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The Challenger Gold Mine
P Androvic1, P Bamford2 and M Sandy3
ABSTRACT
The Challenger Gold deposit was discovered in 1995 by Dominion
Mining Ltd in a remote western area of the Gawler Craton in South
Australia. Mine development commenced in 2002 with initial production
from an open pit supplemented by ore from a very small adjacent
auxiliary pit. Development of the underground mine commenced in 2004.
The orebody plunge of just less than 30 degrees requires careful
attention to mine design. Production from the M1 orebody, with less than
800 ounces per vertical metre (ovm) and very limited ‘surge’ capacity,
requires careful scheduling and implementation to ensure continuity of
ore feed for milling.
Initial production results from underground stopes included more
dilution than anticipated. The narrow, high-grade zones proved to have
much more complex geometry than early interpretations had indicated.
Greatly improved understanding of the mineralisation controls resulted
in important changes being made to the underground mine design and
method. Coupled with careful control of development and drilling and
blasting practices, this resulted in an immediate reduction in dilution and
high recoveries of the resource.
The benefits of these changes flowed through in the 2005/06 financial
year, resulting in a 150 per cent increase in gold production to 108 080 oz
and a sharp reduction in cash operating costs to A$280/oz. This was
followed in 2006/07 with production of 108 91 oz of gold at an
operating cost of $309/oz and in 2007/08 with 109 326 oz of gold
at $367/oz.
Production to June 2008 has been mainly from the M1 orebody, with
the lowest stoping to date on the 580 m Level (615 m below surface)
above development mining on the 520 Level. The rate of vertical advance
of mining this orebody has averaged 150 vertical metres per year.
The increased current combined JORC compliant resource and
reserve position of over one million ounces, now includes the M2 and
M3 orebodies with a current total average gold inventory up to 1400 -
1500 ovm. Exploration has intersected other shoots and all shoots are
open at depth.
The adjacent M2 and M3 orebodies are being developed for stoping.
The narrow width of these zones from 1 m up to 4 m will require
continued focus on ore zone definition, accurate development and careful
drill and blast practice. In addition, to minimise cost increases in the
current period of rapidly escalating labour, equipment, consumables and
energy costs, high productivities will need to be maintained to allow the
established rapid mining advance to continue at low unit costs.
LOCATION
The Challenger Gold Mine is owned and operated by Dominion
Gold Operations, a wholly owned entity of Dominion Mining
Ltd. Challenger is located 750 km NW of Adelaide in the Gawler
Craton (Figure 1) with the nearest community of Coober Pedy,
300 km by road to the NE.
The mining lease is situated within the Commonwealth
Hill/Mobella Pastoral Lease as well as within the Woomera
Prohibitive Area (WPA).
1. MAusIMM, Manager, Mining and Geology, Dominion Gold
Operations, PO Box 453, Torrensville SA 5041.
Email: pandrovic@dgo.com.au
2. FAusIMM, General Manager, Operations, Dominion Mining
Limited, PO Box 465, West Perth WA 6872.
Email: pbamford@dml.com.au
3. FAusIMM, Principal Geotechnical Engineer, AMC Consultants, 9
Havelock Street, West Perth WA 6005.
Email: msandy@amcconsultants.com.au
Narrow Vein Mining Conference Ballarat, Vic, 14 - 15 October 2008
INTRODUCTION
The Challenger Gold deposit was discovered in 1995 by
Dominion Mining Ltd (Dominion) in a remote western area of the
Gawler Craton in South Australia. Mine development commenced
in 2002 with initial production from an open pit supplemented by
ore from a very small adjacent auxiliary pit (SEZ). Development
of the underground mine commenced in 2004.
Greatly improved understanding of the mineralisation
controls resulted in important changes being made to the
underground mine design and method. Coupled with careful
control of development and drilling and blasting practices, this
resulted in an immediate reduction in dilution and increased
recovery of resource.
The benefits of these changes flowed through in the 2005/06
financial year, resulting in a 150 per cent increase in gold
production to 108 080 oz and a sharp reduction in cash operating
costs to A$280/oz. This was followed in 2006/07 with 108 191 oz
of gold produced at an operating cost of $309/oz and in 2007/08
with 109 326 oz of gold at $367/oz.
