Although the Tropicana and Havana gold mines are many kilometres to the east of our route, they are of interest because their discovery signalled the identification of a new gold province.
The Tropicana discovery was made in August 2005 and Havana in 2006 in an area not previously thought to be prospective for gold located at the northern end of the ancient collision zone between the Yilgarn Craton and the Albany-Fraser Province. The area has been seen as a new major Australian gold province, previously unexplored due to its remoteness, and dubbed the ‘Tropicana Gold Belt’.
The project’s location is its biggest barrier to development, with 220 km of road having to be built to be able to access the mine and a 40 megawatt power station being required to supply it with electricity.
The project is estimated to have a mine life of 15 years with an annual production of around 330,000 to 400,000 ounces of gold and an overall production of 3.6 million ounces.
The open pit at the mine is scheduled to be up to 6 km long, 1.5 km wide and up to 400 m deep.