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History

Gold was first discovered in 1568 by Spanish explorers downstream from the Gold Ridge area. Gold was again discovered in the Gold Ridge catchment in 1931 and was traced to soils and bedrock at Gold Ridge in 1936. Prospecting commenced in 1939 but it was not until after 1982 that detailed and systematic exploration of the Project area was carried out. From 1983 to 1992 the exploration was carried out firstly under a joint venture between Cyprus Minerals and Arimco NL. During that time 35,000m of diamond core and 21,000m of reverse circulation (RC) drilling were completed. The project was acquired by Saracen Minerals in 1992 after being relinquished by the joint venture. Saracen then sold its interest in the project to Ross Mining NL in March 1995. In June 1995 an evaluation program commenced that included diamond core and RC drilling and a metallurgical appraisal of the Gold Ridge ore types. After a cumulative total of about 32,000m of drilling, a feasibility study was completed in 1996.[1]

First Gold Production

Construction of the 2Mtpa open cut mine started in 1997 with mining of the Valehaichichi deposit commencing in August 1998. In 2000 ownership passed to Delta Gold Pty Ltd and ultimately via a series of takeover and mergers to Placer Dome Asia Pacific. The Mine was shut down in June 2000 as a result of escalating civil unrest in the Solomon Islands and the ownership eventually passed to ASG via public tender in November 2004. During these 22 months that the Gold Ridge Mine was actively operating the total gold production amounted to approximately 210,000 ounces. ASG completed about 20,100m of diamond core drilling, commissioned Ausenco to complete a feasibility study into recommencing operations at the Gold Ridge Mine in 2007 and secured finance from the International Finance Corporation and European Investment Bank in 2009. Allied Gold acquired the Gold Ridge Mine in late 2009 through the takeover of Toronto-listed ASG and invested A$150 million to refurbish and redevelop the Mine with an increase of throughput to 2.5Mtpa. The Gold Ridge Mine recommenced production in March 2011 with 200,000 tonnes of stockpiling and commenced accessing Namachamata deposit. St Barbara acquired the Gold Ridge Mine via its acquisition of Allied Gold on 7 September 2012 at the height of the market and continued operations at the Gold Ridge Mine until April 2014 when tropical cyclone Ita hit causing heavy rainfall and flash floods. St Barbara subsequently transfer the ownership of the Mine to Gold Ridge Community Investment Limited (GCIL, a local landowners company) in 2015. During the Allied Gold and St Barbara operating period (around 35 months), the Gold Ridge Mine produced around 190,600 ounces of gold, and undertook around 29,000m of exploration diamond core drilling.[2]

Latest Development

AXF Resources (an Australian Company) acquired 90% of the Mine from GCIL, and Wanguo International Mining Group (a Hong Kong listed company) acquired about 70% of the Mine from AXF Resources. As disclosed in Wanguo’s announcement dated 5 September 2019, the Group entered into a construction and mining contract with the subsidiaries of China Railway Group Limited. The contract price for the First Phase is approximately USD276 million, covering current mining operation period of Gold Ridge Project up to March 2034. The contract price for the Second Phase is undetermined and subject to further clarification of the scope of works and negotiations between the Parties. The value of the Second Phase could be more than USD500 million.[3]

The Gold Ridge mine is currently under reconstruction and expected to commence production in 2022.[4]

References

www.wgmine.com (PDF) http://www.wgmine.com/uploads/investor/20120628/en/200818/8-200QR2442IZ.pdf. Retrieved 1 June 2022. : Empty citation (help): Missing or empty |title= (help) www.wgmine.com (PDF) http://www.wgmine.com/uploads/investor/20120628/en/200818/8-200QR2442IZ.pdf. Retrieved 1 June 2022. : Empty citation (help): Missing or empty |title= (help) www.wgmine.com (PDF) http://www.wgmine.com/uploads/investor/20120628/en/190905/8-1ZZ51G025415.pdf. Retrieved 1 June 2022. : Empty citation (help): Missing or empty |title= (help) "Works begins on Solomon Islands' key gold mine". Economist Intelligence. Retrieved 1 June 2022.