When the Edna Beryl gold mine opened in Tennant Creek, it had a life expectancy of six to eight months, but production slowed down when a gold mine and mill at Pine Creek closed, meaning there was nowhere to process the gold.

But Kevin Craig, a partner of Edna Beryl Mining in Tennant Creek, got creative.

He had spent the last few years refurbishing a 130-year-old battery mill in the town, which was then put to use to pour three gold bars.

But it was no easy task getting that piece of equipment up to scratch.

Kevin Craig, partner with Edna Beryl mining, with one of the gold bars. ( Supplied: Kevin Craig )

How did he do it?

The biggest problem with restoring a 130-year-old piece of machinery, according to Mr Craig, was not being able to source parts for the old mill.

"The problem is you just can't buy any of this off the shelf," Mr Craig said.

The first step in the restoration process was replacing the old wooden bull wheels.

But as it turned out, nothing could beat the original.

"[They] replaced them with steel ones, [but] the steel ones are no good, they snapped a cam shaft and a wheel came down," Mr Craig said.

"I said to them years ago, to replace the battery and get it going again, those wooden ones have to go back on there.

"The wooden ones absorb the shock — there's a lot of shock waves in a battery and a lot of metal fatigue."

Mr Craig said there was only one thing to do, and that was send the original wheels to Alice Springs for a complete face lift.

"I would say it's in better condition now then it was when it was first built," he said.

Other than the wheels, the hoppers were replaced, as well as the pumps, the feed bin had to be relined, the electrics and pipework upgraded, and a proper ventilation system was also put in.

"So basically [we had] to go right through the whole thing," Mr Craig said.

"But it's all been done now and it's back to its old glory."

After losing gold grades using copper plates and mercury, Kevin Craig switched to gravity and water to process the fine gold. ( ABC Rural: Katrina Beavan )

Keeping gold grades

The Edna Beryl mine is known for having 'bonanza gold' with incredibly high grades, but Mr Craig found he was losing that when processing in the battery mill.

"We first started off going back to the original, [using] copper plates and mercury, [but] we found that we weren't recovering all the gold," he said.

"So we stopped using mercury, and we went over to gravity."

That meant purchasing a particular type of concentrator, which uses gravity, together with water, to recover very fine particles.

Despite being more than 130 years old, the mill can still produce gold, after being extensively restored by a local miner. ( ABC Rural: Katrina Beavan )

However Mr Craig said there were still issues recovering the high gold grades.

"We're still losing the same amount of gold, because it's so fine, it goes out with the water," he said.

The only way to recover that, according to Mr Craig, would be with a proper cyanide plant.

"Edna Beryl ore can't go through the battery to recover all the gold," he said.

"It's pointless putting it through because then we've got to retreat the tailings anyway — so we're better off waiting until we can get a proper cyanide plant in Tennant Creek.

"Until we can get that, not much is going to happen."

Nonetheless, Mr Craig said he poured just over 300 ounces of fine gold from 250 tonnes, but lost around 400 ounces out in the tailings.

However, those tailings will be retreated whenever a new facility is up and running.

"The last couple of bars were averaged up at about 96 per cent recovery through the Perth mint," Mr Craig said.

For now, the battery will once again be tinkered with, so it can continue to function for tourism purposes only.

Fine gold from the Edna Beryl mine in Tennant Creek travels across a Wilfley table. ( ABC Rural: Katrina Beavan )

Mill on the way

Meanwhile Mr Craig, along with other mining companies in the Barkly, has welcomed news that a long-awaited gold processing facility is now set to open up in Tennant Creek.

Company Emmerson Resources has teamed up with Territory Resources to refurbish and open the Warrego Mill lease, so nearby legacy gold tailings and new gold ore can be processed locally.

Emmerson's Managing Director Rob Bills said depending on government approvals and renovations, it is hoped the facility will be up and running by the end of the year.