1

GRADE CONTROL TECHNIQUES AT PADDINGTON GOLD MINE

By
I. Heath Sandercock - Mine Superintendent
and
Quentin G. A mos - Chief Mine Geologist
PANCONTINENTAL GOLDMINING AREAS PTY. LIMITED

ABSTRACT

The Paddington I and proposed Paddington 11 Pits are both located in

what is, by Eastern Goldfields standards, a large tonnage-low grade

orebody. The Pits have been designed to supply ore to a substantial

Treatment Plant at the designed rate of 875,000 tpa. (This throughput

is currently being increased to 1,200,000 tpa).

Generally the orebody lends itself to large tonnage mining techniques,

relying on only a relatively small amount of sampling. The surface

enrichment zone and depleted zone are reasonably complex and require

more intensive grade control and sampling techniques as typically

utilised in many surface mines in the Eastern Goldfields, although as

experience and understanding of the nature of the orebody was gained,

less sampling became necessary.

Practical problems, such as ensuring delivery of the required ore

tonnages to the Treatment Plant, meant that sampling and grade control

techniques typically used in non-rippable hypogene ore would not be

suitable at Paddington. A practical, economic alternative was sought,

resulting ~n the trial of a programme of 20 metre vertical 113mm

reverse circulation holes. From this drilling, the grade control

outlines for four 5 metre benches were determined in advance.

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INTRODUCTION

The Paddington deposit lies 35 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie beside

the Kalgoorlie-Menzies highway. The deposit was originally worked

during the first gold-rush in the Kalgoorlie region from 1894 to 1910.

Gold was first won from "deep lead" alluvial deposits south of Broad

Arrow and east of Paddington. By the end of 1896, most of the deep

lead miners had moved on but several companies were formed to work the

nearby hardrock orebodies. A series of shafts were sunk along the

Paddington line of lode, the major ones being the Paddington Consols

and the Perseverance. Other significant shafts were the Mona and

Minnie Palmer shafts. Records are somewhat sketchy but approximately

60,000 ounces of gold were won from the Paddington Consols and it is

believed a similar amount from the Perseverance during the period 1896-

1910. Despite the presence of considerable quantities of gold being

available for mining, the Paddington Consols was closed ~n 1901 due to

the financial collapse of the London based parent company.

There was a resurgence of activity ~n 1934 when Lochinvar Gold Mines

Ltd. acquired the property and undertook substantial exploration and

development work during the period 1934-1938. The results of this work

did not encourage Lochinvar, and no further work was done after 1938 -

the mine being placed on a care and maintenance basis until 1941. Fixed

gold prices discouraged major interests for the next 30 years, although

the area continued to be worked by small prospectors for narrow rich

near-surface quartz vein systems.

During the late 1960's and early 1970's, the area held the attention of

several major companies although the interest was be~ause of greens tone

hosted base metal potential.

L
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United Goldfields Corporation secured the five gold mining leases which

cover the currently designated Paddington I and 11 Pit sites in 1974.

Despite trenching, drilling and open pitting, United Goldfields were

not encouraged to undertake major development work in their own right.

In late 1980 Pancontinental Mining Limited, keen to diversify its

exploration activity into precious metals, signed an agreement with

United Goldfields Corporation to secure the five gold mining leases.

Pancontinental continued to secure promising ground ~n the area and

today Pancontinental Goldmining Areas Pty. Limited (a wholly owned

subsidiary of Pancontinental Mining Limited) holds 640 ha of ground in

the Paddington area.

After preliminary exploration, a drilling programme commenced ~n late

1981. Results were very encouraging and Pancontinental, in the case of

Paddington I, went on to complete a 40 x 40 metre grid which was

subsequently infilled first to 40 x 20 then 20 x 10 metres in a number

of drilling programmes from 1982 to 1984. Paddington 11 grid drilling

commenced in 1983 again on an initial 40 x 40 metre pattern which was

subsequently reduced to a 20 x 20 metre grid.

Geological reserves quoted prior to the commencement of mining

operations were:

Paddington I 5.6 million tonnes @ 3.3 g/t

Paddington I I 2.8 million tonnes @ 3. 1 g/t

These calculations were by standard manual cross-sectional method and

were based on a 1 g/t cut off grade.

