Thunderbox
Location
Thunderbox Gold Mine is located in Western Australia
Thunderbox Gold Mine
Thunderbox Gold Mine
Location in Western Australia
LocationLeinster
StateWestern Australia
CountryAustralia
Coordinates28°10′52″S 121°00′00″E / 28.18111°S 121.00000°E / -28.18111; 121.00000
Production
ProductsGold
Production132,502 ounces[1]
Financial year2021–22
History
Opened2002
Active2002–2007
2016–present
Owner
CompanyNorthern Star Resources
Websitewww.nsrltd.com
Year of acquisition2021

The Thunderbox Gold Mine is a gold mine 41 km south-east of Leinster, Western Australia. It was formerly owned by Norilsk Nickel, which placed it in care and maintenance in 2007, but is now owned by Northern Star Resources.

Ethemology

The mine is named after the colloquial Australian term for a toilet, thunderbox, which was given to the site in its early exploration days because the only available toilet on site was a 44 gallon drum on top of an old drill hole.[2]

History

Gold mines in the Mid West region

The Thunderbox gold deposit is a relatively recent discovery by Western Australian gold mining standards, having been located through drilling in mid-1999. The deposit was jointly owned by Lionore (60%) and Dalrymple Resources (40%).[3]

The owners conducted a feasibility study in 2001 and predicted a mine life of five years and a gold resource of 850,000 ounces, to be mined in an open-pit operation. The company moved the processing plant from Mount Todd to the mine and first gold production was achieved at the end of 2002.[3]

In mid-2003, Lionore and Dalrymple announced a merger of the two companies, with the new entity continuing to be called Lionore.[4]

After good results in the mine's first two years of operation,[5] Thunderbox suffered a difficult 2005, with lower-than-expected production in the second half of the year. Water shortages and equipment reliability issues were two of the main reasons for the decline in production, but write-downs because of its short remaining mine life led to large financial losses for the Thunderbox operation. Lionore at this stage was contemplating selling the mine.[6]

In April 2007, it was once more reported that the mine was for sale.[7]

Norilsk acquired the mine in June 2007, when it took over Lionore Mining.[8][9]

Lionore Mining was taken over by Russian company Norilsk in June 2007,[9] after a bidding war between Norilsk and Xstrata saw the former succeeding with the higher offer. Xstrata had originally offered C$18.50 for every Lionore share, countered by a Norilsk offer of C$21.50 per share. Xstrata raised their offer to C$25, which forced Norilsk to present a final offer of C$27.50.[10]

Shortly after the takeover, Norilsk announced that it would not continue mining at Thunderbox, instead preferring to concentrate on the company's nickel projects.[11][12] The mine eventually closed in November 2007.[13]

After the closure of the mine, Norilsk used the camp at Thunderbox for accommodation for its workers at the nearby Waterloo Nickel Mine, until the later was also placed into care and maintenance.[14]

In January 2014, Saracen Mineral Holdings purchased the mine alongside the Bannockburn Gold Mine and the Waterloo Nickel Mine, for an immediate A$20 million cash payment, a production- and gold price related deferred A$3 million cash payment and up to A$17 million in royalties.[15]

The board of Saracen Mineral Holdings approved a project to develop the Thunderbox deposit in quarter three of the 2015 financial year, with prestrip mining commencing in 2015.[16] First gold was poured in February 2016.[17]

In October 2020, a merger between Northern Star Resources and Saracen Metal Holdings was proposed. The merger was completed in February 2021 when Saracen was de-listed from the Australian Securities Exchange, the Northern Star Resources mine thereby passing into Northern Star's ownership.[18][19]

As of 2022, mining occurs in both open pit and underground operations.[20]

Production

Production figures of the mine:[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][1]

Year Production Grade Cost per ounce
2002 17,790 ounces 2.38 g/t US$95
2003 212,459 ounces US$138
2004 156,916 ounces US$265
2005 145,413 ounces US$339
2006 155,203 ounces US$352
2007 [2] 39,345 ounces US$518
2007–2016 Care and maintenance
2016–17
2017–18
2018–19
2019–20 184,538 ounces A$731
2020–21 143,990 ounces A$924
2021–22 132,502 ounces 1.5 g/t A$1,817

Notes

  • ^[1] The Thunderbox Gold Mine is part of the Yandal Production Centre but production figures were reported separately for 2020–21 as it was a new acquisition.
  • ^[2] Results for January to March 2007 quarter only.