Production to June 2008 has been mainly from the M1
orebody, with the lowest stoping to date on the 580 m Level
(615 m below surface) above development mining the 520 Level.
The adjacent M2 and M3 orebodies are also being developed for
stoping in the near future. The narrow width of these zones will
require continued focus on ore zone definition, accurate
development and careful drill and blast practice.
The rate of vertical advance of mining this orebody has
averaged 150 vertical metres per year.
DISCOVERY
The Challenger Gold Deposit was discovered in 1995 by
Dominion. Dominion had been exploring in the Gawler Craton
since 1991 and was one of the first companies to use the
pre-PIRSA funded exploration initiative data from the early 1990s.
Using a calcrete sampling method to generate subsoil anomalies
pioneered by Dominion, a number of interesting anomalies were
discovered in the region (outlined in Bonwick, 1997).
Initially using a 1.6 km × 1.6 km grid a number of significant
anomalies were generated and subjected to infill sampling.
Infilling of the regional sampling grids occurred by
progressively decreasing the size of the patterns down to 400 m ×
400 m then 100 m × 50 m, eventually homing in on the Challenger
gold and arsenic anomaly, (Figure 2). An initial RAB drilling
program targeting the calcrete anomaly delivered an intersection
of 28 m @ 5.8 g/t, which launched the Challenger project.
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
Following a period of frenetic drilling in 1997 and 1998 that
defined the original resource, the project was the subject of a
50/50 Joint Venture with Resolute Ltd who were managers of the
project. A prefeasibility was conducted but little development took
place. Dominion took full control of the Challenger project again
in December 2000 and completed a feasibility study in late 2001.
Construction of a conventional CIP plant was started with
refurbishment of the Mt Monger ball mill from January 2002.
Civils and earthworks began on site in April 2002 and were
completed as planned within a budget of $18.3 million inclusive
of all prestrip mining, owners costs up to plant commissioning,
and the construction of village, borefield and treatment plant
facilities.
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P ANDROVIC, P BAMFORD and M SANDY
FIG 1 - Challenger location.
FIG 2 - Infill calcrete sampling to 100 x 100 m.
Prestrip mining had commenced in April 2002 to uncover the
orebody and ensure sufficient ore was available to commission
the treatment plant in October 2002.
OPEN PIT MINING
Mining began in May 2002 and the open pit produced 120 000 oz
from an initial reserve estimate of 110 000 oz including a small
satellite pit, the SEZ. The open pit was mined using a PC1600
20 Ballarat, Vic, 14 - 15 October 2008
excavator and a fleet of Komatsu 50 t haul trucks plus ancillary
plant. The weathering profile allowed the pit to be excavated
‘free dig’ down to 33 m below surface before fresh rock required
blasting. The massive nature of the Challenger gneiss, poor
natural fracturing and indistinct geology in the pit resulted in
difficult interpretation of ore zones.
The 380 m by 320 m open pit was grade controlled on 18 m
panels using an RC drill rig and benches were fired on 5 m
heights and mined on 2.5 - 3.0 m flitches. Ore was classified into
four categories, ‘LG’ (1.0 - 1.7 g/t), ‘Blue’ (1.7 - 2.5 g/t), ‘Green’
(2.5 - 5.0 g/t) and ‘Red’ (5.0 g/t+) and placed on the ROM pad
into discrete stockpiles per bench that enabled an accurate
reconciliation tracking process as well as the development of
some large low grade stockpiles.
Blast hole logging and mapping of bench faces did not provide
significant geological control. The true structural geometry of the
ore was still not apparent as no ore was exposed for mapping in
the pit walls until the lower sections of the pit. While there was
an understanding that the ore was folded, the nature and
complexity was still not apparent with the ore mined in robust
blocks that did not necessarily highlight any structural continuity.
The open pit was mined to a depth of 135 m and completed as
scheduled in April 2004.
REGIONAL GEOLOGY
Challenger occurs within the Mulgathing Complex with the
earliest recognised event being the Sleafordian Orogeny (2950 -
3150 Ma?) followed by the Kimban Orogeny between 1745 and
1845 Ma.
The area is characterised by Archean to mid Proterozoic, high-
grade metamorphism (granulite) gneissic basement. The
original granulite facies metamorphism then retrograded to
amphibolite facies recrystallisation around 1650 - 1540 Ma
(Tomkins, 2002).
