“Gold production is dislocated almost every March quarter….”
“Australian gold mine production fell to 70 tonnes in the March quarter 2024 compared with 77 tonnes in the December quarter 2023. This was due to a series of cyclones which moved inland and dumped massive amounts of rain as they swept across Australia’s main gold producing regions in Western Australia, plus Queensland and the Northern Territory.”
“Wet weather makes haul roads dangerous and greasy. Wet ore ‘hangs up’ in ore bins, is difficult to crush and sticks to conveyor belts…In this quarter, some open pits were flooded and mining ceased. Also, at some underground mines, where the workings are accessed by decline from near the base of an existing open pit, it was impossible to haul ore to the treatment plants.”
“Supplies of fuel oil and consumables were disrupted at some operations while other producers reported power outages, where high rainfall damaged power grids causing electricity supplies to fail.”