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Southern Cross

Southern Cross Operations

St Barbara's Southern Cross Operations are centred at Marvel Loch, 30km south of the town of Southern Cross and 360km east of Perth, Western Australia.  Current operations are based at the Marvel Loch Underground mine.  Southern Cross Operations produced 156,105 ounces of gold for the 2009 financial year.  The immediate strategic focus is to reliably deliver to the plan through to financial year 2012, while extending the life of the Southern Cross Operations through expansion of reserves.

Marvel Loch Underground

The Marvel Loch Underground mine is the mainstay of St Barbara's Southern Cross Operations.  Gold mineralisation extends over a 1.3 km strike length and has been identified to depths of over 700 metres below surface.  The ore body comprises multiple lodes.  Those currently being mined include Sherwood and Undaunted at the North; Exhibition at the centre; and East and New at the South.  Mining methods include uphole benching and open stoping with rock fill, where necessary.  Ore production from Marvel Loch Underground mine for the 2009 financial year was 1,003,202 tonnes at an average grade of 3.8 g/t.

Extensional work to expand reserves outside of currently mined lodes is being undertaken to include targets lateral to and down plunge of existing resources.  The potential of areas immediately north along strike of Marvel Loch remains to be reviewed.

The plant has been in operation for more than 15 years and has a production capacity of 2.4 Mtpa based on a conventional carbon in leach circuit.  The plant is currently running on a campaign basis as utlitisation is matched to Marvel Loch Underground production.  Gold recovery rates from the plant are normally above 85%.  Capital expenditure for 2010 will include refurbishment of the Marvel Loch processing plant, with an emphasis on the crushng circuit, the tailings storage facility and the leach and absorption tanks.

Other Mines

Currently there are no other mining operations at Southern Cross.  Nevoria is currently subject to a resource model and mining study.  Elsewhere in the area, the company is seeking to leverage off projects with a significant amount of drilling and a track record of past production. The Frasers, Corinthian and Copperhead mines are yet to be fully evaluated following the St Barbara’s acquisition of the Southern Cross land-holding. Extensive refractory mineralisation is present at Transvaal, which is undergoing further metallurgical testwork to assess its viability.

 

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