New Murchison Gold (ASX:NMG) has increased the total mineral resource estimate by 16% for the Crown Prince deposit, as part of the Garden Gully Gold Project in Western Australia.
The updated MRE contains 2.2 million tonnes at 3.6 grams per tonne gold for 279,000 ounces. In February 2024, the deposit’s MRE contained 1.83Mt at 4.1g/t gold for 240,000oz.
New Murchison, which has a market capitalisation of $66.48 million, says the updated MRE represents a 39% increase in the indicated classification estimate to 226,000 ounces at 4.6g/t gold.
The company is planning to use the indicated category portion of the MRE to underpin an open pit ore reserve in the short term.
CEO Alex Passmore says with increased drill density, the understanding of the Crown Prince deposit is at a “strong” confidence level with 81% of the ounces now reported to the indicated category.
“Pleasingly, the average ounce per vertical metre endowment sits at 1,538 within key areas of our conceptual open pit development,” Passmore says.
“This resource underpins the detailed Feasibility Study work which is well advanced to confirm the mining, metallurgical, geotechnical, economic, and environmental parameters to develop the Crown Prince Gold Project.
“Initial economic optimisation modelling of the Crown Prince resource confirms that there is sufficient grade and tonnage to sustain an open pit mining operation.”
Further, New Murchison says it sees the upside to the current resource in the link zone between the Main Zone and Southeastern Zone and also at depth. These zones will be drilled in 2025.
The company is also advancing Feasibility Study work including metallurgical testwork, geotechnical testwork, pit optimisation studies, and mine planning.
Future mining operation infrastructure surveys and environmental studies will be released in due course.
The Garden Gully Project comprises 677km2 of tenure covering the Abbotts Greenstone Belt. The project has multiple gold prospects along the belt with the most advanced being Crown Prince.
New Murchison Gold, formerly known as Ora Gold, had undergone a name change recently, to reflect its continued focus on the Murchison gold district and its commitment to advancing Western Australian projects.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: New Murchison Gold
