Tag Archives: Northern Star Resources

Northern Star’s Pogo gold mine signs up Minnovare Production Optimiser

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Minnovare’s relationship with Australia-based Northern Star Resources has been further strengthened, with the miner recently implementing the Production Optimiser technology across its fleet of long-hole drill rigs at the Pogo gold mine in Alaska.

The implementation follows successful Production Optimiser installations at some of Northern Star’s Australia operations.

Northern Star acquired Pogo, the company’s first mine outside of Australia, from Sumitomo Metal Mining late last year for $260 million.

Ore is currently mined at rate of ~4,000 short tons per day, with three access portals in use to provide underground access to the various underground mining block areas. Mining methods at the Pogo mine vary due to great variability in vein thickness, dip, grade and continuity.

Minnovare’s Production Optimiser system combines advanced hardware and software that enhances the speed, accuracy and reliability of long-hole production drilling. This leads to improved stope productivity and, ultimately, increased profitability, Minnovare says.

The system can be retrofitted to any make or model of drill rig and works independently of the rig’s onboard systems.

A two-month trial of the Production Optimiser, starting in April 2018, at one of Northern Star Resources’ Kalgoorlie gold operations showed the Production Optimiser technology not only increased drilled metres by 17% at the operation, but also help deliver the highest average stope recovery in the life of the operation.

Swick Mining continues drilling wins at home and abroad

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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.”

Zenith Energy completes Jundee power station expansion for Northern Star

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Independent power producer, Zenith Energy has completed and commissioned its 6 MW build own and operate (BOO) power station expansion at Northern Star Resources’ Jundee gold mine, in the northern Goldfields region of Western Australia.

The 6 MW of expansion capacity at Jundee adds to the existing 19.2 MW, increasing Zenith’s BOO capacity to 25.2 MW, Zenith said. The power station comprises an upgrade to the existing facility with the installation of an added 6 MW of Jenbacher 620 Spark Ignittion gas generator technology.

The station incorporates natural gas fuelled generators, which will provide the Jundee mine with highly efficient, cost effective and clean gas fuelled power generation into the future, according to Zenith.

The Jundee processing circuit is a conventional CIL plant with a hard-rock processing capacity of approximately 1.8 Mt/y. The process consists of a single toggle overhead eccentric swing jaw crusher followed by a SAG and ball milling circuit incorporating gravity recovery and CIP process, achieving 92% recoveries. Northern Star produced 285,000 oz of gold at Jundee in its 2018 financial year.

Zenith said: “This project demonstrates the company’s ability to design, construct, install and commission expansion projects to meet our existing customers’ changing power supply requirements.”

The full commissioning of the Jundee expansion delivers a 6 MW uplift in installed BOO MW capacity in the company’s portfolio, and a corresponding uplift in revenue from the September quarter and going forward, Zenith said.

With the completion of the Jundee expansion, Zenith has established a strong track record for project delivery, with its portfolio of 219 MW of contracted BOO capacity and a total of 438 MW of total power generation capacity under control, it said.

Zenith Managing Director, Hamish Moffat, said: “We are proud to continue our partnership with Northern Star Resources at Jundee through the delivery of the Jundee Expansion Project, and now look forward to delivering additional reliable, cost effective power to support the Jundee gold mine.”

RCT helps train up Northern Star and Gold Fields apprentices

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RCT says it is working with Gold Fields and Northern Star Resources to provide hands-on training opportunities to apprentices in Western Australia’s Goldfields.

This month, RCT’s Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, branch hosted Gold Fields apprentice Auto Electrician, Michael Schoeppner (pictured on the right), who carried out repair and maintenance work on remotely-operated mining equipment under the guidance of RCT’s experienced workshop staff.

Gold Fields Executive Vice President Australasia, Stuart Mathews, said: “Gold Fields is committed to team development, and we are delighted our apprentices have the opportunity to work with our business partners to receive valuable training, mentoring and experience.”

Following his training experience, Schoeppner will be able to apply his new skills to benefit Gold Fields’ projects in the region, where there is a continued emphasis on the use of remote technologies to improve safety and productivity in its mines, RCT said.

RCT also has a similar arrangement with Northern Star Resources, which saw apprentice Ben Ashby mentored by the company’s bench repair technicians at the Kalgoorlie branch earlier this month.

