Hill XX

Finally got out of the core yard, helping the exploration team at a drill site. This is the pit just by that site.

The core I analyse comes from beneath this pit. About 20 years ago they abandoned it as the gold price was less than 500AUD/oz. Now that the price has risen it's viable again. They can take gold and make money from rocks here that have a single part of gold in every 1,000,000 parts.

To widen the historic pit would have been extra costly, but it's also pointless, because the wider the pit gets the more waste you get on the sides, and waste must be trucked out too, massively increasing costs beyond economic. So they went to a nearby pit, and blasted a decline from its base, to below the base of this pit. Then with a spiralling decline they can drive trucks, machines and Ute's down there and mine this guy underground.

The core I'm getting comes from many holes drilled from an underground drill rig.

In other news, I started the process of leaving this job today. Maybe they will kick me out, or I'll do a couple more swings but I'm looking for something new and better.