Sunrise Dam Gold Mine
Plant at Sunrise Dam Gold Mine
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| Location | |
|---|---|
| Location | Laverton |
| State | Western Australia |
| Country | Australia |
| Coordinates | 29°04′52″S 122°25′03″E / 29.08111°S 122.41750°ECoordinates: 29°04′52″S 122°25′03″E / 29.08111°S 122.41750°E |
| Production | |
| Production | 216,000 |
| Financial year | 2015 |
| History | |
| Opened | 1996 |
| Owner | |
| Company | AngloGold Ashanti |
| Website | AngloGold Ashanti website |
| Year of acquisition | 1999 |
The Sunrise Dam Gold Mine is located 55 km south of Laverton, Western Australia, on the eastern margin of Lake Carey. It is fully owned by AngloGold Ashanti and comprises a large-scale mechanized underground mine with a conventional gravity and leach process plant. In 2015 the mine accounted for 5% of the company's production.
The gold deposit was originally co-owned by the Granny Smith Joint Venture (Placer Pacific Ltd and Delta Gold NL), which called its eastern portion "Sunrise", and by Acacia Resources Ltd, which called its western portion "Cleo".
The Sunrise portion was found in August 1988, after a 500m by 500m BLEG survey. The Sunrise mine commenced operations in May 1995.
The Cleo portion was first indicated by tenement-wide rotary air blast (RAB) and aircore drilling in 1991. Acacia Resources commenced production in February 1997, with the first gold pour in March that year. The Sunrise Dam gold mine was officially opened by Premier of Western Australia Richard Court on 6 August 1997.
In 1999, AngloGold acquired the mine through a takeover of Acacia Resources Ltd, a move that also gained it a 33% stake in the Boddington project, which it sold in early 2009 for $1.5 billion. Acacia, originally formed and listed in 1994 when Shell Australia divested its gold and base metal activities, was delisted from the on 11 January 2000.
An upgrade to the processing plant took place in 2001, the expansion initially designed for 2.5Mtpa, however by year-end plant throughput had been further increased to 3Mtpa. As a result gold production increased by 31% in 2001, to 295,000oz. A major cutback in the Cleo pit was completed during the year, whilst the corporate office was restructured and relocated from Melbourne to Perth.
Following the capital expansions undertaken the previous year, gold production increased by 30% in 2002 to 382,000oz, as plant throughput rose by 41% to an annual rate of 3.4Mtpa. After completion of a major cutback at the end of 2001, mining in the Mega Pit reached full capacity in the first half of 2002. A smaller cutback, in the Watu section of the pit, was approved during the year.
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