 Dominion was unable to find a Joint-venture partner and so in 2001 the company decided to develop the mine itself.The mine was initially an open pit, commencing in 2002 and converted to underground mining in 2005.The Challenger deposit is located within portions of Christie gneiss, a member of the Mulgathing Complex that forms part of the Gawler Craton, a large crystalline basement province consisting of late Archaean to Mesoproterozic rocks that became stabilised by around 1,450 Ma.