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WPG’s restarted Challenger mine pours first gold

June 1, 2016 10:37am
Valerina ChangarathilThe Advertiser

THE Challenger gold mine in the state’s Far North, which shut down in March, has been restarted by its new owners with the first gold bar being produced on site yesterday.
WPG Resources and mining contractor Pybar celebrated the milestone at the mine site, 700km northwest of Adelaide.
WPG, as the manager of the joint venture with Pybar subsidiary Diversified Minerals, has a revised mine plan at Challenger, focusing on using smaller scale mining equipment and reducing dilution to result in a more efficient operation is investment $5 million on the restart and exploration of existing known resources under a three-year mine plan.
WPG and Pybar now employ 175 fly-in fly-out workers on site as part of the Challenger Joint Venture.
Previous owner Kingsgate Consolidated mothballed the operation as part of the $1 million sale of the mine and processing plant.
About 45,000 ounces of gold is expected to be produced by the end of June 2017.
WPG also has plans to establish one more gold mine at Tarcoola by the end of this year, with processing of that ore to take place at Challenger.
“We started from a clean slate and have come in on time and on budget,” said executive chairman Bob Duffin.
“It’s a new phase for WPG, turning miner, and there is a lot of work to be done. But we have a high degree of confidence in our assets.
“We have bought $100 million worth of assets for $1 million.”
The 11.35kg dore bar, or semi-pure alloy of gold and silver, produced yesterday from existing stockpiles left behind by Kingsgate will now be sent to the Perth Mint to be refined.
When WPG gets paid for the gold and silver content in the bar, it will mark the start of first revenues from the operating mine.