Royal Nickel Corp. RNKLF

some geology and mining history in Beta District

[Geodan2]

This is an excerpt with link to report at bottom, bottom line is Beta is in district that is one of the richest gold fields ever found. 

 Production in the Gold Field peaked in 1903 with 38.124 t (1,225,700 oz) of ore at an average grade of 41.1 g/t (1.32 oz/t) mined from predominantly gold-telluride lodes (Blainey, 1993). However, rising mining costs as lodes were followed underground and ores became more refractory, together with fixing of the gold price, led to a gradual drop in production. Nevertheless, by 1910, the Gold Field was well established with ten major shafts and numerous other smaller operations. Continued rising inflation associated with, and following, World War 1 kept mining activity at a low, but a re-evaluation of gold in the early 1930s led to a major revival. Production declined again in the 1960s, leading to cessation of mining on the Golden Mile in 1975. Production from the Mt Charlotte mine continued, however, due to the low-cost mechanized mining methods. The marked rise in gold price in 1975 sparked resurgence in mining, and the Golden Mile operations progressively reopened with new open-cut mines developed. Throughout its history, the mining operations in the Kalgoorlie Gold Field had been progressively consolidated into fewer and larger companies until 1989, when Alan Bond acquired and consolidated the final three companies into one operation that is now managed by Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (jointly owned by Newmont and Barrick). The numerous lodes of the Golden Mile are currently mined via the Fimiston Superpit and, together with the Mt Charlotte underground mine, produce up to 850,000 ounces of gold each year. A total of 1670 t (351 Mt at 5.5 g/t Au head grade) and 144 t Au (42.6 Mt at 3.8 g/t Au) gold has been produced from the Golden Mile and Mt Charlotte, respectively, between 1893 and 2013. Gold deportment is approximately 30% native gold, 25% telluride gold, 35% gold inclusions in pyrite and 10% invisible inclusions in pyrite (Bateman et al., 2001). The refractory gold ore in pyrite and telluride minerals is roasted to liberate the gold.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987115000857