Gold » BRM Developments
BRM making inroads at Lake Ianthe Jo Bailey Andrew Birchfield says it was a risk for his company BRM Developments to start mining at Lake Ianthe, where several other gold miners had already tried and failed. “I remember a transport driver telling me he had brought a lot of gear into Lake Ianthe for miners and ended up taking it out again for finance companies,” he says. “It was a bit of a risk but we had some good advice from different people and the gold price of NZ$2100 at the time made it worth a go.” For three months before he made the final decision to establish the mine, Andrew explored the area above Banford Bay himself, digging holes, panning, and opening up roads. “The area was a sluicing plain back in the 1930s and some previous miners in the 1980s and 90s had had some success. “We’d been told there was definitely gold there but no one had gone deep enough. When we did some drill holes we found gold down to 53 metres.” This was enough evidence for Andrew to start developing BRM’s open-cast alluvial mine around two years ago. “We haven’t got down to those depths yet, as we are still widening the hole and making it safe.” BRM’s hardworking team of 13 cover a six day week for up to 11 hours a day. “We have a good team and it’s great to employ local people from the likes of Hokitika, Ross and Hari Hari.” Andrew says production so far has more than met his expectations. “We’re getting plenty of beer money out of it.” The strong production and growth of the company has led BRM to invest in some new gear to get its processing plant up to full production. “We use a Pan-American jig plant instead of conventional tables, with four primary and one secondary jigs. “Although it has cost a bit more to set up, the jig plant has paid for itself pretty quickly.”
Developing the open-cast mine at Lake Ianthe has had its challenges, but progress is being made. Other gear has been bought as needed to help meet the challenges of the mine. “There are a lot of big rocks down there which is why we have to keep upsizing our gear. We started with a 50-tonne excavator, but earlier in the year we purchased a 90-tonne Hitachi 870 excavator.”
“We’d been told there was definitely gold there but no one had gone deep enough. When we did some drill holes we found gold down to 53 metres.” Other recently acquired plant includes two Cat 773E dump trucks, a grader, and a smaller Hitachi 470 excavator which arrived in June. “We’ve only sold one dump truck since we started the mine. GE Finance, Cable Price NZ Ltd and the McSkimming’s at Global Tractors have looked after us really well as far as the new purchases go.” Ianthe Mine is in glacial country, which provides another challenge for the BRM team, says Andrew. “Glacial country can run hot and cold. We haven’t hit any cold spots yet, but they will come as we get close to the front of the glacier.” Andrew is a third generation West Coast miner and a director of BRM Developments alongside his brother Paul who is the firm’s industrial electrician. The company is run from the same offices as Birchfield Mining - which is owned by their parents Evan and Jane. Jane is also a shareholder of BRM. Andrew’s wife Maxine runs the office with Jane
10 Mining NZ » Winter, 2015
Birchfield, and both keep a close eye on the mining operations, he says. “They’re the ones who let us know if we’re spending too much money or need keeping in line.” Andrew says BRM is pleased to have a good relationship with Ngai Tahu, which owns the land at Lake Ianthe. “They are really helpful and good to work with.” BRM has licenses over around 5000ha but is about to drop this back to 1800ha to let others take up the balance. “We also have a separate license on Hitchins Hill, and another being processed by NZPM to mine ancient beach leads. Our drill results for this project have been really positive so far.” Andrew says it is still early days at the Ianthe Mine, which makes it hard to estimate the mine’s life. “If we go to depth, I believe there is the possibility of it being a 10 to 15 year mine, which would be great.”