| Marvel Loch Gold Mine | |
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Marvel Loch Gold Mine
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| Location | Marvel Loch |
| State | Western Australia |
| Country | Australia |
| Owner | |
| Company | St Barbara Limited |
| Website | St Barbara website |
| Year of acquisition | March 2005 |
| ASX | SBM |
| Production | |
| Financial year | 2008-09 |
| Ounces of Gold | 156,105 |
The Marvel Loch Gold Mine is a gold mine located at Marvel Loch, 30 km south of Southern Cross, Western Australia.
It is operated by St Barbara Limited.[1] Apart from Marvel Loch, St Barbara also operates the Gwalia Gold Mine at Leonora and owns the Tarmoola Gold Mine, which is placed in care and maintenance.[2][3]
All three mines were previously owned by the now defunct mining company Sons of Gwalia Limited.[4] Sons of Gwalia went into administration on 30 August 2004 and the company's gold mining operations were sold to St Barbara in March 2005 for A$38 million, having been valued by the Sons of Gwalia directors at A$ 120 million. While Marvel Loch was operational before and after the sale, the Gwalia mine was already placed in care & maintenance at the time of the transaction. A fourth mine, the Carosue Dam Gold Mine, ceased operation in June 2005 and has since been sold by St Barbara.[5][6][7]
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Mining in the area around Marvel Loch dates back to the early 1900s and between 1905 and 1986, 136,300 ounces of gold were recorded as having been mined.[8]
Sons of Gwalia mined the Marvel Loch deposit as a surface mine for the most part of the mines history since reopening in the 1990s, upgrading its production facility in 2001.[8] In February 2001, the company announced it consolidated its Southern Cross operations, acquiring the remaining 30% of the Yilgarn Star Gold Mine it didn't own and merging the operation with Marvel Loch, closing the Yilgarn Star mill. It also acquired other interessts in the region in this transaction.[9][10] Since then, production from Yilgarn has been listed under Marvel Loch.[11]
After a rapid rise of the company, unauthorised gold and foreign exchange trading activities by chief financial officer Eardley Ross-Adjie in the year to June 2000, ended up costing Sons of Gwalia more than A$190 million.[12] Sons of Gwalia went into administration on 30 August 2004, following a financial collapse, with debts exceeding $800 million after suffering from falling gold reserves and hedging losses.[13] Sons of Gwalia was Australia's third-largest gold producer and also controlled more than half the world's production of tantalum.[14]
St Barbara purchased the mine from insolvent Sons of Gwalia in March 2005.[15]
Since the purchase of the Mine by St Barbara, mining has been carried out both in surface and underground operations. In July 2009, St Barbara suspended open pit mining at Marvel Loch and decided that the treatment plant will be operated on a week-on, week-off basis.[16]
Production of the mine (including Yilgarn Star since June 2001):
| Year | Production | Grade | Cost per ounce |
| 1997-98 [10] | 90,008 ounces | ||
| 2000 [8] | 138,491 ounces | 2.48 g/t | A$ 416 |
| 2001 [8] | 176,026 ounces | 2.89 g/t | A$ 419 |
| 2002 [8] | 176,756 ounces | 2.49 g/t | A$ 480 |
| 2002-03 [17] | 217,019 ounces | A$ 454 | |
| 2003-04 [18] | 182,891 ounces | A$ 452 | |
| 2005 [19] 1 | 53,719 ounces | 2.94 g/t | A$ 336 |
| 2005-06 [20] | 166,000 ounces | 2.4 g/t | A$ 443 |
| 2006-07 [21] | 171,182 ounces | 2,6 g/t | A$ 508 |
| 2007-08 [22] | 157,477 ounces | 2.5 g/t | A$ 550 |
| 2008-09 [23] | 156,105 ounces | 2.5 g/t | A$ 888 |
| Year | Production | Grade | Cost per ounce |
| 1997-98 [10] | 88,417 ounces | ||
| 2000 [11] | 103,122 ounces | 4.43 g/t | A$ 384 |
| 2001 1 .[11] | 23,511 ounces | 3.76 g/t | A$ 491 |
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