Name: Hera mine.
Location: The mine is located about 100 km south-east of Cobar and about 4 km south of Nymagee, in the central west of New South Wales, in Australia.
Mine Owner/s: Hera Resources, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aurelia Metals.
Brief Description: Hera is a polymetallic mine, with a current life-of-mine to 2023.
Brief History: Aurelia acquired Hera as an undeveloped gold/lead/zinc/silver deposit from CBH Resources in September 2009. Following an extensive exploration and feasibility programme, the Hera definitive feasibility study was completed in September 2011. Development approval was received from the New South Wales government in July 2012, with construction starting in January 2013. Commercial production was achieved at the mine in April 2015.
Primary Metals/Minerals: Gold, lead, zinc, silver.
Secondary Metals/Minerals: None stated.
Geology/Mineralisation: The Hera deposit is situated within the Mouramba group of sediments, which dip steeply to the west to west-north-west. The beds are generally disrupted and boudinaged by a strong cleavage.
The Hera mineralisation is contained within the strongly cleaved sequence as part of a high strain zone in the hanging wall of the Rookery fault. The Hera mineralisation is characterised by several lenses of intense cleavage-parallel, vein-type and breccia style mineralisation grading to massive sulphide in places, comprising pyrrhotite, sphalerite, galena, pyrite and chalcopyrite with local zones of appreciable gold.
The hosts and stones and siltstones are pervasively silicified, with the zones of silicification extending more than 20 m into the hanging wall and footwall. The silicified alteration envelopes also contain varying degrees of dark green chlorite alteration and commonly contain disseminated pyrrhotite, typically aligned parallel to the cleavage. Quartz veining is commonly associated with the main zones of sulphide mineralisation.
Reserves: Total proven and probable reserves as at June 30, 2020, were estimated at 1.2-million tonnes grading 1.4 g/t gold, 3 % lead, 4.7% zinc and 38 g/t silver.
Resources: Total mineral resources as at June 30, 2020, were estimated at 1.4-million tonnes grading 1.6 g/t gold, 3.1% please, 4.8% zinc and 40 g/t silver.
Mining Method: Hera is an underground mine using bench stoping, with the stopes backfilled with waste rock fill.
Major Infrastructure and Equipment: The site comprises an underground mine, a run-of-mine pad, temporary waste rock emplacement, a processing plant, a tailings storage facility, and associated infrastructure and ancillary activities.
Prospects: Drilling at Hera is currently focused on near-mine opportunities and aggressive drill-out of the new Federation regional discovery.
Contact Details:
Hera Resources
Tel +61 2 6363 5200
Email office@aureliametals.com.au.