Athena Australia, WA

Development peaked in 2013 with over 1,000m per month being achieved. While production at the Athena mine was undertaken by the owner, Byrnecut had on numerous occasions supplemented the owner’s production drilling and haulage activities with longhole drilling, UG haul trucks and operators.

Byrnecut had developed in excess of 27km of development drives and 1 million tonnes of ore from development and production activities.

Byrnecut had been successful in retaining the Athena works through several re-tenders and negotiated contract extensions. The contract had a single jumbo operating on a fixed and variable style contract.

The mine was accessed by predominantly sealed road from the town of Kambalda, with the town also serviced by air from Perth.

The operation worked 365 days per year, 24 hours per day, and Byrnecut employed 40 people – both fly-in, fly-out workers from Perth, and local residents of Kambalda and Kalgoorlie, 50km to the north.