Pacgold Initiates Re-Crush Strategy at White Dam Gold Mine in South Australia
Pacgold Limited is poised to extract additional gold from its White Dam heap leach operation in South Australia, launching a re-crush campaign designed to liberate residual ounces and boost near-term revenue. The Brisbane-based company, transitioning from explorer to producer, is mobilizing new equipment to enhance processing efficiency at the site, located approximately 80 kilometres east of Broken Hill in the mineral-rich Olary Province.
New Equipment and Operational Plans
A Metso screening unit and an HP300 cone crusher, along with a radial stacker, are scheduled to arrive shortly at the White Dam project. Once installed, this circuit will re-crush the top lift of the existing heap leach pad, a common industry technique to recover gold trapped in coarser rock fragments after initial processing. Matthew Boyes, managing director of Pacgold Limited, stated, "With the ST 4.1 Metso screen and HP300 cone crusher scheduled to arrive at the White Dam site shortly, we are well-positioned to commence the re-crush of the heap leach pad's top lift. Once running at full capacity, the circuit designed throughput is approximately 350 tonnes per hour, and we expect to reach the design throughput after a standard ramp-up period."
Recent Challenges and Potential Benefits
Heavy rainfall recently delivered about 100 millimetres of water to the region, temporarily restricting access to the mine and halting refurbishment work on the carbon-in-column processing circuit. However, this rainfall may ultimately prove beneficial by adding water to the heap leach pad and storage ponds, which is crucial for gold recovery through leaching processes.
Resource Assessment and Future Prospects
Pacgold is awaiting assay results from recent sampling and LeachWELL test work to determine the recoverable gold potential from the re-crush campaign, expected to guide production rates for the 2026–27 period. To improve confidence in the remaining resource, the company has deployed a sonic drilling rig to conduct a test campaign with about 100 holes planned, aiming to map residual gold distribution and identify high-yield zones.
- The White Dam project currently hosts a 4.6-million-tonne resource grading 0.7 grams per tonne gold, equivalent to 102,000 ounces, excluding residual gold in heap leach pads.
- Historically, the mine produced approximately 180,000 ounces from 7.5 million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 0.94 g/t gold, with the nearby White Dam North resource remaining unmined.
Revenue from White Dam could help fund exploration at Pacgold's broader portfolio, including the Alice River gold system in North Queensland and the St George gold-antimony project. With gold prices hovering over US$5,000 per ounce (over A$7,000), even modest recoveries from this re-crush initiative could translate into significant cash flow, turning historical tailings into valuable assets.