Ashby’s experience centred on unit repairs and diagnosis with particular focus on repairing remote interfaces and elements of RCT’s ControlMaster® Teleremote and Guidance products.

Northern Star Resources Maintenance Manager, Aaron Armstrong, said: “RCT has a wealth of in-house skills related to mobile plant equipment and electrical systems in the mining sector and we are happy they will share their knowledge with our tradespeople.”

RCT Kalgoorlie Branch Manager, Rick Radcliffe, said: “These training opportunities enable staff from both companies to familiarise themselves with each other’s procedures and technical knowledge providing a strong base for future working relationships.”

Zenith to supply more power to NSR’s Jundee gold mine

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Zenith Energy has executed an amendment to the power purchase agreement (PPA) it had in place with Northern Star Resources for the Jundee gold mine in Western Australia.

The new pact will see Zenith add another 6 MW of installed capacity in the power station at Jundee and bring the ASX-listed power company’s overall build own operate (BOO) capacity to more than 189 MW.

Under the amend terms of the PPA, Zenith will BOO an expanded 24 MW power station for Jundee, located in the northern Greenfields region of WA. The power station will comprise an upgrade to the existing facility with the installation of an added 6 MW of Jenbacher 620 Spark Ignittion gas generator technology.

The station incorporates natural gas fuelled generators, which will provide the Jundee mine with highly efficient, cost effective and clean gas fuelled power generation into the future, according to Zenith.

The amended PPA is expected to have a supply commencement date of the March quarter and a 10-year term aligned with the existing PPA.

Zenith Energy’s Managing Director, Hamish Moffat said: “We are delighted to sign this PPA amendment with Northern Star, which further demonstrates Zenith Energy’s ability to build strong, long-lasting relationships with Tier One clients such as Northern Star Resources through the continued delivery of excellence in safe, innovative, reliable, highly efficient and cost-effective power generation solutions to support the diverse needs of our resources clients in demanding remote locations.”

The Jundee processing circuit is a conventional CIL plant with a hard-rock processing capacity of approximately 1.35 Mt/y. The process consists of a single toggle overhead eccentric swing jaw crusher followed by a SAG and ball milling circuit incorporating gravity recovery and CIP process achieving 92% recoveries.

The company produced 285,000 oz of gold in its last financial year from Jundee.

More on Minnovare and Northern Star Production Optimiser trial

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More details have emerged of the results Northern Star Resources achieved by implementing Minnovare’s Production Optimiser technology over a two-month period at one of its Kalgoorlie gold operations.

A newly released case study, co-authored with Northern Star Resources, showed the Production Optimiser technology not only increased drilled metres by 17% at the operation, it also helped deliver the highest average stope recovery in the life of the operation.

If maintained over a full year’s production, that represents an additional 5,000 oz and A$8.4 million ($6.1 million) additional revenue – equivalent to a 3.5% increase in forecast stope turnover, according to Northern Star Mining Services General Manager, Rob Parsons.

The two-month trial saw the Production Optimiser implemented at one of the Kalgoorlie operation in April 2018, with three long-hole production rigs running.

Parsons said: “The collaboration with Minnovare initially stemmed from the observation that too much time was being spent re-drilling holes (due to inaccuracy). The other problem we identified was the difference between the drill rig’s onboard inclinometers, and what was actually being drilled. It was most visible looking at the final stope pick up – the actual shape didn’t line up with what you had designed. So, we were doing extra work just to validate where things really were.”

Minnovare’s Production Optimiser system combines advanced hardware and software that enhances the speed, accuracy and reliability of long-hole production drilling. This leads to improved stope productivity and, ultimately, increased profitability, Minnovare says.

The system can be retrofitted to any make or model of drill rig and works independently of the rig’s onboard systems.

Parsons said: “We achieved, on average, 100 additional drill metres per day in the two months immediately after implementing the new technology, thanks to reduced rig setup time and re-drills. That’s roughly a 17% increase in drilled metres. During the same period, we reduced average blast-hole deviation (from planned toe-point) by 75%.

“In terms of stope ore recovery, those two months combined were the highest average for the life of the operation. The increased drill rate and stope ore-recovery equates to an approximate 3.5% reduction in stope turnover time.”

