The Coyote Gold Mine is a

gold mine Gold mining is the extraction of gold by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. The expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface has led to more comple ...

located in the remote

Tanami Desert The Tanami Desert () is a desert in northern Australia, situated in the Northern Territory and Western Australia. It has a rocky terrain and small hills. The Tanami was the Northern Territory's final frontier and was not fully explored by Austral ...

in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. The mine, processing plant and camp are 17 km west of the Northern Territory border. The mine was closed in 2013 and placed on

care and maintenance Care and maintenance is a term used in the mining industry to describe processes and conditions on a closed mine site at which there is the potential to recommence operations at a later date. During the care and maintenance phase, production is st ...

. Coyote is located on the land of the Tjurabalan people, the

traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

of the area. Tanami and the Tjurabalan people signed a

native title Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty to that land by another colonising state. The requirements of proof for the recognition of ab ...

agreement in 2005 to have a mining lease granted. This also included a commitment to employ a number of Tjurabalan people.

History

Serious exploration for resources, especially gold, was carried out in the region from early 2000 by a number of companies, specifically

AngloGold AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a South Africa, South African gold mining company, with global operations. With a diverse portfolio of cooperation, projects, and exploration activities, AngloGold Ashanti was formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloG ...

Newmont Newmont Corporation is an American gold mining company based in Greenwood Village, Colorado. It is the world's largest gold mining corporation. Incorporated in 1921, it holds ownership of gold mines in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Do ...

, Tanami Gold and Otter Gold Mines Limited. Some of the area of the Coyote mine was part of an exploration lease owned by AngloGold. Tanami Gold acquired the tenement in November 2003 from AngloGold for A$14 million in cash and shares. AngloGold, in turn, had acquired it when it took over Acacia Resources in January 2000. The mine was opened on 24 May 2006 by the Governor-General of Australia,

Michael Jeffery Major General Philip Michael Jeffery, (12 December 1937 – 18 December 2020) was a senior Australian Army officer and vice-regal representative. He was the 28th governor of Western Australia from 1993 to 2000, and the 24th governor-genera ...

, after a 12-year planning phase. It initially had a production target of 60,000 ounces per year. In October 2006, Tanami had to temporarily suspend mining to cut costs as its treatment facility experienced difficulties in the commissioning. In late 2006, Tanami was in talks with Monarch Gold Mining in regards to a merger, but talks were later called off amid concerns that the treatment plant at Coyote would need further investment. In January 2007, the Coyote Pit 2 was flooded in a major rain event. Mining was resumed in Pit 1 in April 2007. With the financial crisis in 2008, Tanami had to borrow $7.7 million to continue its mining operation at Coyote. In 2008–09, ore was mined in the Coyote Open Pit 1 and 2 as well as the Gonzales lode underground operation. Once the Coyote pit will be exhausted, which is scheduled for September 2009, two other open pits will be mined, the Kookaburra and Sandpiper pits. On 23 April 2013, The West Australian reported the Coyote project was one of the State's highest-cost producers, pouring gold at basic costs of $1220/oz. The mine went into care and maintenance shortly after that retrenching 150 employees. Tanami Gold placed the Coyote mine into

in late April 2013, citing falling gold prices, rising cost and equipment failures as the reason. In October 2017,

Northern Star Resources Northern Star Resources is an Australian gold mining company with operations in Western Australia, Northern Territory and Alaska. History Northern Star Resources (NSR) was founded in December 2003 to search for and develop ore deposits in the E ...

purchased the mine for A$4 million from Tanami Gold. Tanami Gold had previously offered the mine to ABM Resources, who had an option to buy it between 2014 and 2016 but ultimately declined. Under Northern Star, the Coyote Gold Mine is part of the larger Tanami Project, which spans mining leases in both Western Australia and the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

. In June 2022 the mine was sold to Black Cat Syndicate as part of a package of assets which also included the Paulsens Gold Mine. Exploration was recommenced and the facility is expected to be restored and returned to operation.

Production

Production of the mine:

References

Bibliography

External links

*
MINEDEX website: Western Tanami
Database of the

Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety The Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety is a department of the Government of Western Australia. The department was formed on 1 July 2017, out of the former Department of Mines & Petroleum and Department of Commerce. A ...

{{Gold Mines in Western Australia Gold mines in Western Australia Surface mines in Australia Underground mines in Australia Kimberley (Western Australia)