Frog's Leg Gold Mine


The Frog's Leg Gold Mine is a gold mine located 19 km west of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, owned and operated by Australian company Evolution Mining Limited.

History

The gold deposit at Frog's Leg was discovered in 1999 and mining originally occurred in an open pit operation from April 2004 to October 2005, when operations ceased again. To the frustration of Dioro, Mines and Resources Australia Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of the French company Areva, delayed the development of an underground mine at the location, an impasse only solved by the sale of its 51% stake.
In September 2006, La Mancha Resources announced the takeover of Mines and Resources Australia's 51% share of the project and began a major drilling program to define potential resources. With this transaction, La Mancha also acquired the White Foil Gold Mine. In mid-2007, the company began to develop an underground operation. In May 2008, the first gold was poured at the mine and, on 1 January 2009, commercial production was achieved.
Dioro's ore from the Frog's Leg mine is processed at the Dioro-owned Jubilee Mill, located at the South Kalgoorlie Gold Mine, which was commissioned in 1987.
Dioro's 49% stake in the Frog's Leg mine, together with the South Kal operation were part of a takeover war between Avoca Resources and Ramelius Resources. Avoca, owner of the Higginsville Gold Mine and Ramelius, owner of the Wattle Dam Gold Mine, both in the area south of Kalgoorlie, were both interested in acquiring Dioro to combine their existing operations with Dioro's. After a failed bit by Avoca in August 2009 and a subsequent extension to the bit by Ramelius, Avoca made a new offer for Dioro on 29 December 2009, despite having earlier declared that its August bit was final. Avoca eventually succeeded in its bid for Dioro and, on 21 April 2010, Dioro was delisted from the ASX.

Production

Production figures for the mine, split into individual owners.

La Mancha

La Mancha's financial year runs from 1 January to 31 December:
Year 1Gold
production		GradeCost per ounce
200815,375 ounces
2009

Dioro

Dioro's financial year runs from 1 September to 31 August:
Year 1Gold
production		GradeCost per ounce
2007–0810,814 ounces3.98 g/t
2008–0941,946 ounces5.24 g/tUS$ 472