Argyle
site overview
Argyle Diamond mine hosts one of the most unique diamond operations in the world. The mine was established in 1983 as an open pit operation and continued to do so until 2005 when the decision was made to cease open pit operations and develop underground operations.
Argyle Diamond mine hosts an underground mine, processing facility and world class village all within its mining lease area. The mine produces one of the rarest Diamonds on earth being the pink diamond and has sourced approximately 600 carats of pink diamond since mining first commenced.
| Site Information | |
|---|---|
| Operating Status | Operating Mine |
| Client Roster | 2 Weeks On, 2 Weeks Off |
| Mining Contractor | Owner Operator |
| Mining Contractor Roster | 2 Weeks On, 2 Weeks Off |
| Airline | Skywest |
| Transport | FIFO from Perth, DIDO from Kununurra |
| Primary Commodity | Diamonds |
| Mining Method | Open Pit, Underground |
Site Facilities
| Facility | Availability | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Foxtel | ||
| GYM | ||
| Phone reception | Telstra Only | |
| Public computer with internet access | ||
| Swimming Pool | ||
| TV Supplied | 32" Plasma TVs in main camp. Not supplied at Underground camp. | |
| Washing Facilities | ||
| Wetmess | Now a dry camp no alcohol | |
| WIFI Access |
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Site Reviews
I worked at Argyle Diamond mine in 2004 - 2005. I was in the processing plant as an operator. The plant produces 2000 tonne per hour and is quite impressive. The process itself is quite easy to learn and Rio Tinto provide a lot of training. The plant is old, roughly 20-25 years old but still runs really well as there is a good maintenance schedule. Safety is a huge priority at Argyle mine. Every morning there are 30 minute warm ups led by health instructors. I thought the communication within each crew was very good compared to other places i have worked at.
The down side to the site is there is more security at the Argyle mine than the Perth mint on pay day! There are swipe cards to swipe in and out which each employee is issued with. Paper work is pretty crazy on site as is the safety monitoring.
Rio Tinto provide their employees with added bonuses and incentives such as discounted hotels and car hire. I think they also subsidize air fares as well.
Argyle hosts an excellent camp with motel style brick rooms with foxtel and Telstra next G coverage. The roster of 2n2 is also a huge plus for argyle. Unfortunately since transitioning to an underground mine the safety level has dropped significantly and the number of work place injuries has risen by a huge amount. The people working at argyle are great with many forced to live in Kununurra they are a tight bunch. Being up north the heat can be unbearable at times
I worked here for a few years with Macmahons but they had a few issues and ended up losing the contract. They turned the camp into a dry one so after slogging away underground there isn't a cold beer in sight. Pretty high security also being diamonds.
Nice place, hot as hell and not having the freedom to have a beer at the end of the day is disappointing.
I only worked at Argyle mine as a contractor doing a project in the Processing Plant. Argyle mine is pretty big and a little old but would have been the best camp of its day when it first opened. It has two camps, the main village is located on a hill and had a really nice view of the surrounding ranges. It has an awesome wet mess & swimming pool. The rooms are really big and have there own kitchen and en-suite The underground village is located 5ks down the road and is closer to site, it is on flat ground but still has a good wet mess, pool and tennis court. There are multiple buses that run between camp and site in the morning and afternoon. The people on site were really helpful and had a good vibe about the place. Rio Tinto run Argyle and they seem to pay their workers pretty well.