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Lamprophyre sills cross cut all structures and have an age of
c.1650 Ma. Dolerite Dykes have been imprecisely dated at
between 750 and 1425 Ma.
CHALLENGER GEOLOGY
The saprolitic clays extended to 40 - 50 m depths in the ore
zones with the base of oxidation tending to be deeper in relation
to the ore.
There are five main rock types:
1. Massive, granulite facies gneiss. Medium grained, psammo-
pelitic in origin with dominant plagioclase, garnet and
lesser biotite and orthpyroxene.
2. Medium to coarse-grained massive pegmatitic granulite
gneiss.
3. Garnet rich plus biotite foliated feldspathic gneiss.
4. Massive lamprophyre dykes, massive with porphyritic
phlogopite and clinopyroxenes.
5. Thin mafic dolerite dykes.
The mafic dykes are the youngest lithological unit and the
contact orientation is the same across the gneiss and
lamprophyre. The lamprophyre sill has been observed in the
mapping to be truncated by the mafic dolerite and the
lamprophyre is significantly younger than the gneiss.
The main mineralogy in the ore zones is arsenopyrite/
loellingite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, Au-Bi telluride and Au. Biotite
appears as a retrograde product of pyroxene. A pervasive
alteration found in late fracture selvedges and on lamprophyre
dyke margins. This is characterised by sericite, carbonate,
chlorite, serpentine and leucoxene.
There are three main leucosome/vein styles:
1. quartz dominant veins, which may be remnant pre-
metamorphic mineralised veins;
2. polysilicate veins, which are dominant in the main ore
zones and are well mineralised; and
3. pegmatitic veins which are late stage veins with cross-
cutting relationships and are unmineralised.
High-grade gold appears associated with coarse grain quartz
veins with arsenopyrite and lesser feldspar and telluride. Garnet
and biotite also occur with free gold and are associated with
sulfides and/or Au-bismuth telluride. The first two leucosome/vein
types also contain the coarse visible gold. This high nugget-effect
coarse gold is responsible for the variability in grade
reconciliation and to date the life of mine reconciliation is ~8 per
cent more than the reserve estimates.
Current thoughts on the genesis of the ore shoots are that they
are hosted within migmatites that have undergone partial melting.
It is possible that this melting ‘fertility’ may reflect a precursor
hydrothermal alteration event, (McFarlane, Mavrogenes and
Tomkins, 2007). The gold mineralisation is structurally controlled
through emplacement of the partial melt into relatively low
strain positions. Monazite geochronology has outlined a 40 Ma
period (2460 - 2420 Ma) of repeated high temperature events
(McFarlane, 2006).
STRUCTURE
The Challenger orebody is defined by a laterally extensive shear
zone with the shoots plunging ~30° to 030°- 035° (AMG) or
055°- 060° mine grid. The ore shoots are defined by leucosome
veins which show characteristic ptygmatic folding. This small
scale folding is parasitic to the larger scale asymmetric folding
recognised in orientated drill core. Early work by Jon Standing
(Standing, 2003), had hypothesised that these shoots are defined
Narrow Vein Mining Conference Ballarat, Vic, 14 - 15 October 2008
THE CHALLENGER GOLD MINE
by flexures of drag folds in the foliation in response to regional
folding. These inferred fold axes are interpreted to have the same
plunges as the ore shoots.
M1 veins have a highly folded nature and the M1 shoot is an
antiformal fold that is characterised by a thick package of
upright, tightly folded quartz and leucosome veins that have fold
axes plunging parallel with the ore shoot, 30° → 060°.
There is evidence (Standing, 2003) of extreme transposition and
extensional rodding of leucosome bands within the psammo pelitic
gneiss. The long axis of the rodded leucosome quartz is parallel
with the plunge of the drag folds and the overall M1 plunge.
