Reefton hills give up $400m of gold in three years

Oceana Gold’s Globe Progress Mine at Reefton has yielded 250,000 ounces — valued at $400 million — in just three and a half years of mining.
Operations manager Gareth Thomas said today the pioneers with pick and shovel took about 20 years to extract the same amount of gold at the start of the 20th century.
The historic Globe Progress underground mine produced 418,000 ounces before the quartz crushing batteries fell silent in 1920. It reopened in 2007 as an open-cast mine.
Meanwhile, Oceana Gold’s quarterly report says gold production at Reefton was 26,037 ounces and total production for the half year 47,163 ounces.
The total combined operating costs for the quarter were $564 and ounce, slightly higher than the previous quarter, reflecting increases in the price of diesel and costs associated with fleet maintenance.
During the quarter a drilling exploration programme was ramped up to target the next 14 most prospective new sites. In late June, a $4.4m increase was announced to the Reefton exploration budget to be spent over the next 18 months.
Globally, Oceana recorded a net profit of $7.9m for the quarter from a total production of 67,541oz.