The last load was trucked out last week.
Since opening in 1997, Frasers has produced 2.1 million ounces of gold, moved 540 million tonnes of material including 69 million tonnes of ore, and played a pivotal role in shaping the careers of hundreds of mining professionals and operators.
Macraes general manager James Isles said the completion of mining in this pit marked a significant milestone for the operation and the people who had worked there over the years.
"Frasers Open Pit has been more than just a source of ore, it’s been a foundation of Macraes for nearly three decades," Mr Isles said.
"Over the years, countless mining engineers, operators, surveyors and geologists have learned their trade here. For many, Frasers was their first experience of mining life, and it set the foundation for long and successful careers across the industry."
Mr Isles said while the Frasers pit had been responsible for over one-third of all gold produced at Macraes, mining it had not been without challenges.
"In 2014, a large section of the west wall of the pit slipped, following a period of heavy rainfall," Mr Isles said.
"Fortunately, we were already monitoring the wall at the time, and nobody was injured, but the slip did impact operations for several months.
"Like many challenges faced at Macraes, our people used the slip in Frasers as an opportunity to learn, implement changes and introduce new technologies and ideas to improve health and safety and production.
"Following the slip, we implemented slope stability radar, which uses real-time scanning of movement, added additional GPS units and introduced a more sophisticated way to schedule and mine our pits by constantly placing backfill near the walls to re-establish support.
"The 2014 slip also helped us build a stronger mathematical model of how rock mass moves, which helps us understand when to expect movement in our pit walls. These learnings have been integrated into the design and operation of the mine post-incident and into the future."
While mining at Frasers was now complete, Macraes open pit teams were looking ahead to new opportunities, Mr Isles said.
"There’s a lot of mining ahead for both our open pit and underground crews.
"Open pit [miners] now turn their attention to the Innes Mills areas and expanding the existing Coronation North open pit, while our underground team continues to advance in our Golden Point underground mine," Mr Isles said.
Last week, the Otago Regional Council granted consents for Macraes Continuity Consents Project stage 2.
"These consents allow mining to continue at Macraes to about 2030 and authorise the clearance of a small amount of grass and tussock on land we own adjacent to the Innes Mills Pit, and for us to continue depositing tailings into Frasers tailings storage facility," Mr Isles said.
"With Frasers pit repurposed as a tailings storage facility, it will continue to play a vital role in the ongoing success of the operation."
The completion of mining in the Frasers Open Pit was the end of a chapter, but Macraes’ long history of responsible mining and regional contribution in East Otago would continue, he said.