With folding being a prepeak metamorphic structural feature
as with the gold mineralisation, quartz veins should be deformed
in a similar manner to the leucosome. An inference can be drawn
that the Challenger shoots were once a continuous ore zone or
two parallel ore zones striking NW-SE, prior to extreme
WNW-ESE shortening and extension directed shallowly towards
the NE (Figure 3).
FIG 3 - Cartoon showing the progressive shortening of psammitic
beds (So) to produce tight to isoclinal folds that ultimately are
transposed by the axial planar foliation (S1) and local shear zones
along attenuated limbs (S2). The psammitic bed could also
represent leucosome melt bands and quartz veins and is
independent of scale (from Standing, 2003).
Detailed mapping is necessary to lead to a better
understanding of the fold structures. The scale and geometry of
the folding was and is still critical to the understanding and
predictability of the ore shoots.
There are three main fold types (Standing, 2006):
1. F1 – isoclinal folds;
2. F2 – upright to inclined, tight to close folds; and
3. F3 – reclined open folds.
The F2 event is the dominant fold structure which controls the
morphology of the ore shoots. Understanding fold vergences is
important where fold closures are obscured. The refolding by F2
folds of F1 folds often accounts for the sudden disappearance of
ore zones with no obvious continuity. The wrapping around of
these F1 folds into F2 geometry dominates the Challenger ore
shoots. F2 appears more complex due to its larger extent and
difficulty in pinning any reference location when cross cutting
through an asymmetrical long limb position.
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P ANDROVIC, P BAMFORD and M SANDY

UNDERGROUND GEOLOGY
Mapping of the shoots is critical in maintaining and understanding
the dynamic nature of the folded shoots (Figure 4). Changes in
plunge dip and orientation can create apparent lengthening of ore
drives. Changes in wavelength and frequency also affect the
positioning of ore drives. Geological control is important in
ensuring that each successive level is positioned appropriately and
that changes in orientation are noted so that level infrastructure
can be adjusted. Development drives following survey control are
a rarity. The ability to map and interpret the geology is crucial to
the ongoing development of the Challenger orebody. Mapping is
part of the mining cycle and most ore drives are under ‘geological
control’ which necessitates that a good relationship be developed
with the mining contractor.
Figure 5 highlights the distribution of the ore shoots at
Challenger that have been mined. The M1 shoot is a more
symmetrical and open fold system with M2 a combination of
asymmetrical and symmetrical dominant fold zones with the
M3 dominated by long limb asymmetrical folding.
Figure 5 also highlights the target rich environment which will
be investigated in due course. An exploration drive has been
started on the 580 level to delineate the M3 zone at depth. The
M3 shoot has been mined underground in the upper levels
adjacent to the open pit and after M2 shoot, will be the next ore
shoot brought into the mining cycle.
A second 250 m long exploration drive has been designed to
target the M1 footwall zone, M2 Footwall and allow for drilling
positions onto Challenger West. This drive will start on the
800 level at the end of the M2 ore drive. An exploration drive is
currently being developed on the 580mRL along the M3 structure.
By understanding the local structural geometry of the shoots
and development of target positions, the Challenger operations are
most likely to develop additional reserves and extend mine life.
RESOURCE
The Challenger Resource is advanced by directional surface
diamond drilling. Section lines are spaced every 100 m with
average hole lengths reaching 1.3 km on the deepest sections to

FIG 4 - Typical faces within M1.

FIG 5 - Challenger mine scale ore geometry and targets.

22 Ballarat, Vic, 14 - 15 October 2008 Narrow Vein Mining Conference

 THE CHALLENGER GOLD MINE

date. Each parent hole has four to five daughter holes branching
off and these vary from 250 - 300 m in length each. The
philosophy is to target the interpreted hinge position of the M1
while also intercepting the M3 and M2 before intersecting the
M1 shoot.
Using a long directional drilled ‘navi’ bend to lift the parent
hole ~20°, allows for the five daughter holes to be sequential
drilled back up the bend of the drill hole. This allows for a spread
of holes to cover any variation in the shoots plunge azimuth or
dip, (Figure 6). The ultimate target window is 15 - 20 m and
holes are adjusted mid stream to account for natural hole
deviation and the pierce point is adjusted up or down dip to suit.
