Name: Haile gold mine.

Location: The project is located in Lancaster County, in South Carolina in the US.

Controlling Company: OceanaGold.

Brief Description: It contains openpit and underground mineral resources. The life-of-mine is currently estimated to at least 2030.

Brief History: The Haile mine is located in the Carolina Terrane – the location of the first gold rush in the early 1800s – between the past-producing Ridgeway and Brewer mines.

Gold was discovered in 1827 near Haile by Colonel Benjamin Haile.

The area was mined by senior gold producers until the 1980s. The 1980s heralded the first successful modern exploration and production at Haile.

Significant potential exists in the region and is demonstrated by the recent exploration successes at the Haile gold mine since 2007, namely the discovery of the Horseshoe zone in early 2010, and the Mustang and Palomino zones in 2010 and 2011 respectively.

Haile came under OceanaGold’s control when the company acquired Romarco Minerals in October 2015. On January 19, 2017, the first gold of the “new” Haile operation was poured. The mine is now gearing up for full-time production of gold.

Products: Gold.

Geology/Mineralisation: Haile is the largest gold deposit in the eastern US. It comprises 11 named echelon gold deposits within a 3.5 km × 1 km area. Haile occurs within a strongly deformed east-north-east-trending structural zone of the Carolina terrane at or near contact between the metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian age.

Mineralisation is exposed along an east-north-east-trending anticlinorium. Deformation is dominantly ductile, with east-north-east fold axes and isoclinal folds overprinted by shearing and local brecciation.

Haile is hosted in foliated siltstones and greywackes of the upper Persimmon Fork formation. Recent reinterpretation of stratigraphy at Haile considerably simplifies the structural model with a folded volcanic-sedimentary package that is not complicated by overturning or regional thrusting. The conformable east-north-east-trending contact between the Persimmon Fork and the overlying Richtex formation is located about 0.5 km south of Haile.

Reserves: Total proven and probable reserves as at December 31, 2017, were estimated at 56-million tonnes grading 1.76 g/t gold.

Resources: Total measured and indicated resources as at December 31, 2017, were estimated at 58.2-million tonnes grading 1.77 g/t gold. Total inferred resources were estimated at 13-million tonnes grading 1.4 g/t gold.

Mining Method: Haile is currently being mined using conventional openpit methods.

Major Infrastructure and Equipment: A conventional flotation and cyanide leaching flowsheet is used at the Haile mine.

The process plant comprises:

• crushing and conveying,
• storage and stockpiling of ore and reclaim,
• grinding,
• flotation,
• regrinding of concentrate,
• carbon-in-leach (CIL) recovery of precious metal values from reground flotation concentrate and flotation tailings,
• acid washing and elution of precious metal values from CIL-loaded carbon,
• electrowinning and refining of precious metal value,
• thermal regeneration of eluted and carbon and recycle to CIL, and
• CIL tailing thickening, cyanide recovery, detoxification and the pumping of slurry to storage.

Prospects: The current assumption is the successful permitting of underground mining by mid-2019, with portal development beginning July 1, 2019. The openpit is believed to be able to meet this timeframe for stripping and opening the portal bench area. Portal development is expected to take six weeks, after which mining of the decline can begin. First production from the stopes is expected to occur in December 2020 until 2025.

Contact Details:
OceanaGold
Tel +61 3 9656 5300
Email info@oceanagold.com