Minnovare Managing Director, Callum McCracken said: “Minnovare worked closely with Northern Star from day one to successfully implement the Production Optimiser on site. As the drillers and engineers continued to use the system they’ve seen further gains in drilled metres and a continuation of the improved recovery rate. That’s thanks to optimal blasts and a faster stope turnover, which is a direct consequence of greater drilling accuracy, speed and reliability.”

Since the trial has taken place, Minnovare and Northern Star have signed a technology collaboration agreement to develop and implement Minnovare technology across NSR’s Western Australia operations.

Westgold loses HBJ mining contract as it hits first ore at Big Bell

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Westgold Resources’ wholly-owned mining contractor, Australian Contract Mining (ACM), has had its mine development and production services contract at the HBJ operation in Western Australia cancelled.

The ASX-listed company was advised by HBJ owner Northern Star Resources (NST) that it will terminate the contract on a “without cause basis” effective December 23.

ACM continued to provide complete mine development and production services to NST at HBJ following the A$80 million ($58 million) sale of the South Kalgoorlie operations by Westgold to NST earlier this year.

Westgold was under the impression most of the equipment currently employed at HBJ could be placed into immediate use at project expansions within Westgold’s existing operations. It hopes to continue to offer employment to the majority of both fly-in, fly-out and residential personnel employed at the mine.

Related to this, Westgold announced it had just hit first ore at its Big Bell underground mine (pictured), which is a milestone for the ramp up in its Cue gold operations in the Murchison Region of WA. Westgold has been dewatering and refurbishing the Big Bell underground mine for over two years.

The base load for the Cue 10-year development plan is based around the Big Bell underground mine – which is expected to provide 10.1 Mt at 3 g/t Au from the company’s 2020 financial year.

Northern Star Resources to test out new Minnovare products at WA gold mines

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Advanced technology supplier Minnovare has widened its partnership with mid-tier gold miner Northern Star Resources, with the two announcing an official technology collaboration to develop and implement Minnovare technology across NSR’s Western Australia operations.

This collaboration follows the installation of Minnovare’s drill and blast Production Optimiser technology at Northern Star’s operations in Western Australia, a system designed to reduce blasthole drilling deviation.

For the past two months, the technology has been installed on selected long hole rigs at the company’s underground operations – improving rig accuracy and setup with an immediate benefit to operations, Minnovare said.

Since implementation, drilled meters have increased 17% and blasthole deviation at the collar has reduced by 75%. Flow-on benefits have included an increase in average recovery due to reduced bridging and a reduction in average dilution – cutting overall production costs.

Rob Parsons, General Manager of Northern Star Mining Services (pictured), said: “In a very short period of time we have seen tangible benefits from the Production Optimiser system. The system has been well received by all operators, and Minnovare have worked with us to ensure a successful implementation.”

Minnovare Managing Director Callum McCracken said: “Northern Star were an early adopter of our production drilling technology and we’re pleased to see the immediate effect it is having, with efficiency gains right across their operations.”

McCracken said Northern Star had demonstrated a strong commitment to collaboration with new technology forerunners, and being an early adopter of new technology was central to the company’s core strategy for the future – “remaining a leader amongst their peers and being able to attract the best and brightest the industry has to offer”.

He added that this type of collaboration works well and is the most efficient way to make the biggest impact, in the shortest time-frame.

NSR’s Principal of Innovation and Technology, Jeff Brown, said: “We are always looking to work with parties that provide solutions to problems and to implement opportunities that drive a better overall business outcome. Minnovare is a fitting example of a provider that has worked through all aspects of their solution to ensure it integrates and delivers immediate value. Their approach and ability to rapidly act upon improvements has not only seen a very successful deployment but has laid the foundation for further collaboration.”

According to Brown, NSR will be “actively involved” in the development of a series of new Minnovare products to deliver additional efficiencies to the company’s underground mining operations.

“Collaborating with solution providers like Minnovare and the technology they specialise in represents the future of the industry, so we’re very pleased to be working with them,” he said.

Earlier this month, Minnovare signed up to be an integration partner with Software provider Deswik as the two looked to provide a flexible and integrated mine planning platform.