The nuggetty high-grade orebody has also proven to possess
both a consistent structural geometry and robust grade continuity
vertically. A block modelling approach to estimate resource tonnes
and grade was used through the open pit and first few years of the
underground. The block model interpolations underestimated
tonnes, over estimate and under estimate grade and generally
under estimated contained metal. A subsequent block modelling
approach using ‘unfolding techniques’ and trialed in parallel
during late 2004 through to 2006 resulted in a closer correlation
but a similar under representation.
The poor ability of the ID2 block modelling interpolation
techniques was demonstrated as not being suitable for resource
estimation because of the nugget effect in addition to the local
variability of the geometry. To this end, the Challenger resource
methodology is based on a ‘generic’ approach which takes into
account both historic reconciled data from the underground
mining using a 180 g/t Au top cut and continuity of orebody
geometry as interpreted from both drilling and underground
development. This approach has proven to be a more accurate
basis for estimation than traditional block modeling. Block
modeling is used in other shoots where appropriate. The resource
to reserve conversion is based upon the geological outlines and
stope designs that incorporate planned dilution to allow for mining
and geotechnical considerations.
An updated Resource statement, summarised in Table 1, was
released to the ASX in July 2008 and highlights the success of
the ongoing Challenger Deeps drilling program.
GROUND CONDITIONS AND ROCK MECHANICS
Conditions in the upper levels were generally ‘extremely good’
as described using the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute’s (NGI)
‘Q’ system (Barton, Lien and Lunde, 1974), with typical Q
values of >100 in the massive garnet gneiss that hosts the
mineralisation (Figure 7, Sandy, 2005).
As part of an ongoing, formal rock mechanics program at the
project, rock property testwork has been undertaken for the major
rock types present, using the facilities at the Western Australian
School of Mines (Scott, Machuca and Villaescusa, 2006). The
results are consistent with data from other sites in similar

TABLE 1
July 2008 updated Resource and Reserve summary, ASX release July 2008.

Challenger Gold Project – 30 June 2008 Resource and Reserve summary

Resource Reserve
t g/t oz t g/t oz
Measured 456 100 9.1 132 810 Proven 522 300 7.3 122 040
Indicated 2 387 100 8.8 678 150 Probable 2 551 100 7.4 605 000
Inferred 1 133 900 9.6 348 870
Total 3 977 100 9.1 1 159 830 Total 3 073 400 7.4 727 040

FIG 6 - Schematic view of hole 07CDDH0078 and daughters.

Narrow Vein Mining Conference Ballarat, Vic, 14 - 15 October 2008 23

P ANDROVIC, P BAMFORD and M SANDY
FIG 7 - Good development practices in extremely good ground
(Q>100) resulting in a high ‘half barrel’ count.
lithologies, with an average uniaxial compressive strength of
183 MPa in the granulite gneiss which hosts the gold
mineralisation.
Stress measurements have been conducted at several sites using
the overcoring method and CSIRO Hollow Inclusion (HI) cells
(Litterbach, 2006, 2008). Additional tests have been conducted
with the Acoustic Emission (AE) technique (Villaescusa and
Machuca, 2008). The results are somewhat different, as shown in
Figure 8 which is a plot of stress magnitudes against depth. To
date, very little stress-related damage has been observed in the
mine other than localised spalling of pillars near the lower stope
abutment. Back-analysis of observed damage using numerical
modelling indicates that the currently-observed behaviour is
consistent with the HI stress field, but work in this area is ongoing.
FIG 8 - Stress measurements at Challenger plotted against depth.
24 Ballarat, Vic, 14 - 15 October 2008
Ground conditions continue to be very good in much of the
development in the lower levels, although there has been an
increased occurrence of shallow (generally) east-dipping
lamprophyre-parallel structures/contacts. These can be persistent
over large distances (>100 m) and usually contain very weak
infillings. Increased jointing and associated poorer conditions
sometimes occur near these structures, requiring systematic
application of meshing as part of the development support.
UNDERGROUND MINING – INITIAL
PRODUCTION
An underground feasibility study was approved by Dominion to
proceed in September 2003 and the portal was cut in February
2004 when the production rate slowed whilst mining the base of
the open pit. Open pit mining was completed in April 2004.
