New occidental

The New Occidental gold and copper deposit at Cobar in New South Wales that has been mined on and off many times over the last century, was given a new lease on life when it was reopened by its owners, Canadian mining company, New Gold Inc, through its wholly owned subsidiary Peak Gold Mines in 2001, after it had been lying dormant for over 50 years. The New Occidental mineral deposit is located three kilometres north of the company's Peak ore body but is accessed via the same decline that leads leads to the Peak deposit.

New Occidental is one of Numerous Deposits Being Mined by Peak Mining Operations
The Peak Gold mining operation consists of numerous underground mine workings that provide ore feed to the one copper and gold processing plant. All the deposits being mined are within the Cobar Gold Field that extends for a distance of 10 kilometres and houses many highly mineralised ore deposits beginning with the Perseverance deposit and finishing with the Tharsis ore body.

Peak Gold Mines Have Tenements Over Five Ore Bodies at Cobar
The Cobar Gold Field lies immediately north of the mining town of Cobar and extends in a north/south direction. It has produced 200,000 tonnes of copper and three million ounces of gold since copper was first mined in the area in 1870. The ore bodies covered by Peak Gold Mines tenements include; New Occidental, Chesney, Perseverance, Peak and New Cobar.

New Occidental Supplies ore to the one Central Processing Plant
Peak Gold began mining at Cobar in 1991 under the ownership of Rio Tinto, who sold the operation to Goldcorp, who eventually sold the complex to New Gold. Besides gold, that is sold to the Perth Mint in Western Australia, the New Occidental mine also produces copper concentrate that is exported to China. The entire Peak Gold operation produces an average of 6,000 tonnes of copper and up to 100,000 ounces of gold each year. The Peak mines mineral resource base currently forecasts a mine life past 2017 with current rates of production that enjoys modern mining and processing practices along with a well maintained modern fleet and treatment plant. To date new resources being continually discovered have kept pace with the stock being depleted.

Mine Upgrades at the Peak Mining Operation
The underground mining operation at New Occidental uses shotcrete and ground support concrete arches to give extra support to stress areas of the mine. The company has also installed a twin 875 kilowatt centrifugal ventilation fan that is capable of handling 280 cubic metres of air a second at the southern end of the mine, along with a refrigeration plant to keep the air cool, particularly in the hot summer months. The company has also constructed a new flotation plant and upgraded its tailings storage facility that consists of dry stacking to allow for fast evaporation.

Cobar Workforce Benefits from Peak Gold Presence in Town
The New Occidental mining operation is fortunate in that it is situated near the residential town of Cobar where there is a mining workforce although company's do fly in and fly out some personnel to meet employment demands. Production staff are employed on a four day on four day off roster others work either a five days on two days off or nine days a fortnight. Peak Gold has a policy of employing from six to eight extra apprentices every year.
†