Tag Archives: Mount Monger

MMS to carry out load and haul services at Silverlake Mount Monger

28th March 2024Mine operation news, Mining services, Precious metalsDynamic Drill and Blast, Josh Conley, mining services, MMS, Mount Monger, Silver Lake Resources, Western AustraliaDaniel Gleeson

In what it says is a significant win, MMS has secured a A$200 million ($130 million) load and haul contract with gold producer Silver Lake Resources, in Western Australia.

The contract marks a significant milestone for both parties, signalling the next stage of expansion in the Silverlake Mount Monger operation, southeast of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, MMS says.

The 49-month contract is scheduled to commence on April 1, 2024, with MMS operating alongside Silver Lake Resources and Dynamic Drill and Blast in the Santa open pit and Flora Dora deposit.

MMS has already commenced mobilising its fleet onto the site, with early works and site establishment in progress, it says. The fleet consists of new and low-hour heavy machinery, including 120-200-t excavators and 100-t dump trucks. As the operation progresses, it will peak at a workforce of 106 employees and 48 heavy machines operating on site.

RCT’s EarthTrack tool to improve efficiency, productivity at Silver Lake’s Mount Monger

12th January 2021Communications in mining, Equipment maintenance, IoT, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining services, Mining software, Precious metalsCat 777F, Earthtrack, Hitachi 1200-6, Hitachi 1900-6, Mount Monger, payload management, RCT, Scott Phillips, Silver Lake Resources, Western AustraliaDaniel Gleeson

Silver Lake Resources has upped the efficiency of its earthmoving fleet at Mount Monger in Western Australia following the implementation of RCT’s EarthTrack® information monitoring tool.

RCT recently commissioned the EarthTrack Payload Management System on Silver Lake Resource’s mixed fleet consisting of five Cat 777F dump trucks, one Hitachi 1200-6 excavator and one Hitachi 1900-6 excavator.

The solution provides Silver Lake’s machine operators with real-time information about payload distribution and optimal load weights at the Mount Monger gold operation in Western Australia’s Goldfields region, RCT says.

Site managers can now closely monitor machine and operator productivity, prevent truck strut damage from over loading, reduce tyre wear and achieve better fuel consumption to significantly reduce overall running costs, according to the company.

The system transmits payload data from the truck being loaded to the loading tool – in this case the excavator – which enables the loader operator to fill the truck trays to the optimal weight.

One of the EarthTrack system’s key features is that it monitors payload distribution in real time and alerts the operator of an uneven distribution, allowing them to take action to avoid strut damage. At the same time, the system’s external LED Payload Display relays the load weight to any personnel in visual range of the display.

RCT Account Manager, Scott Phillips, said the system will maximise efficiency and productivity of Silver Lake’s mining fleet.

“This solution enhances the excavator operator’s ability to load dirt in an effective manner that ensures optimal loading conditions with every bucket,” he said. “Ineffective loading can lead to strut damage and wear and tear to machines which results in costly maintenance downtime to the mining fleet.

“This tool will enable site personnel to make better decisions to ensure smooth and consistent operations while allowing site management to monitor the operation closely.”

Macmahon confirms extended stay at Silver Lake’s Mount Monger ops

3rd April 2020Mine operation news, Mining project news, Mining services, Precious metalsCock-eyed Bob, contract mining, Daisy Complex, GBF Underground Mining Group, gold, Macmahon Holdings, Maxwells, Mount Monger, Santa, Silver Lake ResourcesDaniel Gleeson

Macmahon Holdings says its GBF underground mining services business has now finalised and signed contracts with Silver Lake Resources for additional work at the miner’s Mount Monger gold operations, in Western Australia.

The contractor announced back in February that a conditional letter of intent had been received by GBF, which Macmahon acquired in 2019.

Macmahon said: “These contracts will extend GBF’s tenure at Mount Monger to March 2023, and will add approximately A$200 million ($121 million) to its order book.”

GBF has been operating at Mount Monger since 2014, providing mining services to the Daisy Complex, Cock-eyed Bob and Maxwells mines, which form part of this operation.

The new contract sees GBF add the development of Silver Lake’s new Santa mine, which has an underground reserve of 257,000 t at 3.5 g/t Au for 29,000 oz of gold, to the remit. The first firing of the portal at Santa (pictured here) took place on March 1, according to the miner.

