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Super Pit digs deep for new life

Senior geologist David Nixon and project geologist Graham Lister. KCGM is drilling near the historic Mt Charlotte underground mine to find more gold. Picture: Louise White/Kalgoorlie Miner.

The search for underground extensions of Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s Golden Mile was back on the agenda yesterday, with diamond drilling just 600m east of the Mt Charlotte mine.

While Super Pit owners Newmont Mining and Barrick Gold maintain a steady rate of drilling at Mt Charlotte’s underground operations, funds have been limited in today’s cost-conscious climate to explore for new underground resources.

Targets identified a year ago are being tested, with HMR Drilling Services sinking two holes — 300m and 150m — as part of Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines’ Central Corridor project.

The project began in 2010 and its biggest success so far has been the Hidden Secret ore body, where KCGM is set to start mining in July, increasing the mine life of Mt Charlotte to 2018.

Both drill holes are a stone’s throw from old underground shafts which have been fenced off in an area that has not been mined for more than 120 years.

KCGM said the Super Pit was on track to finish open-pit mining by 2019 and underground mining was being considered among future options.