References

  1. 1 2 "2022 Annual Report". www.nsrltd.com. Northern Star Resources. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  2. ↑ "Thunderbox Gold Mine". www.mindat.org. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  3. 1 2 The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition, page: 129, accessed: 29 January 2010
  4. ↑ News Release: LionOre & Dalrymple announce merger Lionore ASX announcement, published: 5 August 2003, accessed: 29 January 2010
  5. ↑ Goldminer beats the profit odds The Age, published: 5 March 2004, accessed: 29 January 2010
  6. ↑ Fourth Quarter Results December 2005 Lionore ASX announcement, published: 7 March 2006, accessed: 29 January 2010
  7. ↑ St Barbara offloads Tarmoola goldmine The Sydney Morning Herald, published: 14 April 2007, accessed: 29 January 2010
  8. ↑ MINEDEX website Archived 2008-09-11 at the Wayback Machine Thunderbox Gold search result, accessed: 29 January 2010
  9. 1 2 LIONORE MINING INTERNATIONAL LIMITED (LIM) delisted.com.au, accessed: 29 January 2010
  10. ↑ Material Change Report Lionore ASX announcement, published: 29 May 2007, accessed: 29 January 2010
  11. ↑ Norilsk moves to focus on nickel The Australian, published: 8 September 2007, accessed: 29 January 2010
  12. ↑ Norilsk outlines plans for WA assets The Sydney Morning Herald, published: 7 September 2007, accessed: 29 January 2010
  13. ↑ China may pass SA as world's leading gold producer this year, Australia No. 3 mineweb.com, author: Ross Louthean, published: 3 December 2007, accessed: 29 January 2010
  14. ↑ Norilsk Nickel Australia Norilsk website, accessed: 29 January 2010
  15. ↑ "Saracen buys Thunderbox for $20m". The West Australian. 21 January 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  16. ↑ https://www.saracen.com.au/operations/thunderbox/thunderbox/
  17. ↑ "Saracen pours the first gold at Thunderbox". News.com.au. 19 February 2016.
  18. ↑ Haselgrove, Salomae (6 October 2020). "Super merger: Northern Star and Saracen to join forces". Australian Mining. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  19. ↑ Kelly, Elise (12 February 2021). "Northern Star (ASX:NST) completes merger with Saracen (ASX:SAR)". The Market Herald. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  20. ↑ "Thunderbox Operations". www.nsrltd.com. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  21. ↑ Annual Report 2002 Lionore ASX announcement, published: 5 August 2003, accessed: 29 January 2010
  22. ↑ Fourth Quarter Results December 2003 Lionore ASX announcement, published: 4 March 2004, accessed: 29 January 2010
  23. ↑ Fourth Quarter Results December 2004 Lionore ASX announcement, published: 16 March 2005, accessed: 29 January 2010
  24. ↑ Fourth Quarter Results December 2006 Lionore ASX announcement, published: 27 February 2006, accessed: 29 January 2010
  25. ↑ First Quarter Results March 2007 Lionore ASX announcement, published: 15 May 2007, accessed: 30 January 2010
  26. ↑ "2021 Annual Report". www.nsrltd.com. Northern Star Resources. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  27. ↑ "Thunderbox Operation (Bannockburn Mine, Kailis Mine, Thunderbox OP Mine, Thunderbox UG Mine, Waterloo Mine) (Kalgoorlie Operation)". Mining Data Solutions. Retrieved 8 April 2022.

Bibliography

  • Louthean, Ross (ed.). The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition. Louthean Media Pty Ltd.
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