Hill 50 Gold Mine
Hill 50 poppet head c1980 when the mine was an underground operation, all buildings and foreground are now part of the opencut
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| Location | |
|---|---|
| Location | Mount Magnet |
| State | Western Australia |
| Country | Australia |
| Coordinates | 28°03′S 117°50′E / 28.050°S 117.833°ECoordinates: 28°03′S 117°50′E / 28.050°S 117.833°E |
| Production | |
| Production | inactive |
| Financial year | 2008-09 |
| History | |
| Opened | 1890s |
| Closed | 2007 |
| Owner | |
| Company | Ramelius Resources |
| Website | Ramelius website |
| Year of acquisition | 2010 |
The Hill 50 Gold Mine is a gold mine located 4 km north-west of Mount Magnet, Western Australia. The mine was, until July 2010, owned by Harmony Gold and had been placed in care and maintenance since 2007. In July 2010, Harmony sold the mine to Ramelius Resources, owner of the Wattle Dam Gold Mine, for A$40 million.
The mine was, for a short time in 2008, owned by Monarch Gold Mining Company Ltd, who went into administration in June 2008. Hill 50 never entered production under Monarch's ownership. Throughout its history, since 1891, the mine has produced in excess of 5.6 million ounces of gold.
At the turn of the 19th century, Hill 50 was the dominant mine out of 30 gold mines in Mount Magnet. It was regarded as a mine which would last forever, but fell into decline after 1915, when many miners went off to fight in the First World War.
Hill 50 Gold Mines N.L., which was floated on the Perth Stock Exchange in 1934 to acquire the Sidar leases at Boogardie, started mining Hill 50 in 1936. From a moderate sized operation, the Hill 50 mine grew to produce 13,500 ounces per annum by the outbreak of World War II. Mining continued, on reduced man power, during the war.
Hill 50's ore reserves depleted to 73,000 tonnes during the war but, unlike the Hill 60 and St George mines, Hill 50 produced some successful drilling results in 1949 and remained operating. A steel shaft, transported across from Broken Hill, was erected at the mine in 1956.
Up until 1959, ore was hauled from the underground operations via a steam winder. In the late 1950s, the mine produced almost 100,000 ounces of gold per annum, resulting in a yearly profit of close to A£1 million at the time, or A$30 million in current value. This result made Hill 50 Australia's most profitable mine between 1955 and 1961.
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