Bellevue sixth mining area potential: scheduling and design notes for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on Australian Mining
30 Second Briefing
Bellevue Gold is testing a potential sixth standalone mining area at its Bellevue operation in Western Australia after early underground drilling at Tribune South intersected visible gold mineralisation south of the current ore reserve. The campaign is the first drilling this far south of the defined reserve envelope and is specifically targeting down-plunge and along-strike extensions to existing high-grade lodes. Any additional resource in this area could support new mine development fronts, altered stope sequencing and revised life-of-mine scheduling for the underground operation.
Technical Brief
- Underground drilling is being executed from existing development, enabling short-hole targeting of Tribune South extensions.
- Step-out drilling positions are located south of the current ore reserve shell, beyond previously tested panels.
- Visible gold in core implies coarse free-milling mineralisation, potentially influencing future processing and recovery assumptions.
- Tribune South sits within the same structural corridor as existing high-grade lodes, supporting structural continuity models.
- Early success from underground platforms reduces reliance on slower, deeper surface drilling for resource extension.
- Any additional mining front at Tribune South would utilise established underground infrastructure, limiting new capital development.
- Geotechnical characterisation from these new drillholes will refine ground support and stope design in the southern sector.
Our Take
The move to a potential sixth mining area at the Bellevue gold project comes as Barminco locks in an A$850 million underground mining contract there, signalling that Bellevue Gold is planning for a multi-lens, long-life underground operation rather than a short, single-orebody mine.
Recent coverage of Bellevue Gold in Western Australia includes first ore from the high-grade Deacon North zone and a 23‑unit Sandvik fleet order, so early hits at Tribune South likely feed into a staged ramp-up strategy where multiple high-grade fronts support consistent mill feed and equipment utilisation.
Bellevue’s ability to run its namesake mine for 155 hours on 100 per cent renewable power suggests that any new area such as Tribune South will probably be integrated into a relatively low-emissions power set-up, which could help on ESG metrics compared with many other gold projects in our database.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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