PYBAR Mining Services, a Thiess company, has fired the first development cut in the exploration decline portal at Southern Cross Gold’s Sunday Creek gold-antimony project in Victoria, Australia.
This is the first new decline developed in the state in 20 years.
“The firing of the first cut went as planned and was executed safely. Beyond this being a significant milestone for Sunday Creek, it is a significant milestone for the broader Victorian mining industry. Many people in our sector never get the opportunity to be part of something like this in their career, and I want to thank the PYBAR and [Southern Cross] teams onsite who made it happen,” said Southern Cross President and CEO Michael Hudson.
“The decline is fundamentally about accelerating drilling,” he continued. “From here, the team will drive the primary decline to establish underground drill platforms approximately 115 metres beneath surface, scaling us from the 11 surface rigs operating today towards 24 rigs working concurrently, and positioning Sunday Creek as one of the largest pre-development drill-outs globally.”
According to Southern Cross, the first rigs underground are expected to be mobilised in October, and the decline remains on schedule for completion by the end of the year.
Sunday Creek is located 60 km north of Melbourne within 19,365 ha of granted exploration tenements.