Page 23 - pd292-Apr21-mag-web

We’ll never forget the challenges we had
and what got us into trouble in the past
and I think that’s one lesson we’ve learned and
and knowing what we need to do three
“ we will always take forward as a team. months ahead of time to avoid those dif-
ficulties, so we now have a window of op-
portunity to look even further out.
probably every three weeks to talk to the flagged through implementing MillStar “During administration we could re-
whole group to say, ‘this is where we’re technology and proposed blending strat- ally only look a month ahead. So whilst
at’ and ‘this is what we’re doing next’ un- egies to maximise grinding and recovery in the background we were doing a lot
til it became clearer in January last year efficiencies. of planning for the longer-term future,
that we would get a recap going.” Hay, who joined Gascoyne following until we came out and reinstated we re-
With that first hurdle seemingly in the a four-year stint as general manager of ally couldn’t look that far ahead because
rear-view mirror, Gascoyne was then Evolution Mining Ltd’s Mt Carlton gold there was always that level uncertainty
confronted with the prospect of being mine in Queensland, said operations at hanging over us. But once we were there,
shutdown once again, this time because Dalgaranga had never been more stable. we just rolled into that continued plan of
of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately “The fundamental and most important implement and deliver.”
for the company and its peers, heavy aspect was getting stability in the op- Gascoyne is mining from a single
lobbying from the likes of Chamber of eration to produce enough high-grade source at the Gilbey’s open pit where
Minerals and Energy WA (CME) and the ore tonnes day in/day out, then week in/ Hay insists the company has enough
Association of Mining and Exploration week out and then month in/month out,” high-grade ore to feed into the 2.5 mtpa
Companies (AMEC) saw the resources Hay said. processing plant for at least the next four
sector deemed an essential industry “With a 13-week rolling schedule in years.
when widespread lockdowns were im- front of us, we’re pretty good at predict- Drilling is currently focused at the
posed. ing where we might have pinch points southern end of the Gilbey’s pit in a bid to
It was during this period from March to
June last year when the world faced so
much uncertainty that Hay believes Dal-
garanga’s future was firmly cemented.
“Initially we were thinking ‘this could
be all over’ if they [government] shut us
down, if they made a decision that eve-
rything has got to go into lockdown,” he
said. “But one of things that we’re see-
ing now out of our team is resilience. The
team has actually been through so much
now that when another thing is thrown at
us we just find a way to deal with it.
“Personally, I’m very proud but as a
team, I think we’re quietly and humbly
proud. We all know we worked hard
and there’s just a quiet recognition that
we faced adversity and as a team we’ve
come through it. It’s now about the future
and we’re getting on with it.”
While Gascoyne endured a troubled
beginning to life as a producer, the com-
pany has hardly skipped a beat over the
past 18 months under Hay’s watch. Cen-
tral to that success has been a number of
operational enhancements, including im-
proved mining efficiencies through 10m
bench blasts and conversion of in-pit tail-
ings to the old Golden Wings pit.
Primary contractor NRW Holdings Ltd
has also committed several new pieces
of machinery to site, including EX1900
excavators and ancillary gear.
Throughput in the almost three-year-
old processing plant has steadily in-
creased via establishing higher operating
parameters at each stage and by reduc-
ing recirculated load in the SAG mill.
Further improvements have also been Action Drill & Blast, a NRW subsidiary, treated analysts and media to a blast during a site
visit to Dalgaranga last month

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT aPRIL 2021 Page 23