Australia's Beta Hunt Gold Mine Completes A$33.3 Million Facility Upgrade

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 21, Australian mining company Westgold Resources announced progress on the upgrade project at its Beta Hunt underground gold mine, with cumulative investment of A$33.3 million over the past two years to complete renovations of the mine's ventilation, dewatering, water supply and power supply systems. In September this year, the mine reached an operating rate equivalent to 2 million tonnes of ore mined per annum, and the new temporary main ventilation system was put into operation at the end of September. The company plans to achieve a sustained operating level of 2 million tonnes per annum starting from the second quarter of fiscal year 2027.

The Beta Hunt gold mine is located in the Kambalda region of Western Australia. After acquiring the mine in August 2024, Westgold began upgrading the infrastructure constraining underground production. The mine had previously been unable to consistently sustain mining levels above 1.4 million tonnes per annum, and the existing ventilation capacity, underground dewatering facilities and power supply systems were all included in the upgrade scope.

Ventilation works were the main component of this upgrade. Westgold had previously installed two 1.7 MW main ventilation fans at the 801 underground level, with a system design airflow of approximately 500 cubic metres per second, but equipment bearing and coupling failures affected stable operation. The company subsequently invested A$7.4 million to build an independent temporary ventilation system, which was installed and commissioned ahead of schedule at the end of September. The system can support the mine's operation at the target of 2 million tonnes per annum for approximately the next two years, while repair and replacement work on the original main ventilation fans continues.

Mine dewatering works were completed concurrently. The company replaced the main dewatering pipe and pump station equipment at the 801 level and installed three WT107 pumps; the auxiliary dewatering system added 12 pumps and replaced some existing 110 mm pipes with 125 mm pipes, laying approximately 7.6 kilometres of pipeline in total. The auxiliary dewatering system was completed in October 2026. The water supply works involved adding float pumps, sedimentation facilities and underground pipe networks to provide operating water for jumbos and other mining equipment.

Power supply system upgrades included constructing new surface overhead lines, upgrading underground ring main power supply equipment and adding backup power cables. In May 2026, the new underground power supply channel and ring main units were installed, improving the redundancy of the mine's power supply system. The combined investment in ventilation, dewatering, water supply and power supply for the above works totalled A$33.3 million.

Over the past two years, Westgold has also completed more than 85 kilometres of diamond drilling at Beta Hunt, adding more than 1.1 million ounces of gold reserves. The mine's mining layout was adjusted from four declines to three, and a transverse mining method was adopted in the western wing of the mine. With the expansion of underground mining capacity, the company plans to increase ore stockpiles in fiscal year 2027, utilising the existing Higginsville processing facility with a capacity of approximately 1.6 million tonnes per annum, and continues to evaluate larger-scale ore processing options.