Macmahon’s GBF wins contract extension at Silver Lake’s Mount Monger ops

19th February 2020Mine operation news, Mining services, Precious metalsAustralia, contract mining, GBF, Macmahon, Michael Finnegan, Mount Monger, Silver Lake ResourcesDaniel Gleeson

Macmahon Holdings’ acquisition of underground contracting business, GBF Group, is already paying off, with GBF receiving a conditional letter of intent from Silver Lake Resources for further work at the Mount Monger gold operations in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.

GBF has been operating at Mount Monger since 2014 and currently provides mining services to the Daisy Complex, Cock-eyed Bob and Maxwells mines, which form part of this operation, expected to produce 120,000-130,000 oz of gold-equivalent in Silver Lake’s 2020 financial year.

Under the new letter of intent, GBF’s tenure at these sites will be extended for three years from March 1, 2020, and GBF will also develop Silver Lake’s new Santa mine, due to commence next month.

GBF estimates the value of the new work with Silver Lake will add around A$200 million ($134 million) to its order book. The two companies will now negotiate the formal mining services agreement, with finalisation expected in March, Macmahon said.

Macmahon CEO and MD, Michael Finnegan, said: “The new work is an important milestone in our strategy to further expand in the underground market, and demonstrates the value in our GBF acquisition. We are looking forward to working closely with Silver Lake on this project and building on our relationship with this key client.”

Swick Mining continues drilling wins at home and abroad

23rd July 2019Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metalsBarrick Gold, drilling contractor, gold, Jundee, Kent Swick, Mount Monger, Nevada Gold Mines, Newmont Goldcorp, Northern Star Resources, Silver Lake, Swick Mining, Western AustraliaDaniel Gleeson

Swick Mining Services is celebrating a hat-trick of contract drilling wins with the Barrick Gold and Newmont Goldcorp-owned Nevada Gold Mines JV, Silver Lake Resources and Northern Star Resources.

The Australia-listed contractor has been awarded a three-year contract extension at the Nevada Gold Mines JV, with the company’s US division extending a relationship that started in 2013. The work with Silver Lake Resources involved being selected as the preferred tenderer, subject to contract execution, to provide underground diamond coring services at its Mount Monger operation, in Western Australia. And, lastly, Northern Star Resources has increased the scope of work for Swick at the Jundee gold mine, also in Western Australia, from nine to 14 full time underground diamond coring rigs.

The awards secure work for 18 rigs (eight existing and 10 additional rigs) and increases Swick’s contracted work in hand to A$353 million ($248 million), the company said.

Swick Managing Director, Kent Swick, said: “We are delighted to be deepening our relationships with existing clients and, in the case of the new work with Silver Lake, returning to a project where we have extensive experience.”

He added: “It is particularly pleasing that our international strategy is yielding significant results, with a third of our total deployed underground diamond drilling rigs now operating outside of Australia. By the end of September, we will have at least 22 rigs operating in our international operations including the USA, Portugal and Spain – all at major mines with Tier One clients.”

In Nevada with the Nevada Gold Mines JV, Swick currently operates eight rigs between the Turquoise Ridge and Cortez Hill gold mines as well as the Goldrush project, it said. As part of the contract extension, Swick will be deploying two additional rigs to these operations.

Swick undertakes underground diamond core drilling and underground RC drilling at the projects, with the contract extension securing work for 10 rigs at fixed pricing for two years, with a rise and fall applicable for the third year. In total, the Nevada Gold Mines JV produced in excess of 4 Moz of gold in 2018, more than double the next largest gold mining complex.

The contract extension, combined with the contract recently awarded to Swick at the Northern Star-owned Pogo gold mine in Alaska, will see Swick take a leading position in the US underground drilling market, it said, adding that the first four underground rigs at Pogo commenced drilling in June.

The Silver Lake Mount Monger contract is expected to be for a period of two years with a provision for a 12-month extension, Swick said. The contract will commence in August, with three rigs undertaking drilling across the Mount Monger site, namely the Daisy Milano, Cock-eyed Bob and Maxwell’s underground mines.

Swick says it worked at the Daisy Milano project for a decade from 2007 before it was awarded to another contractor in 2016. The Mount Monger operations produced 35,172 oz of gold in the March quarter.

At Jundee, meanwhile, Swick says it will steadily increase its fleet and manning from July to October to meet the increased scope. Northern Star is Swick’s largest client – with the Jundee contract Swick’s largest ever project – and will operate this expanded service under the current contract agreement.

Kent Swick said: “Once we reach 14 full time rigs at Jundee, it will represent a record number of rigs that Swick has had at any one mine, and the largest Australian underground diamond drilling program I am aware of since we have been in the underground contracting business for over 20 years.”