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Feasibility studies indicated that, under existing econom1C conditions,

a viable project could be realised, mining 875,000 tonnes of ore per

annum from the two pits over a seven year mine life. The decision to

proceed was made 1n early 1984 and construction commenced in July 1984.

Mining commenced 1n November 1984 and the Treatment Plant commenced 1n

June 1985.

GEOLOGY

The basal units of the local geological sequence are an alternating

series of sedimentary, mafic and ultramafic volcanics and pyroclastics

which lie east of the mine sequence and have been later intruded by a

granitic pluton variably assimilating these lower sequence units around

the marginal contact zone. up-section of these units and directly

underlying the mine sequence, there is a ser1es of ul tramafic lavas

known locally as the Mt. Cor lac Ultramafics. These ultramafic units

are host to the Mt. Corlac-Pakeha gold deposits to the south-east of

Paddington. The Mine Sequence consists of a lower graphitic-pyritic

shale which 1S overlain by a sequence of mafic and ultramafic lavas and

pyroclastics. These volcanic units host approximately 10% of the

Paddington mineralisation which is associated with the presence of

alteration halos around narrow and discontinuous stockwork quartz-

vein systems. The volcanics are intruded by the Paddington Dolerite

generally a granophyric quartz-dolerite, the orientation of which is

85° to ENE. The dolerite is host to 90% of the gold mineralisation

which is associated with alteration halos around a very strong and

continuous quartz stockwork gold ve1n system 1n the Paddington I

deposi t. In Paddington 11 deposit, the dolerite hosts approximately

50% of the mineralisation, the remainder being hosted primarily by high

magnesium basalts which exhibit strong alteration halos around sheeted

quartz vein sets.

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The mineral composition of the alteration halos in both deposits is

generally ankeritic carbonate-sericite-fuchsitic m1ca (very minor), the

dominant sulphide species being arsenopyrite with pyrite occurring as a

minor associate. Pre-production drilling of the Paddington I deposit

led to the acceptance of the orientation of the dolerite being the

overall orientation of the orebody since some 90% of gold mineral-

isation was contained within this host. It was thus assumed that ore

lenses would have a sub-vertical attitude. However, during the very

early phase of the mining operation, it became apparent that in the

upper weathered or "leached" horizon that the significant remobilis-

ation of gold which occurred from the weathered horizon to the

supergene horizon by the action of meteoric water, had also resulted in

a dominant 20-25° ESE ore lens orientation being imposed. This

orientation was the result of weathering, in that the pervas1ve

mineralisation of the dolerite common below the supergene interface was

not present 1n the uppermost horizon. The gold mineralisation

remaining within the leached horizon 1S associated with the very

siliceous portion of the alteration halos immediately adjacent to the

quart~ veins, the remainder having been remobilised from the less

resistant but originally pervasively altered host rock down to the

supergene zone. The orientation of the ore lenses was intimately

associated with the orientation of the larger quartz veins within the

stockwork system which have an attitude the same as that described for

the ore lenses. This factor resulted in a necessary change of grade

control methods .
..

The Mine Sequence 1S overlain to the west by a sequence of graphitic

shales, siltstones, sandstones and felsic volcanics and pyroclastics -

the Black Flag Beds - which host the Golden Wonder deposit to the SE

and the Star of W.A. deposit to the NW of Paddington.

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The Paddington I and 11 deposits have been separated by a dextral

strike-slip fault characterised by massive "bull" quartz outcrop.

ORE RESERVES

Calculation of ore reserves for the Paddington I pit was based on

evaluation drilling which was initially carried out on a 40 x 40 metre

grid but eventually closed down to a 20 x 10 metre grid. A total of

14,601 metres of drilling was carried out, a drilling density which

yielded 375 tonnes of ore reserve per metre of drilling above the 940

RL (60 metres below surface) and 4,560 tonnes of ore reserve below the

940 RL.

with the experience of Paddington I pit evaluation drilling and actual

production, it was determined for a variety of reasons that the

required infill drilling on the Paddington 11 pit area should be kept

to a practical mlnlmum. The drilling grid was reduced from the

original 40 x 40 metre grid to an alternating 20 x 20 metre/20 x 10

metre grid. A total of 16,247 metres of drilling was carried out in

the Pad 11 area yielding 560 tonnes of ore reserve per metre drilled

above the 940 RL and 4,560 tonnes of ore reserve below the 940 RL.

