The Fosterville goldfield, situated 25 km east of Bendigo,
Victoria was at its peak between 1894-1910 with some 47 600
ounces produced (Figure 1). Since that time intermittent mining
and tailings retreatment was undertaken until Bendigo Gold
Associates delineated a viable resource and commenced an open
cut heap leaching operation in early 1991. Unfortunately they
encountered financial difficulties and Perseverance Exploration
purchased the mine in April 1992. Perseverance operated a
successful heap leach operation nearby Nagambie, 100 km east of
Fosterville. Based on its acquired heap leaching experience, Perseverance
Exploration was able to instigate operational changes to create a
successful small gold heap leach operation. The major change
was the using of the original multi-use leach pad as a single-use
leach pad. The available data allows for a comparison of the two
operating systems.