Barra Resources Limited (ASX: BAR) has announced a maiden Inferred Mineral Resource of approximately 20,400 Oz at 1.76 g/t gold for the Burbanks North Trend at its Burbanks Gold Project in Western Australia.
The company reported that the Total Mineral Resources at Burbanks has now increased by a further 16% to 145,700 Oz.
BAR said that shallow oxide resources amenable to open-pit mining have been added to the resource base. The company noted that the Mineral Resource Estimate overlies largely untested depth potential along Burbanks North Trend.
Barra announced that a mining study has been launched to assess potential development pathway for the Burbanks Project ahead of further drilling campaigns.
Burbanks gold project
The Burbanks Project is located 9km southeast of Coolgardie, Western Australia. The Project includes the Burbanks Mining Centre and over 5km of the highly prospective Burbanks Shear Zone.
The Burbanks Mining Centre comprises the Birthday Gift and Main Lode Gold Mines and several open pits that are currently in care and maintenance.
MRE for Burbanks North Trend
The Burbanks North Trend is located just 700m north of the Company’s Burbanks Mining Centre.
Barra said that it had engaged BM Geological Services (BMGS) to complete a Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Burbanks North Trend.
The Burbanks North MRE was based on 188 Air Core (AC), 143 Reverse Circulation (RC) and 3 Diamond Core (DD) drill hole data provided to BMGS by Barra to create-dimensional (3D) mineralisation wireframes and weathering surfaces.
The database used for the MRE contained a total of 649 drill holes, along with 15,655 samples. Drilling by Barra included RC and AC drilling only between 2008 and 2019. No RAB drilling was used for this MRE.
The maiden MRE for Burbanks North has now been made available.
Maiden MRE announced for Burbanks North
The company has reported that the July 2019 MRE for Burbanks North Trend contains 359,998 tonnes at 1.76 g/t Au for 20,359 ounces gold at a 1.0 g/t lower cut-off.
Barra reported that The MRE, classified as Inferred is defined between 6750N and 7700N (local grid) and from surface to the 270mRL, a vertical depth of approximately 90m below surface, and prepared as a potential open-pit resource.
Global Mineral Resource increased
The company reported that the maiden MRE for Burbanks North has resulted in an additional 16% of Mineral Resources to its Global Mineral Resource, which now stands at 145,700 Oz.
BAR said that this represents just over a quarter of the upper limit of the Company’s previously announced Exploration Target.
Mining study for restarting mining operations
Barra reported that it has commissioned Snowden Mining Consultants to conduct a desktop mining study to consider a near-term restart in mining operations.
This move was done in light of the increased resource base at Burbanks and recent increases in gold prices above A$2,000 per ounce.
The company said that the study will consider the potential for open pit mining at Burbanks North; and the potential to access the shallow Mineral Resource discovered at Main Lode during 2018, potentially via an underground development launched from the adjacent Christmas open pit.
The study will also consider the Remnant Mineral Resources at Birthday Gift in the Hadfield and Dahmu lodes at level 4 and above that was accessed and developed by Kidman Resources, but never mined; toll treatment at one of several nearby mills; and dewatering solutions and ongoing reserve definition drilling, to enable future development at deeper levels.
Future plans
Barra said that the results of the mining study are expected during the current quarter.
The company reported that even though further detailed studies and reserve definition drilling would be required, a rapid restart in mining operations could happen at Burbanks. This is because it has the advantage of being a granted mining lease with some approvals already in place.
Barra noted that there are many outstanding drill targets and scope to add significantly more resources.
The company said that the 500m of untested strike along the Burbanks Shear between the northern limit of the Main Lode Deposit and the southern limit of Burbanks North Deposit has emerged as a high priority area for follow up testing.
The company also noted that the entire Burbanks high-grade gold system has only been tested to shallow depths, below which it remains open.
Management comments
Barra’s Managing Director and CEO Sean Gregory said: “Barra’s commitment to its gold strategy to grow the Mineral Resources at Burbanks is delivering results.
With gold now trading above A$2,000 per ounce and with Burbanks status as a granted mining lease, Barra now has an outstanding opportunity to consider mining options for this historically productive high-grade gold mining centre.”
