Pacgold (ASX:PGO) is aiming for up to 250,000 tonnes of gold ore to be under cyanide irrigation by mid-January 2026 from the White Dam Gold Project, located 80km west of Broken Hill in South Australia.
The company has returned 250,000 tonnes of original run of mine (ROM) ore on the first lift of the existing heap leach dump, with irrigation to utilise the relined pregnant leach solution pond, which was recently approved, using operational processing infrastructure on site.
Leaching is expected to be complete with ore processed in five to six weeks, in order to validate future recovery rates of gold remaining in pad.
Pacgold is continuing to work towards a full re-crush of the final lift of the pad, with equipment intended to be mobilised within Q1 2026. Drilling will restart on the existing resources and near mine targets, expected to be complete in May-June 2026.
Managing Director Matthew Boyes says beginning heap leach irrigation is a “major milestone” for Pacgold as it transitions from acquisition to production.
“We are all very keen to see how this first batch of material reacts to aeration and being turned over,” Boyes says.
“This exercise should be viewed as a large-scale metallurgical test work program, results of which we anticipate will demonstrate the potential to extract significant value from the 7.5 million tonnes of existing ROM ore on the leach pad over the coming months.
“With cyanide irrigation now underway and up to 250,000 tonnes of ROM ore expected to be under leach by mid-January, we are on track for imminent gold production and the generation of initial cash flow.
“This is a significant low cost and low-risk step in unlocking near-term value from White Dam and strengthening the company’s financial position in the current high gold price environment.”
Pacgold is advancing exploration targets, with a focus on the St George Gold-Antimony Project and Alice River Gold Project in Queensland.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: Pacgold
