re: abuman -vera nancy Pajingo, Queensland The high-grade...

re: abuman -vera nancy Pajingo, Queensland
The high-grade Vera-Nancy underground mine on the Pajingo property is Newmont's lowest cost mine in Australia. It is located 43 miles (69 kilometers) south of the former gold mining center of Charters Towers, which, in turn, is 82 miles (132 kilometers) southwest of Townsville in northern Queensland. Discovered by Battle Mountain Gold in 1983 and operated as a joint venture by Normandy after 1991, the operation is now 100 percent owned by Newmont.


A small open pit mine at Vera was opened in 1996, with the larger underground Nancy and Vera ore bodies reached via two declines in 1997. Owner mining replaced contract mining in October 2001, helping reduce operating costs by about 30 percent. The highly mechanized mine delivered 700,000 tons of ore grading 0.34 ounce per ton (10.6 grams per tonne) in 2001. Gold sold in 2001 totalled 252,000 ounces at a total cash cost of $105 an ounce. Pajingo is expected to sell 300,000 ounces of gold at a total cash cost of $85 per ounce in 2002.



Longitudinal section, looking northeast, showing shallow plunging target zone of high-grade potential.



Year-end 2001 reserves were 919,000 ounces of gold. Drilling over a strike length of approximately 1.8 miles (2.9 kilometers) has intersected high-grade epithermal gold mineralization to depths of more than 1,320 feet (400 meters) along the structure.


The mine has 260 workers who commute from Charters Towers.