It was during this initial stage that one level was thoroughly
drilled and mapped and the ‘true’ nature of the M1 began to
‘unfold’. The narrow, high-grade zones proved to have much
more complex geometry than early interpretations had indicated.
Although the new geometry was complex, when projected back
up into the pit and overlain with the open pit mining blocks the
correlation with high grade was almost exact (Figure 9).
FIG 9 - Ore blocks defined during open pit mining and comparison
to actual M folded geometry.
With increased confidence in the geometry of the M1, a
number of mining methods were examined initially to deal with
the low plunge angle of the orebody at close to but less than 30°.
Three mining methods had been costed within the underground
feasibility study:
1. inclined room and pillar using a jumbo to mine all ore;
2. sublevel open stoping from a waste horizon below the base
of the orebody; and
3. benching, retreating back to the hinge or fold zone of
the shoots.
Uphole benching was adopted as the most suitable and
profitable method (Figure 10). In addition a cut and fill method
was trialled on the 1055 level. Trial stopes on the 1055, 1040 and
1020 levels revealed that the geological definition of upright limbs
and mining out fold hinges discretely was not only possible but
achievable and highly profitable. A bulk mining approach was
shown to be uneconomic. To incorporate interstitial waste as
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FIG 10 - Mining method used at Challenger.
planned dilution between all the fold limbs reduced the grade of
the stopes significantly. Below these levels using tight geological
geometry constraints mining has achieved low dilution and close
positive reconciliation.
MINE DESIGN
As understanding of the orebody developed through a program of
careful mapping, sampling and sludge drilling, stope designs
were modified to follow the main M1 orebody geometry more
accurately. Through careful implementation of these designs,
minimal overbreak was achieved.
In exploiting the improved knowledge of the orebody
geometry, it is important that design stope shapes are kept as
simple as possible, avoiding sharp changes in profile and
‘re-entrants’. Even in a very good quality rock mass, unduly
complex stope shapes tend to break back to more simple
outlines. The associated fall-off often occurs as large slabs
which can disrupt production prevent access to broken ore or
trap equipment.
Ground conditions assessed from drill core and the exposures
in the Challenger open pit indicated that stope voids could be left
open using the uphole bench retreat method, with an allowance
for local pillars to ensure hangingwall spans were kept below a
nominal design value (hydraulic radius not exceeding 10 m).
Waste rock from development below is tipped into mined out
stopes to minimise waste haulage costs and in some areas
provides a little passive support.
In practice, much larger stope spans have been achieved
than the original design studies suggested would be possible,
(Figure 11). The initial M1 stope extended down-plunge
(east-west) for a total of more than 500 m, with a maximum
north-south span of about 40 m.
This is considered to be partly because the arched shape of the
stopes is naturally stable and the effective span is thus smaller.
The Stability Graph Method on which the nominal stope spans
prior to mine development were based assumes planar stope
surfaces and does not cater for arched stope shapes.
Narrow Vein Mining Conference Ballarat, Vic, 14 - 15 October 2008
THE CHALLENGER GOLD MINE
FIG 11 - M1 stope showing clean extraction of the OD1 and OD2
limbs with the central waste pillar left in situ.
STOPING
The consistent orebody geometry has allowed the mine to follow
a highly repetitive mine design, where each level is very similar
to the previous one. The focus is to consistently achieve the
development schedule fundamental to achieving the planned
production rate. At a vertical advance rate in excess of 150 m per
annum, which has been maintained for over three years, the mine
is at the forefront of Australian practice.
The current cycle of mining at Challenger requires ongoing
development diamond drilling for each 20 m level to ‘capture’
the local scale position of the M1 geometry. This allows for
adjustments to the development design to approach the M1 shoot
across the hinge area. Following geological mapping of the cross
cut ore, drives then develop into and mine the main limbs.
Once development has been completed, grade control drilling
using ‘sludge’ openhole percussion is used on 5 m sections to
delineate the cross sectional shape (Figure 12). Each grade
control section is designed to highlight the M1 geometry and
any variations that may occur. The wavelength and amplitude of
the M1 folds can vary down plunge and parasitic folds can also
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P ANDROVIC, P BAMFORD and M SANDY
FIG 12 - Sludge drilling stope definition.
develop and retreat. The M1 geometry is very dynamic and
mapping of backs along with each face is critical in not only the
initial development of the drives but also in the final
stoping design.
