Cowal gold mine
| Cowal gold mine | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| General information about the mine | |||
| Mining technology | Open pit | ||
| Information about the mining company | |||
| Operating company | Barrick Gold | ||
| Start of operation | 2006 | ||
| Funded raw materials | |||
| Degradation of | gold | ||
| Geographical location | |||
| Coordinates | 33 ° 38 '22.7 " S , 147 ° 24' 13.4" E | ||
|
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| Location | West Wyalong | ||
| State | New South Wales | ||
| Country | Australia | ||
The Cowal Gold Mine is located in New South Wales , Australia , approximately 20 miles north of West Wyalong and 350 miles west of Sydney . The mine is at the western end of Lake Cowal .
The mine is operated by Barrick Gold as an open-cast mine using traditional mining techniques with blasting , crushing and cyanide leaching .
For years protesting Aborigines of Wiradjuri against the mining operation on their traditional lands and were able to reach only in 2009 that the requested extension of the degradation of Barrick Gold before the environmental court in New South Wales was prohibited.
history
Drilling for exploration of the ore deposit have been made on the west side of Lake Cowal since 1,981th From 1988 to 1994 the E 42 ( ore body 42) could be explored and it was recognized that it is economically suitable for mining. In 1999 the Homestake Mining Company began preparatory work for a mining facility . Barrick Gold acquired the Homestake mine site in 2001. Barrick began construction on the mine in 2004, which opened in 2006. At the end of 2003, the estimated gold-bearing rock volume was 63.6 million tons with 1.19 grams / ton gold, or 76 tons of gold and 47.53 million tons with 1.04 grams / ton gold, or 49 tons of gold.
The opencast mine extends over 100 hectares and reaches a depth of 325 meters. A 100-kilometer 132 KV line leads from Temora to the mine to supply energy to the system that separates gold from the rock . A pipeline leads to the plant for the water supply for cyanide leaching .
geology
Lake Cowal is in the Lachlan Fold Belt. The ore body of the volcanic Lake Cowal complex is overlaid by a 30 m thick sediment. The mineralization took place a complex geological area stretching from volcanoes and igneous intrusions have been changed. The gold mineralization took place in quartz - carbonate - sulfide-containing layers and veins . The greatest grades of gold extend in veins running north-south. The mineralization of the sulphides includes pyrite , sphalerite , chalcopyrite , pyrrhotite and galena .
Gold production and cyanide leaching
Crushing and grinding of the ore to extract the gold takes place after mining. Rock and gold are separated using gravity and the carbon-in-leach process, a process using cyanide leaching with the participation of activated carbon . This is the state of the art in industrial production technology for gold.
In the process of cyanide leaching, gold is chemically bound in highly toxic seepage water. After filtration and precipitation, brown sludge is produced, which, after washing and drying, turns into raw gold through reduction . In this process, hydrogen cyanide and cyanides are produced , which can escape into the environment despite reuse of the lye. All substances produced in this process are poisonous. Although these are easily decomposed and broken down in nature, the resulting large spoil heaps and cyanide dusts can be distributed in an uncontrolled manner by wind and water, toxins can enter the environment in an uncontrolled manner and cause serious ecological damage.
Environment and Aboriginal
Barrick Gold holds mining rights over an area of 26.5 km² in the traditional land of the Wiradjuri Aborigines tribe on Lake Cowal, which they understand as their Sacred Heartland (German: Hallowed Heartland ). Aborigines, who used to live mainly on the shores of the lake, complain that mining has already destroyed some of their sacred places. While Barrick merely emphasizes and emphasizes the advantages of the mine for the Aborigines, which lie in employment, training and other measures such as the building of sites of remembrance, the Elder Neville Williams has been lamenting not only the destruction of theirs for more than a decade Sites and landscapes, but also sues before the Environment Court (German: Umweltgericht ) against mining with cyanide leaching and the consequences that may result from it. He also criticizes the transport of 6,090 tons of toxic cyanide annually from Gladstone, 2000 kilometers away, on public roads and the change in nature caused by the large water extraction, but calls on the government to act. There are always protests, the one from 2008 is particularly documented when a protest camp was set up.
Lake Cowal is the largest inland lake in New South Wales, it is a significant and sensitive wetland and bird sanctuary; it is registered both on the Register of the National Estate and as Landscape Conservation with the National Trust of Australia . The lake is fed by Bland Creek and occasionally the Lachlan River and is filled every seven to ten years.
Mining deposits the sludge from gold production about 3.5 kilometers from the shores of Cowal Lake behind a dam that is designed as an earthen wall. The water required for cyanide leaching is taken from the Bland Creek Paleochannel drilling field, which is 20 km east of the gold mine. The daily water withdrawal is 17 megaliters.
A broad coalition of over 40 groups has formed against gold mining, including Friends of the Earth Australia , Nature Conservation Council, Birds Australia , Central West Environment Council, Mineral Policy Institute and The Greens in New South Wales.
After a dam broke on the mine site in 2008, the Aborigines reached a court in 2009 that a further expansion of the mining area planned by Barrick was prohibited.
Production and employment figures
In 2011 the Cowal gold mine produced 269,000 ounces at a cost of US $ 535 per ounce. Gold reserves in the deposit were estimated at 2.2 million ounces as of December 31, 2011. The mining expansion, banned in 2008, planned to extract approximately 2.7 to 3.5 million ounces of gold.
Between 2004 and April 2006, when it was at full capacity, the mine employed 700 people, currently there are 250.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c barrick.com ( Memento of the original from January 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Section 2. Project Description , accessed May 2, 2012
- ↑ lakecowalfoundation.org.au ( Memento of the original from March 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Cowal Gold Mine , accessed May 2, 2012
- ↑ lakecowalfoundation.org.au ( Memento of the original from March 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Geology , in English, accessed May 2, 2012
- ↑ portergeo.com : Cowal, Lake Cowal, Endeavor 42 , in English, accessed April 30, 2012
- ↑ regenwald.org : 12 questions and answers on the topic of gold , accessed on April 30, 2012
- ↑ lakecowalfoundation.org ( Memento of the original from March 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Aboriginal Heritage , accessed May 2, 2012
- ↑ a b barrick.com ( Memento of the original from November 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Cowal Mine , accessed April 30, 2012
- ↑ indymedia.org.au : Internationally significant environment, not clapped-out cattle country , September 16, 2010, in English, accessed April 30, 2012
- ↑ savelakecowal.com ( Memento of the original from March 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST OPEN-PIT MINING & Lake Cowal goldmine, in English, accessed May 2, 2012
- ↑ rainforestinfo.org : Cyanide Be Gone! Keep Our Waterways Clean , accessed May 2, 2012
- ↑ peacebus.com : Standing with the ancestors, bearing witness for the Earth , in English, accessed May 2, 2012
- ↑ nonewcoal.org.au ( Memento of the original from April 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Protesters at Lake Cowal gold mine occupation congratulated , in English, accessed May 2, 2012
- ↑ rainforestinof.org : Lake Cowal Campain , in English, accessed 30 April 2012
- ↑ minesandcommunities.org : Aboriginal leader blocks Barrick expansion , called in English, 30 April 2012
- ↑ barrick.com ( Memento of the original from September 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Cowal , in English, accessed April 30, 2012
