Enterprise

Homestead Underground

Bullant

Tuart

Federal

Janet Ivy

Homestead Underground

he Homestead underground mine is situated within the Mount Pleasant camp area, located 18km west-southwest of the Paddington Mill.

Underground mining at Homestead is active in two main north trending, shear hosted mineralised veins labelled VN01 and VN03, and within the adjacent oblique trending Black Flag West Vein. The Black Flag West Vein is the dominant underground ore source at Homestead.

A Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource estimate of 340,000t @ 15.3g/t Au (169,000oz) has been defined for all known mineralised veins at the Homestead Deposit, using a 3.5g/t Au cut-off grade, and depletion from mining to 31 December 2014.   A Proven and Probable ore Reserve of 210,000t @ 6.54g/t Au (47,000oz) has been defined at Homestead.

Mineralisation at Black Flag West Vein remains open.  Both up and down-dip and further drilling is planned to evaluate mineralisation extensions.

Project milestones

Development began with the cutting of the portal on 18 April 2009 and successfully intersected the Homestead ore body in December 2009. Production mining at Homestead commenced in July 2010, following completion of the decline development and infrastructure in the previous year.

Exploration success at Homestead has seen the identification of several new ore zones including the Phantom and VN03 mineralised veins, and extended the main zone at VN01 down-dip and to the south. Resource development drilling is effectively replacing depleted resource and reserve.

Mine design

Homestead Underground is accessed via a decline with a portal from the Quarters Pit . The mine design is a conventional, bench stoping design with material hauled to surface using trucks via a decline developed in the footwall. Longhole open stoping extraction was selected as the mining method due to the deposit’s steeply dipping geometry and competent wall rock.