Alliance Gold Mines was established in the early part of 1994 to
acquire the assets of Diamin Resources NL at Maldon, Victoria.
These comprised Exploration Licence 3422, some 20 sq km in
area and enclosing the main part of the Goldfield, and a CIP plant
- with a nominal capacity of 250 000 tpa - which was
commissioned in 1988. Between 1988 and 1992 Diamin had
mined - by open pit methods - and milled around one million
tonnes of low grade gold ore, and recovered 55 000 ounces of
gold. By 1992 the known shallow resources had been depleted. Historical gold production from the Maldon field is about 1.75
million ounces, at the surprising average recovered grade of 28
g/t. The last significant mine closed in 1926: since then there has
been no comprehensive exploration program, though Lone Star
Exploration NL tested part of the field for shallow open-pittable
resources in the 1970s and Carpentaria Exploration Company Pty
Ltd carried out widely-spaced drilling on the three main reefs
from 1979 to 1982. Diamin (1983 - 1994) commenced a careful
compilation of old mine records and newspaper clippings, and
drilled several cored holes.