The Henty mine, now operated by Barrick (Henty) Limited, was the first new gold mine opened in Tasmania in nearly a century. The project, which is the result of some twenty years of exploration effort by the Renison Goldfields group of companies, was officially opened in July 1996.
Production for 2007/2008 totalled 2078 kg of gold and 1468 kg of silver. The operation employed 167 people.
Gold is recovered by a conventional carbon-in-leach process. All mine tailings are de-toxified before discharge to the residue ponds, as the mine is in a high rainfall area which precludes a closed system. Considerable emphasis is placed on achieving best-practice environmental management, as the mine is located in an environmentally sensitive alpine forest region and is close to major conservation areas. In 1996/97 the company won the Water Environment Merit Award of the Australian Water and Wastewater Association.
The mine was originally developed to access the high-grade Zone 96 orebody and had a projected life of about five years. Ongoing exploration discovered further resources south of Zone 96, the main ore-producing area of the mine, and at nearby Mt Julia. An $8.4 million exploration program followed up these discoveries, with extension of the Sill Decline and the existing southern exploration decline. A significant increase in the mine reserves resulted in an extension of planned mine life.
At June 2008 the mine had total reserves of 595 000 tonnes grading 7.98 g/t gold.
