Frog's Leg Gold Mine Explained

Frog's Leg
Pushpin Map:Western Australia
Pushpin Label:Frog's Leg Gold Mine
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Western Australia
Coordinates:-30.7608°N 121.2694°W
Place:Kalgoorlie
Subdivision Type:State
State/Province:Western Australia
Country:Australia
Owner:Evolution Mining
Acquisition Year:2015
Products:Gold
Financial Year:2022–23
Amount:135,592 ounces
Opening Year:2004
Module:
Stroke-Colour:
  1. C60C30
Stroke-Width:3
Marker:industrial
Marker-Colour:
  1. 1F2F57
Zoom:12

The Frog's Leg Gold Mine is a gold mine located 19 km west of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, owned and operated by Australian company Evolution Mining Limited,[1] who purchased the mine in 2015.

History

The gold deposit at Frog's Leg was discovered in 1999 and mining originally occurred in an open pit operation from April 2004 to October 2005, when operations ceased again.[2] To the frustration of Dioro, Mines and Resources Australia Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of the French company Areva,[3] delayed the development of an underground mine at the location, an impasse only solved by the sale of its 51% stake.[4]

In September 2006, La Mancha Resources announced the takeover of Mines and Resources Australia's 51% share of the project and began a major drilling program to define potential resources. With this transaction, La Mancha also acquired the White Foil Gold Mine.[5] In mid-2007, the company began to develop an underground operation. In May 2008, the first gold was poured at the mine and, on 1 January 2009, commercial production was achieved.

Dioro's ore from the Frog's Leg mine was processed at the Dioro-owned Jubilee Mill, located at the South Kalgoorlie Gold Mine, which was commissioned in 1987.[6] [7]

Dioro's 49% stake in the Frog's Leg mine, together with the South Kal operation were part of a takeover war between Avoca Resources and Ramelius Resources. Avoca, owner of the Higginsville Gold Mine and Ramelius, owner of the Wattle Dam Gold Mine, both in the area south of Kalgoorlie, were both interested in acquiring Dioro to combine their existing operations with Dioro's.[8] [9] After a failed bid by Avoca in August 2009 and a subsequent extension to the bid by Ramelius, Avoca made a new offer for Dioro on 29 December 2009, despite having earlier declared that its August bid was final.[10] Avoca eventually succeeded in its bid for Dioro and, on 21 April 2010, Dioro was delisted from the ASX.[11] Avoca, owner of the mine at the time, merged in with Anatolia Minerals Development Limited in 2011 to form Alacer Gold.[12] Alacer sold its 49% stake in the mine to La Mancha in February 2013 for A$167 million.[13]

In April 2015, Evolution Mining completed the buy-out of La Mancha Resources Australian operations, valued at A$300 million, and thereby acquired the Frog's Leg and White Foil gold mines as well as the nearby processing plant at the Mungari.[14] Ownership of the mines was eventually transferred on 24 August 2015.

Mining at Frog's Leg is carried out in an underground operation while White Foil is an open pit operation, with the ore processed at the Mungari plant, which was constructed in 2013–14.[15]

Production

Production figures for the mine, split into individual owners.

La Mancha

La Mancha's financial year runs from 1 January to 31 December:[16]

Year ProductionGradeCost per ounce
200815,375 ounces
2009

Dioro

Dioro's financial year runs from 1 September to 31 August:[17]

Year ProductionGradeCost per ounce
2007–0810,814 ounces3.98 g/t
2008–0941,946 ounces5.24 g/tUS$472

Evolution Mining

Production figures under Evolution Mining ownership:[15] [18] [19] [20] [21]

Year ProductionGradeCost per ounce
2015–16137,193 ouncesA$1,024
2016–17143,820 ouncesA$1,143
2017–18118,498 ouncesA$1,181
2018–19120,535 ouncesA$1,320
2019–20133,388 ouncesA$1,215
2020–21115,829 ouncesA$1,453
2021–22138,035 ouncesA$1,931
2022–23135,592 ouncesA$2,083

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mungari . Evolution Mining. May 2016. pdf. 24 October 2016.
  2. http://www.lamancharesources.com/servlet/dispatcherservlet?selectedContentID=1115&lang=2&action=2 Frog's Leg Mine
  3. http://www.areva-nc.com/areva-nc/liblocal/docs/page_flash/ANC_historique_en.htm Historique AREVA NC
  4. http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/frogs-leg-may-give-dioro-the-hop-it-needs-to-crack-open-somevintage-penfold/2007/05/20/1179601239337.html Frog's Leg may give Dioro the hop it needs to crack open some vintage Penfold
  5. http://www.lamancharesources.com/servlet/dispatcherservlet?selectedContentID=1084&lang=2&action=2 La Mancha Closes Transaction
  6. http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20091127/pdf/31md0yfjgbg4k1.pdf Annual report 2008–09
  7. http://www.asx.com.au/asx/statistics/displayAnnouncement.do?display=pdf&idsId=00993672 Quarterly Report for the period ending 31 August
  8. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/dioro-out-of-touch-says-avoca-resources/story-0-1225736496312 Dioro out of touch, says Avoca Resources
  9. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/avoca-opens-offer-for-gold-miner-dioro-20090519-bdpt.html Avoca opens offer for gold miner Dioro
  10. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=988507 Avoca increase bid for Dioro Exploration
  11. http://www.asx.com.au/asx/statistics/displayAnnouncement.do?display=pdf&idsId=01056734 Removal from Official List
  12. News: Anatolia Minerals and Avoca Resources Announce Merger of Equals To Create a New Leading Intermediate Global Gold Producer. www.newswire.ca . 8 September 2010. 4 April 2022.
  13. News: 11 February 2013 . Alacer sells Frog's Leg stake for $167m . . 17 April 2022 .
  14. News: Beattie . Fraser . 20 April 2015 . Evolution in 300 million La Mancha buy . . 17 April 2022 .
  15. Web site: Mungari Operation fact sheet . evolutionmining.com.au . . 17 April 2022.
  16. http://www.lamancharesources.com/servlet/dispatcherservlet?selectedContentID=1218&lang=2&action=2 LA MANCHA'S 2008 YEAR END PRODUCTION INCREASES 33% TO 71,550 OUNCES
  17. http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20081128/pdf/31dy7tml6yfhg2.pdf Annual report 2007–08
  18. Web site: Evolution Mining 2017 Annual Report. evolutionmining.com.au . . 17 April 2022.
  19. Web site: Evolution Mining 2016 Annual Report. evolutionmining.com.au . . 17 April 2022.
  20. Web site: Regis Resources Annual Report 2022 . 21 October 2022 . evolutionmining.com.au . Evolution Mining . 2 March 2023.
  21. Web site: Evolution Mining Annual Report 2023 . 18 October 2023 . evolutionmining.com.au . Evolution Mining . 26 February 2024.