Porter GeoConsultancy developed, managed and conducted a study tour for the Australian Mineral Foundation as a post event field trip to the New Generations Gold Mines '99 conference. This tour visited a selection of the more significant new gold deposits:

 i). discovered over the preceding five years,
 ii). mines put into production during the same period, as well as
 iii). longer established, better understood ore deposits in the same districts.

  Most of the new discoveries were covered by papers presented at the conference, and as such allowed participants a preview to follow up on site at first hand studying the ore, host rocks and ore controls described. The visits also afforded an impression of what, if any, surface expression there was of ore, and what inspired the discovery.

  The new mines took the participants to the next stage, and allowed for a three dimensional sub-surface impression of the ore, both in the oxide zone for the most recent open pits, and the primary zone for those that are more advanced.

  Finally, established mines in the same district as the new discoveries allowed access to much better understood deposits, to compare and gain an impression of what the new discoveries can eventually grow into, and see how the actual orebody, as mined, relates to the initial drill interpretations.

PHOTO ALBUM  -  See who went and what they saw         Review Article   in Gold Gazette

The deposits visited, were as follows:

Ghost Crab and New Celebration   a new satellite discovery, to be developed as part of the mature New Celebration project, 26 km to the east;

Golden Cities   a then newly discovered, undeveloped group of granite hosted deposits;

Sunrise Dam and Sunrise   a newly developed major mine, opened in 1997, treating oxide ore ahead of the underlying primary mineralisation;

Chatterbox Shear Zone - Whisper, Rumour, Inuendo   a newly discovered, undeveloped string of deposits under evaluation;

Granny Smith   a mature project in the same district as Sunrise Dam, the Chatterbox Group and Wallaby;

Wallaby   a new discovery, to be developed as a satellite to feed into the Granny Smith mill, ~11 km to the ENE;

Jundee   a newly developed major mine in a greenstone belt without prior significant production;

  This tour was conducted as a post-conference field trip to New Generations Gold Mines '99 held at the Burswood Convention Centre in Perth Western Australia on 22 and 23 November, 1999.

  This conference was the most recent in a continuing series of such events, the programs of which were facilitated by geological consultant Keith Yates and Associates, and convened and managed by the Australian Mineral Foundation.

  The conference was focussed on the discovery case histories of the most recently found gold deposits, or 'soon-to-be mines' throughout the world. The program comprised sixteen 45 minute papers on as many deposits, and from almost as many countries, presented over two days, each addressing how a discovery was made and followed up.

  The 4 day tour commenced with an introductory meeting in the Burswood Resort in Perth, on the evening of Tuesday 23 November, 1999, and ended at Perth Airport in the late afternoon of Saturday 27 November.

  Transport on the tour was by air charter and by bus, to efficiently hop from mine to mine and overnight stay locations, and to optimise the travel time over the 600 km of the goldfields that were traversed.

  Click this link for more information on the Australian Mineral Foundation.