The geological ore reserve for the Paddington I area was calculated by

two methods. The first reserve calculation method was a "traditional"

manually calculated end-area cross-sectional reserve, whilst the second

method was a block model ore reserve developed using geostatistical

methods.
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The manual ore reserve used at Paddington employed a strict

gramme/tonne cut-off with a maximum of three metres of included waste.

On this basis the ore 1.S divided into 3 categories: (a) Low-grade

0.5-1.0 g/t material which 1.S separately stockpiled and known locally

as mineralised waste, (b) 1.0-3.5 g/t material known as run-of-mine

ore, and (c) +3.5 g/t material known locally as high grade ore.

SAMPLING AND GRADE CONTROL

Laboratory

Paddington has an on site laboratory which was initially designed to

handle 150 samples per day, although this was rapidly upgraded to

handle a peak of 450 samples per day on a two shift basis to

accommodate pit requirements. Assay turnaround time averaged from a

low of 24 hours up to 36 hours, averaging about 30 hours. Determin-

ations are by fire assay with an A.A.S. finish.

Weathered Zone (rippable zone)

The sampling and grade control techniques used at the commencement of

Paddington pit were relatively similar to those used in many Eastern

Goldfields open pits, but have evolved 1.n response to a variety of

factors such as pressure for production (the scale of operation at

Paddington being somewhat greater than is common in the area), sample

assay turnaround time and the economics of keeping sampling to a

practical minimum.

During feasibility studies, a bench height (flitch height) of 5 metres

was considered possible, as geological interpretation indicated

continuous ore lenses dipping to the east at approx. 85° degrees.

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o
o

N2400 N2400

N2200
N2200

N2000 N2000

NI800

m
m ~
I\,)

8 \ 8
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During surface preparation and sampling, it was considered prudent to

halve the bench height to 2~ metres at least for the initial benches.

This move, in fact, suited the contractors' excavating equipment which

was more productive on the 2~ metre bench. Once started the practice

continued through the weathered zone to the hypo gene fresh rock zone.

When mining had passed through the extremely weathered surface

material, it became obvious that most of the dominant quartz vein sets

and hence the ore lenses within the dolerite were relatively flat lying

but up to 25° to the east. This, coupled with the fact that the

depleted supergene contact plunged from north to south within the pit

reinforced the practice of mining in 2~ metre benches.

Initial sampling was carried out by taking 4 kg to 5 kg samples over

one metre intervals from 0.3 metre deep sample channels ripped across

the orebody by bullcl.ozer. In the extremely weathered zone, the

channels were ripped every 5 metres along strike ~n the highly

mineralised areas, and at 10 metre intervals in poorly mineralised

areas.

Given the constraint of assay turnaround time, and considering the low

tonnages of ore in the surface enriched area (approximately 12% of the

total ore available lies in the depleted and surface enrichment zones)

and hence the very low ore tonnes per sample ratio, sampling on 10

metre intervals along strike was carried out on alternate benches. It

became obvious within two benches that 10 metre interval channels gave

acceptable results, and from that time on, all sampling was carried out

in that manner.
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On return from the laboratory, the assays were keyed into computer

files and plotted onto bench plans. The ore-waste outlines were then

plotted by a geologist and the plans passed onto the field crew, the

outlines were then laid out in the field using lines marked by garden

lime. Because of practical and economic considerations no ore mined lS

resampled before crushing and to date there has been no reason to

believe resampling lS necessary.

The relatively flat lying nature of the stockworking and the promise of

better quality samples prompted a trial of a trench cutting machine. A

trenching machine, capable of cutting a trench in excess of 2 metres

deep was trialled in the Paddington pit with excellent results.

Although the cost of obtaining the 1 metre samples was somewhat higher

than the dozer ripped samples, the cost disadvantage was far outweighed

by the following factors:

(a) The sample was far more representative coming from a 2 metre

trench compared to a 0.3 metre rip channel.

