Advanced gold explorer Alto Metals (ASX:AME) has ‘significantly’ increased shallow gold resources through an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) at the Sandstone Gold Project in Western Australia.
The company reports the updated MRE incorporates updates for the Indomitable Camp including a maiden resource for Indomitable East, and Musketeer, as well as an update to Lord Nelson, and a maiden MRE for Bull Oak. Independent mining industry consultants, Snowden Optiro, prepared the MRE update.
The updated MRE for Sandstone includes all drilling completed up until the end of November 2022. Alto also notes the resource estimates for Lord Henry, Vanguard, Vanguard North, Havilah Camp, Tiger Moth, Piper, and Ladybird deposits remain unchanged from the mineral resources reported in March 2022, 25 September 2018, and 11 June 2019 respectively.
Alto reports open-pit optimisations have been performed by Snowden Optiro on the updated mineral resource using a $2,500 per ounce gold price and reported at a 0.5g/t gold cut-off, which has resulted in an optimised pit shell constrained total inferred and indicated MRE totalling 17.6 million tonnes @ 1.5g/t Au for 832,000 ounces of contained gold.
The company says over 27% of the total MRE within the optimised pit shells is in the indicated category, and all resources contained in the inferred category are due to the drill spacing at Indomitable, Vanguard, Havilah Camp, and Ladybird, as well as the historical nature of drilling at Lord Nelson, Lord Henry, and Bull Oak.
Alto expects that infill and additional confirmatory drilling of the historical areas will allow an upgrade of the inferred resources to a higher category.
The company considers the total mineral resources for Sandstone have a reasonable prospect of eventually being mined, considering the shallow nature of the deposits, along with the thickness and gold grades of the deposits which are located on granted mining or exploration leases proximal to existing infrastructure.
This updated 2023 MRE was optimised and pit-constrained using the same gold price and optimisation parameters to provide continuity to the 2022 MRE.
Commenting on the updated MRE, Alto Metals Managing Director, Matthew Bowles, says: “We are pleased to announce a further substantial increase in the mineral resource at the Sandstone Gold Project.
“We are pleased to announce a further substantial increase in the mineral resource at the Sandstone Gold Project”
This latest update once again highlights the shallow nature of mineralisation and has delivered a robust, optimised, and pit-constrained resource of 832,000oz (ounces) gold at 1.5g/t, representing 80% of the total MRE and remains open in all directions.
Our systematic approach to exploration is continuing to deliver and we are confident further drilling will continue to grow the resource and increase the confidence of additional inferred resources to indicated.
Drilling is again underway at Indomitable following-up strike extensions to the north of known mineralisation along with interpreted high-grade depth extensions. We expect the first assays to be received shortly and shareholders can look forward to strong news flow over the coming months.
The company is focused on adding further ounces and sees plenty of avenues to continue growing the Sandstone resource with numerous priority targets, as well as starting to target the significant potential at depth, which remains relatively untested.
The total mineral resource now delineated at Sandstone is a significant milestone for the company, that could not have been achieved without the hard work and dedication of our entire team and I would like to thank them all for their efforts.”
Alto also reports the unconstrained MRE for Sandstone is 23.5 million tonnes @ 1.4g/t Au for 1.046 million ounces of contained gold, using a 0.5g/t gold cut-off.
The company says the 214,000 ounces outside the optimised and pit shell constrained MRE highlights the potential for additional in-pit resource growth through refinement of optimisation parameters, an improving gold price, and further drilling.
Alto says this mineral resource update is a ‘significant’ increase in the total mineral resources at Sandstone and was achieved at an average discovery cost of $16 per ounce. This latest update provides ‘strong’ encouragement that Alto can continue to grow its resource inventory and progress its strategy to develop a standalone gold operation.
Additionally, the company reports ‘significant’ potential for both shallow and deeper ‘high-grade’ resource expansion remains, and it will continue to focus its exploration on the Alpha Domain as a priority. It also notes over 70% of the current mineral resources are less than 100m from surface, and 90% are defined within the top 150m from surface.
Drilling is continuing at Sandstone with the first phase of about 5,000m focusing on the Indomitable, Musketeer, Cessna, and Duke of Windsor targets. Alto plans to provide an update on the drill results in the coming weeks.
Alto Metals is an Australian advanced gold explorer focused on its flagship Sandstone Gold which covers 740km-square in the Archaean Sandstone Goldfield located about 600km north of Perth in Western Australia.
The Sandstone project consists of the Indomitable Camp, Vanguard Camp, Ladybird, Havilah, Lord Henry, Lord Nelson, Chance, Bulchina, Hacks, Oroya, Bull Oak, Tiger Moth, and Sandstone North targets.
Images: Alto Metals Ltd
