Tag Archives: Dacian Gold

RUC, InSig go remote at Mount Morgans with Epiroc jumbo

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RUC and its technology partner, InSig Technologies, have successfully deployed their first remote controlled underground jumbo drill from surface.

The achievement, made with an Epiroc S2 Jumbo at the Dacian Gold-owned Mount Morgans underground mine in Western Australia, will provide the contractor with the ability to drill for longer and take better advantage of the dead time over shift change, it said.

“The technology, combined with long life drill bits and existing OEM technology on the rigs, such as auto drill, will result in massive gains in productivity, predictable drilling and more cuts per week,” RUC said. “RUC believes they could gain up to five extra cuts per week drilling in ideal conditions.”

The surface remote-controlled Epiroc S2 jumbo via a retrofitted bespoke control system represents “a first”, the company added. It follows the installation of a reliable underground Wi-Fi network at the mine.

In addition, InSig Technologies have already started development on conversion packages for the Epiroc Simba S7 and Epiroc Simba E7 platforms, RUC reported.

“This technology runs on the same universal network that is used for our communications, environmental monitoring, remote loaders and control systems,” the company explained.

“RUC would like to thank InSig Technologies for their continued support in advancing RUC’s vision of becoming the next-gen leader in digital mines and the most advanced mining contractor in the game,” it added.

InSig Technologies’ Smart Gas solution reduces re-entry times at Mount Morgans

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InSig Technologies says it and its partner company, RUC Cementation Mining, have successfully installed and commissioned its Smart Gas monitoring solution at the Mount Morgans underground operation in Western Australia.

This solution incorporates several fixed gas monitoring stations situated strategically throughout the underground mine, with these stations providing real-time gas level readouts to the control room located on the surface, it said.

It follows on the heels of InSig Technologies installing an underground Wi-Fi network at the mine in the March quarter, which it and RUC said could then lead to a ventilation on demand solution with the ability to monitor air quality from the surface.

The Smart Gas monitoring solution provides RUC, which provides full underground services to the mine, with another level of comfort and safety knowing personnel are not operating in a hazardous environment throughout the shift, InSig says. “It also allows for quicker re-entry times and staged re-entry to the underground mine workings by eliminating the requirement for personnel to physically check each level is clear before opening the workings.”

While it is early days for the system, re-entry times have already come down by 10%, according to InSig.

Mount Morgans, owned by Dacian Gold, consists of the Jupiter Mine Area open pit and the Westralia underground mine. The latter mined 200,775 t at 2.9 g/t Au for 18,409 oz contained during the March quarter.

Dacian Gold hits commercial stride as Mt Morgans ramps up production

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Dacian Gold has declared commercial production at its Mt Morgans gold operation in Western Australia, some nine months after producing its first gold bar at the mine.

The declaration, made on January 1, followed combined mining rates across the operation achieving feasibility study-design levels during the December quarter, the company said.

Production for the December quarter totalled 37,930 oz, a significant increase on the prior quarter and in line with the company’s guidance of progressively increasing output throughout its 2019 financial year. Gold poured for that quarter totalled 38,479 oz.

Dacian said underground mining was now underway across all three declines at Westralia (Beresford South, Beresford North and Allanson), while, at the Jupiter open pit, higher‐grade ore in the Cornwall Shear Zone was expected to be mined later in the current March quarter.

This combined progress across the operation will support continued operational momentum and underpin further quarterly increases in production throughout the remainder of Dacian’s 2019 financial year, the company said.

Dacian Gold Executive Chairman and CEO Rohan Williams said the declaration of commercial production was another example of the company meeting its development and production targets.

“We are pleased to have achieved this important milestone – exactly when we said we would,” he said. “It was an outstanding quarter, with production increasing 30% from the September quarter.”

Mt Morgans is expected to produce around 200,000 oz/y of gold at an all-in sustaining cost of around A$1,000/oz ($716/oz) when fully ramped up. This will come from a reserve base that totals 1.4 Moz.