Sunrise Dam

Underground mining, carried out by Barminco under an alliance contract, is now the primary source of ore, following the cessation of mining in the open pit in 2014. The underground mine produces approximately 2.7 Mtpa of ore, which is supplemented by low grade stockpiles generated during open cut mining to fill the processing plant.

Ore from the Golden Delicious open pit, 12 km from the processing plant, will contribute approximately 1 Mtpa of ore for several years to displace some of the stockpiled material from mill feed.

Surface infrastructure in place includes the site’s gas-fired power station, sealed airstrip, accommodation village, Central Tailings Discharge facility and workshops.

The 4.1 Mtpa processing plant comprises conventional gravity and CIL circuits and a flotation/fine grind circuit.

A major multi-year underground exploration programme underway at the site has identified extensions to known mineralisation and several significant new ore zones.

A brief history

• Open pit production began in 1997 and the main pit was completed at a final depth of 500m below surface in 2014.
• Underground mining commenced in 2003 with a number of different mining methods being applied, depending on the style of mineralisation and grade of the geological domain.
• Installation of a new fine grind and flotation circuit was completed in the second half of 2018.
• Pre-stripping of the Golden Delicious satellite pit commenced in 2020, ahead of ore mining in 2021.