The dense drilling is required to ensure that the geometry is
tightly constrained. Holes are designed based upon the
extrapolated geology model and hinge zones, limbs, parasitic
folds are preferentially targeted. Each section will be designed
based upon the attitude of the fold geometry in that position.
The sludge drilling uses the production drilling rig, a Tamrock
720 Solo with samples taken each half rod, 0.75 m and flushed
down a clear hose into a carousel containing prenumbered sample
bags. A mine technician ensures quality control is maintained and
that each interval is flushed and a sieved sample is collected in a
chip tray for logging by the geologist. Sample sizes vary between
5 - 7 kg and the entire sample is then delivered to the onsite Lab,
dried, split in an automatic crusher and splitter unit allowing a
sample of 500 - 700 g to be assayed in the PAL 1000. The PAL
1000 is an aggressive pulverising and leaching method of assaying
with a turn around of five hours possible for urgent samples.
The scheduling of the sludge drilling is based upon half the
drilling rate of production drilling to allow for the slower
completion of programs. Programs are scheduled on completion
of the ore development drives and they may take over a week to
complete the stope delineation. Turn around from stope modeling
by geologists and mining engineers is within four to five days.
Geological modeling incorporates face sampling and mapping,
backs mapping, sludge logging data as well as the sludge grade
control results. Production rings are ready for mark up once the
final mining shape and ring design has been reviewed by both
geology and mining a second time.
The main challenge presented to date in stoping has been
associated with a lamprophyre sill. This caused significant
hanging wall instability around the 640 mL, at a depth of about
550 m below surface. Stope surveys clearly show the influence of
the overlying sill, with overbreak profiles exactly matching the
interpreted position of the upper contact (Figure 13).
A series of local pillars was designed to arrest the overbreak.
The pillar designs were confirmed using numerical modelling to
ensure that they were appropriately sized. Stoping has been
26 Ballarat, Vic, 14 - 15 October 2008
successfully re-established below the pillars, although the
potential for further instability if more intrusives are encountered
is recognised. In that case, additional pillars will be designed as
required, based on the performance of the current pillars.
DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES AND
GROUND SUPPORT
At Challenger, in many areas the combination of very good to
extremely good, generally massive rockmass conditions and
excellent development drilling and blasting practices has resulted
in conditions where surface support is not generally required. In
the widely-used NGI ‘Q’ system, the conditions described above
will plot in the area of the NGI support selection chart that is
traditionally referred to as the ‘no support’ area.
In practice, light pattern bolting is used as a minimum standard
at Challenger where the conditions do not require surface
support, to ensure that there is always an allowance of bolts to
deal with local, isolated structures. A rigorous program of
inspection and check-scaling is in place to ensure that any scats
that do develop are identified and removed. Mesh is installed by
default when:
• Less than six ‘half-barrels’ are visible in the backs, or less
than two half-barrels are visible in either wall, per cut.
• Unusual scaling effort is required to get back to sound rock.
• A dyke or sill is present in the backs or face (these are
reviewed and monitored for at least five cuts after their initial
exposure as stress conditions may still be affected by
subsequent development at three drive diameters back from
the face).
• A fault or other persistent structure is present in the face or
backs. Similarly these require monitoring for several cuts
after exposure.
• Conditions are ‘blocky’ (due to the presence of several
closely spaced joints from two or more joint orientations).
• The operator has any concerns.
A key factor in obtaining the extremely good development
conditions seen in Figure 7 has been the application of industry-
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FIG 13 - Stope surveys confirmed that overbreak was strongly controlled by structure.
best drilling and blasting practice, including the use of
prepackaged explosives in the perimeter holes in the backs and
sidewalls. After an initial period of using these explosives, a
change was introduced to lower costs using a technique referred
to as ‘snow loading’ with full strength ANFO. Snow loading is a
technique used in perimeter holes of a development cut, to
reduce impact on the surrounding ground by partially filing the
holes with ANFO rather than tightly packed.
