Granny Smith Gold Mine


The Granny Smith Gold Mine is a gold mine south of Laverton, Western Australia near Mount Weld and operated by Gold Fields.
As of 2022, it is one of four mines the company operates in Australia, the others being the Agnew, Gruyera and St Ives.

History

The Granny Smith gold deposit was discovered in 1979 by Canadian prospector Ray Lovi Smith and named after his wife Laurende.
Construction of the mine took place in the late 1980s.
The project was originally owned by Delta Gold, which became Auriongold in February 2002. Aurion was taken over by Placer Dome in 2003, who already held a 60% interest in the mine, and Placer Dome in turn by Barrick Gold in March 2006.
A large amount of ore processed at Granny Smith originated from the Wallaby deposit, approximately west of the mine, and was hauled to the Granny Smith mill for processing. Open pit mining at Wallaby ceased in September 2006, followed by a ramp up of underground mining at the location.
In February 2009, Barrick signed a memorandum of understanding with Crescent Gold to purchase ore from its Laverton Gold Mine and mill it at Granny Smith. In January 2010, an agreement was signed with Range River Gold to purchase ore from the Mount Morgans Gold Mine and treat it at Granny Smith from February 2010 onwards.
In October 2013, Barrick finalised the sale of their Australian Yilgarn South mines, consisting of the Granny Smith, Lawlers and Darlot mines to Gold Fields. Barrick sold the mines as it considered them high-cost and required cash to compensate for the rising cost of its Pascua-Lama gold project. The three mines accounted for six percent of Barrick's annual gold output at the time. Goldfields purchased the mines for US$300 million, half of which had to be paid in cash while the other half could be issued in shares.

Environment

In 1999, abandoned mining pits at Granny Smith were used for trials on breeding silver perch and barramundi in salty water.

Production

Granny Smith

Production of the mine as an individual entity:
YearProductionGradeCost per ounce
1996312,262 ounces
1997376,386 ounces
1998604,806 ounces
1999523,092 ounces4.52 g/tA$161
2000412,049 ounces3.94 g/tA$340
2001347,179 ounces3.28 g/tA$338
2002358,648 ounces
2003307,341 ounces
2004293,228 ounces
2005278,806 ounces
2006314,000 ounces0.108 oz/tUS$401
2007175,000 ounces0.056 oz/tUS$651

Yilgarn South

Production figures for the Yilgarn South operation, consisting of Darlot, Granny Smith and Lawlers:
YearProductionGradeCost per ounce
2007410,000 ounces0.117 oz/tonUS$486
2008325,000 ounces0.125 oz/tonUS$749
2009352,000 ouncesUS$685
2010
2011
2012
2013

Granny Smith

Production of the mine as an individual operation again:
YearProductionGradeCost per ounce
20147.17 g/t
2015301,000 ounces6.97 g/tUS$764
2016284,000 ounces6.62 g/tUS$834
2017290,000 ounces5.54 g/tUS$896
2018280,000 ounces5.26 g/tUS$925
2019275,000 ouncesA$1,325
2020265,000 ouncesA$1,415
2021279,000 ounces5.23 g/tA$1,545
2022288,000 ounces5.66 g/tA$1,691
2023283,900 ounces5.0 g/tA$1,800