(b) The cutter produced a fairly homogeneous chip size which was

much more representative of the ore block. Rip sampling quite

often pulls large rocks to the surface which produces an

unacceptable bias if avoided during sampling.

(c) The displacement of sample was easily calculated with a

trencher, whereas it can be less well defined in rip sampling.

(d) The trench left by the cutter was extremely useful for

geological mapping.
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In general, it ~s felt that the sample quality was so superior that

cost comparisons should not be made.

The relative cost of sampling ~s obviously related to the number of

tonnes defined per sample taken. On an alternating bench sample grid

of 5 metres and 10 metres, one sample defines approximately 32 tonnes

of ore compared with 42.5 tonnes of ore defined by 10 metre spaced

lines alone. Thus, the cost per tonne of sampling 10 metre spaced

lines ~s somewhat less at $0.55/tonne compared with $0.70/tonne for

alternating lines. The cost of sampling 10 metre spaced trenched lines

was somewhat higher ($0.75/tonne)- than for dozer ripped lines but was

considered a better technique for the reasons stated above.

Hypogene (Non Rippable Zone)

As mining continued through the weathered ore, careful consideration

was given to the mode of sampling and grade control to be adopted in

the drill and blast material. The obvious method to use was simply to

sample production blastholes, however, it was decided to trial a

progr8;mme of advance reverse circulation drilling for the following

reasons:

(a) The original reserve drilling indicated the orebody was of

significant width (approx. 35 metres) with only a few

inclusions of waste.

(b) Assay turnaround time ~s such that sampling production

blastholes was unrealistic ~n the light of production

requirements.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _..J
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(c) The quality of samples produced by the average percussion rig

does not compare favourably ~n this area with reverse

circulation drilling samples.

(d) Although it would cost more ~n terms of drilling, overall

sampling cost would still be very low.

The RC drilling programme essentially aimed at locating the periphery

of the orebody, and more accurately outlining internal waste lenses. To

that end, the original 20 metre by 10 metre reserve drilling grid was

used to design what was effectively a (380 hole) 10 metre by 5 metre

grid. Reserve drilling holes were used wherever possible, and the

vertical holes used to provide infill information. The reverse

circulation holes were sampled at 2 metre intervals downhole.

NORTH

Pre - Production
x R~~ x

- - Ore Boundary

X x X X

X x
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The results of the vertical grade control hole programme and 'the

original reserve holes were plotted on section at 10 metre strike

intervals. Geological boundaries and grades were plotted on section,

then the ore boundaries interpreted and transferred to plan. The ore

outlines are then laid out using lime lines in the field prior to

drilling and blasting.

The grades from both the grade control programme and reserve drilling

were also used to evaluate the ore grades using geostatistical methods.

Kriging was constrained within the manually determined ore boundaries

to develop a block model.

To validate the approach of RC drilling ~n advance on relatively wide

spacing, production blast holes within the ore boundaries are being

samples and assayed. To date this checking confirms the approach.

CONCLUSION

Following reserve drilling, the Paddington orebody was recognised as

being a large orebody, with fairly consistent mineralisation, and

therefore suited to bulk mining techniques. Although original sampling

and grade control techniques utilised ~n the more weathered portions of

the orebody were typical of those used in more erratic gold orebodies,

it quickly became apparent that some economies could be achieved and

some practical constraints overcome by reducing the amount of sampling

carried out. Concurrent experimentation with a trenching machine led

to superior sampling techniques.

The' practical consideration of sampling and grade control in an orebody

requiring drill and blast mining techniques were approached in a manner

not common in the gold mining industry. The method of advance recirc-
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ulation drilling. of . the orebody was found to provide suitable ore

delineation for grade control whilst not adding considerably to the

total cost per tonne mined.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to thank staff of Pancontinental Mining Limited and

Pancontinental Goldmining Areas Pty. Limited for their support and

assistance in the preparation of this paper.

REFERENCES

Hancock, M.C. & Amos, Q.G. - 1984

The Paddington Deposit - Western Australia

The Rediscovery of an Old Gold Mine. 7th Australian Geological

Symposium (unpublished paper)