 km south of present-day Sandstone and, in 1903, gold was found within a few hundred meters of the town. From 1903 to 1916, 930,000 ounces of gold were mined in town. With the outbreak of the First World War, the fortunes of the mine, and the town, declined and the population in Sandstone fell from a high of 8,000 in 1906 to approximately 200 in 1919.〔(Sandstone ) The Sydney Morning Herald, published: 8 February 2004, accessed: 5 September 2009〕 The current incarnation of the mine however dates back to 1990, when Herald Resources Limited begun milling operations. In 1999, Troy took ownership of the operations.〔(Troy website - Sandstone ) accessed: 5 September 2009〕 Troy commenced production at the ''Bulchina'' mine at Sandstone in 2002, which lasted until early 2005 and produced 223,000 ounces of gold.〔 The company discovered two more gold deposits in the Sandstone region in 2004, the ''Lord Henry'' and the ''Lord Nelson'' deposits, located approximately 30 kilometres south east of Bulchina.〔(Troy website - Company history ) accessed: 5 September 2009〕 Mining commenced at the ''Lord Nelson'' deposit in early 2005 and at the ''Lord Henry'' deposit a year later. The Company upgraded the Sandstone milling facilities in early 2005 to be able to process 600,000 tonnes per annum.〔 In January 2009 it was announced that the Sandstone operation, which was to close in February that year, would remain active because of higher gold prices, which made processing low grade ore from ''Lord Nelson'' more profitable.〔(Troy Resources defers closure of Sandstone gold mine ) industrysearch.com.au, published: 21 January 2009, accessed: 5 September 2009〕 The mine is now scheduled to close in September 2010.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sandstone Gold Mine」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|