The Hill 50 Gold Mine, now referred to as the Mount Magnet 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 4 km north-west of

Mount Magnet, Western Australia Mount Magnet is a town in the Mid West region of Western Australia. It is one of the region's original gold mining towns, and the longest surviving gold mining settlement in the state. The prominent hill that is adjacent to the current townsit ...

.MINEDEX website - Hill 50 - Mt Magnet search result
accessed: 17 January 2010 The mine was, until July 2010, owned by Harmony Gold and had been placed in

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 ...

since 2007.Mt Magnet
Harmony website, accessed: 18 January 2010 In July 2010, Harmony sold the mine to Ramelius Resources, owner of the Wattle Dam Gold Mine, for A$40 million.Quarterly report June 2010
Ramelius ASX announcement, published: 23 July 2010, accessed: 29 July 2010 The mine was, for a short time in 2008, owned by Monarch Gold Mining Company Ltd, who went into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

in June 2008.MONARCH GOLD MINING COMPANY LIMITED (MON)
delisted.com.au, accessed: 15 January 2010 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.

History

At the turn of the 19th century, Hill 50 was the dominant mine out of 30 gold mines in

Mount Magnet Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...

. 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 World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. 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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Mining continued, on reduced manpower, during the war.Mining

Shire of Mount Magnet The Shire of Mount Magnet is a local government area in the Mid West region of Western Australia, about north-northeast of the state capital, Perth. The Shire covers an area of , and its seat of government is the town of Mount Magnet. The Shir ...

website, accessed: 20 January 2010 Hill 50's ore reserves were 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 Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

, 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. From 1961 onwards, profits gradually decreased because of lowering grade and the increasing depth the ore was hauled up from, below 1,000 meters. When Hill 50 closed in 1976, it had produced 1.4 million ounces of gold from 3.6 million tonnes of ore for a value of A$700 million. In 1974, Western Mining, later to be renamed WMC Resources, acquired an interest in Hill 50 Gold Mines Ltd. WMC later took complete control of the company and mine in 1987.Western Mining Corporation Ltd
Guide to Australian Business Records, accessed: 20 January 2010 When the mine reopened in the 1980s, its main source of ore was the Morning Star shaft, which had already been mined from 1966 to 1976. Wattle Gully Gold Mines, later to become Hill 50 Gold, a company with an initial capital of A$50,000, acquired the mine from WMC Resources in 1997 and achieved a turnaround of the old but declining mining operations at Hill 50.''The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition'', page: 467, accessed: 18 January 2010 Hill 50 Gold acquired a second gold mine when it purchased the New Celebration Gold Mine from

Newcrest Mining Newcrest Mining Limited is an Australian-based corporation which engages in the exploration, development, mining and sale of gold and the froth flotation product, gold-copper concentrate. It is Australia's leading gold mining company and its o ...

in June 2001 for A$10 million. Harmony announced a take over bid for Hill 50 Gold Limited in December 2001 and compulsory acquired outstanding Hill 50 shares and listed options in April 2002, after achieving a 99% interest in the company. Harmony paid A$233 million for this acquisition. The driving forces behind Hill 50 Gold,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

businessmen Peter Cook and Peter Newton, later also sold another gold mining company to Harmony, Abelle Limited, for A$155 million in 2003. Hill 50 became part of Harmony's Australian operations, consisting of Hill 50, the South Kalgoorlie Gold Mine, the

Big Bell Gold Mine The Big Bell Gold Mine is a Gold mining, gold mine located at Big Bell, Western Australia, Big Bell, 24 km north-west of Cue, Western Australia.Gidgee Gold Mine The Gidgee Gold Mine is a gold mine in Western Australia, 82 km north of the town of Sandstone, Western Australia, Sandstone. The mine was, until recently, owned by APEX Minerals NL, but purchased by Panoramic Resources in February 2011.

(sold in December 2003). Harmony announced the closure of the mine from December 2007, stating a lack of production reserves as the reason and placing the mine on the market.Harmony annual report 2007
accessed: 6 January 2010 Monarch Gold purchased the mine from Harmony in November 2007 in a deal that saw the company acquire Hill 50, Big Bell, St George, Star and the Great Finegal deposits for A$65 million, 30 million of this in cash. Monarch already owned the

Mount Ida In Greek mythology, two sacred mountains are called Mount Ida, the "Mountain of the Goddess": Mount Ida in Crete, and Mount Ida in the ancient Troad region of western Anatolia (in modern-day Turkey), which was also known as the '' Phrygian Ida' ...

and the Davyhurst Gold Mine, who had both recently entered production at the time. Monarch planned to leave Hill 50 in care and maintenance for up to two more years and carry out an extensive exploration effort in the area, budgeted at A$10 million per year. Monarch was to take possession of the mine on 1 April 2008 and complete the financial transaction on 30 June 2008, but failed to make the final payment before entering administration, despite receiving improved sales conditions and a cash-cost reduction. Monarch appointed Pitcher Partners as voluntary administrators on 10 July 2008, with all mining operations thereby being put on hold. Hill 50 thereby returned to Harmony's ownership, Harmony not having received the final payment of the sale.Sale agreement between Harmony and Monarch Gold terminated
Harmony news release, published: 1 August 2008, accessed: 18 January 2010 After being unable to re-sell the mine, Harmony conducted a study in regards to carrying out mining at Hill 50 once more. It considered the option of consolidating historic resources into one large "super pit", rather than carrying out costly underground mining. The former Hill 50 mine is now part of Ramelius Resources's Mount Magnet Gold Mine. Apart from surface and underground mining at Mount Magnet, ore was also carted to the mine's processing plant from the Vivien mine underground operations to the north during the 2020–21 financial year. Additionally, transport of ore from the Penny Gold Mine to the south-east of Mount Magnet for processing commenced in July 2021.

Ownership

Hill 50 Gold Mine Ltd owned the Hill 50 mine from 1934 onwards. Hill 50 was then partially owned by

WMC Resources WMC Resources Limited was an Australian diversified mining company. History Western Mining Corporation (WMC) was formed in 1933, when William Robinson, the Australian-born London-based managing director of Broken Hill Associated Smelters, wa ...

from 1974 until 1989, when WMC took over the remainder Hill 50 Gold Mine Ltd. In July 1997 it became part of Wattle Gully Gold Mines NL, shortly after renamed to Hill 50 Gold NL. Hill 50 Gold was acquired by Harmony Gold in June 2002 and Harmony, in turn, sold the mine to Monarch Gold Mining in November 2007. The mine reverted to Harmony in August 2008, after Monarch went into administration. In July 2010, Harmony sold the mine to Ramelius Resources, owner of the Wattle Dam Gold Mine, for A$40 million. Rameluis plans to prove up further resources at the mine before making a decision on when to recommence production. Ramelius Resources have been operating the Mt Magnet mine and processing plant since its reopening in late 2011. The plant was reopened after refurbishment by GR Engineering Services, and operates at ~1.7Mtpa, upgradeable to 2.4Mtpa.

Production

Annual production of the mine:''The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition'', page: 113, accessed: 18 January 2010Harmony annual report 2003
accessed: 20 January 2010Harmony annual report 2005
accessed: 19 January 2010 * ¹ Figures for January to September 2002 only. * ² Result for Harmony's combined Australian operations, consisting of Hill 50, the South Kalgoorlie Gold Mine, the

(sold in December 2003).

References

Bibliography

External links

*
MINEDEX website: Mt Magnet
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 ...

{{Active Gold Mines in Western Australia Gold mines in Western Australia Surface mines in Australia Underground mines in Australia Shire of Mount Magnet