After some experience with the new technique, a study to
formally assess blasting results was undertaken by Kieran Rich,
an undergraduate student at Curtin University. A simple count of
‘half barrels’ and partial half barrels were used as a measure of
the effectiveness of perimeter blast damage minimisation. The
results from these locations are shown in Figure 14.
FIG 14 - Average number of half barrels per cut (after Rich, 2007).
The 1080, 640 600 and 570 level results reflect the use of
prepackaged explosives, whilst those from the 780 and 740 levels
relate to the use of ANFO and ‘snow’ charging.
The results confirmed the observation that development wall
damage appeared to have increased since the use of ANFO and
snow charging was introduced. Rich also undertook a simple
Narrow Vein Mining Conference Ballarat, Vic, 14 - 15 October 2008
THE CHALLENGER GOLD MINE
economic analysis to compare the savings obtained by using the
cheaper explosives against the potential costs if universal
meshing had to be introduced to effectively manage the more
damaged ground. There was a compelling case to revert to the
original blasting practices, and this has since occurred. A
subsequent resurvey of half barrels in development has
confirmed that the initial high quality result in terms of visible
half barrels has been largely regained.
Wider development spans are assessed on a case by case basis
for cable bolting requirements. Situations in which cables are
specified include intersections where an adverse structure may be
present above the backs, and wide ore drives, where cables may be
required to ensure brow stability during stope retreat. Where
possible, stope blasts are designed to fire through ‘difficult’ ground
in a single blast, to avoid having to re-establish stope brows in
adverse conditions such as close to a lamprophyre intrusion.
SUMMARY
From an initial reserve in 2001 of 110 000 oz of contained gold,
the Challenger gold mine produced 467 408 oz up to 30 June
2008. Challenger has been producing a consistent 108 000+ oz
per year since the start of underground stoping in mid-2005
producing 325 600 oz from 1.18 million tonnes at an average
grade of 9.1 g/t in the three financial years to 30 June 2008 at an
average operating cost of $319/oz.
Recent exploration drilling has shown the main mineralised
structure extends well below the current base of planned mining.
An ongoing stress measurement program, coupled with careful
observation of stress-related damage, is being used with numerical
modelling to assess the likely mining environment at depth.
In the medium term, investigations are being undertaken into
ventilation requirements at depth, including geotechnical
investigations for a possible raise bored ventilation shaft.
Planning continues for the extraction of some of the other
resources at Challenger, including the M2 and M3 series, and
the M1 ‘Shadow’ zone, all of which have a similar general
plunge to the main M1 series and can be exploited from
existing infrastructure.
27
P ANDROVIC, P BAMFORD and M SANDY
Extremely good ground conditions and a low to moderate
stress environment have provided generally excellent mining
conditions at Challenger thus far, Industry-best development
drilling and blasting practices are employed to ensure minimal
wall damage. A strong focus on quality and achieving
development schedules has allowed mining to proceed at an
average vertical advance of 150 metres per annum, which is at
the forefront of industry practice.
Strict discrimination utilising all available geological data
including diamond drilling, grade control drilling, face and backs
mapping all contribute to tightly constraining the dynamic
geometry of the Challenger Ore Shoots. With the often rapid
changes in amplitude, wavelength, parasitic folding and plunge
dip and azimuth variations, a geological focus is paramount.
Understanding the folded structural geology, coupled with
high-grade gold drilling intersections away from the lodes
currently being mined, has led to the development of multiple
targets of other similar lodes within reach of the existing
underground infrastructure.
Combined with tight blast design and control it is possible to
mine out nearly all the ore taking only additional planned
dilution to maintain stability. The ore is constrained entirely
within the folded geometry and if this geometry is correctly
delineated then nearly all the metal will be recovered. This is
demonstrated by positive reconciliations with gold produced
from the treatment plant.
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Bonwick, C, 1997. Discovery of the Challenger gold deposit – Implications
for future exploration on the Gawler Craton: Case histories of
discovery, in Proceedings New Generation Gold Mines Conference,
Perth, pp 7.1-7.16.
28 Ballarat, Vic, 14 - 15 October 2008
Litterbach, N, 2006. Challenger gold mine rock stress measurement 780
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Litterbach, N, 2008. Challenger gold mine rock stress measurement
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