Gascoyne Resources (ASX:GCY) is reporting its interim 2022 Ore Reserve Statement, which outlines the company continues to beat the odds, delivering ounces at a much ‘higher grade’ than ever before.
The update is an interim reflection of exploration and resource definition activities at the Gilbey’s North – Never Never deposits, which remain in progress and continue to evolve at a rapid pace.
Further updates to the Ore Reserve are expected over the next 6-12 months as Mineral Resource Estimates (MREs) for Gilbey’s North – Never Never are updated as new information progressively comes to hand.
Following the completion of its updated MREs, the company has now completed an interim update to its Ore Reserves. Ore Reserves for the company now stand at 2.04Mt at 1.10g/t Au for 72,100 ounces of gold. All Ore Reserves are at the Dalgaranga Gold Project.
No Ore Reserves have been determined for the Melville and Applecross Gold deposits at the Yalgoo Gold Project, nor for the Glenburgh or Egerton Gold projects.
For both the Gilbey’s North – Never Never deposits, and the Gilbey’s Complex deposits, a cut-off grade of 0.5g/t Au (diluted) has been applied.
Gascoyne Resources Managing Director and CEO Simon Lawson said: “We have taken some important and very positive forward steps within Gascoyne during 2022. Our debt is gone, we have rigs spinning and making high-grade discoveries right in front of the mill, and we have ensured that our operation – as well as our team – is lean, agile, and efficient.
“We have beaten some serious odds to get to this point, made some smart plans, and we are now executing those plans”
We have beaten some serious odds to get to this point, made some smart plans, and we are now executing those plans – but we still have some challenges to face. The biggest challenge – the real secret to the new Gascoyne – is to increase the head grade of material going into the Dalgaranga process plant.
Not the easiest task and, as many geologists will tell you, the hardest aspect of any mining operation to improve is the head grade going into the mill.
To achieve and maintain a higher average grade ore feed within the Dalgaranga Greenstone Belt is to essentially rewrite the geological model and find better grade than has ever been found before. We have taken some key steps towards realising this objective and, with the recent Never Never discovery, we have a real opportunity to transform the future of the operation.
Our reserves might be small right now, but grade is king, and we are focusing on delivering ounces at a much higher grade than ever before.”
The Ore Reserve estimate for the Gilbey’s Complex (Gilbey’s Main, Gilbey’s East, Gilbey’s South, Sly Fox and Plymouth) deposits and the Gilbey’s North – Never Never deposits has been estimated by Neil S. Rauert, F. AusIMM, who acts as the competent person under the JORC 2012 Code. Mr Rauert is a full-time employee of Gascoyne.
The Ore Reserve estimate has been constrained within final pit designs based on A$2,500/oz optimised pit shells. The updated estimate for the Gilbey’s Complex has been depleted for mining as of 30 June 2022. Mining has yet to start at the Gilbey’s North – Never Never deposits.
Mining at Dalgaranga has been conducted by Gascoyne since early 2018. All mining to date, and for the 2022 Ore Reserve update, is conventional open pit mining. Geotechnical parameters for the Gilbey’s North – Never Never deposits are predominantly based on geotechnical parameters of the Gilbey’s Complex deposits which are adjacent to the Gilbey’s North – Never Never deposits.
Gascoyne is a debt-free Australian gold producer which operates the 100%-owned Dalgaranga Gold Mine, located in the Murchison region of Western Australia. The operation is underpinned by a modern, 2.5Mtpa CIL gold processing plant which represents a strategic asset in the district.
Dalgaranga produced more than 71,000oz of gold in the 2022 financial year.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Gascoyne Resources Limited
