ASX-listed copper-gold explorer Xanadu Mines (ASX:XAM) has begun a 30,000m infill diamond drill program to support a Prefeasibility Study (PFS) at the Kharmagtai Copper-Gold Project in Mongolia.
A key objective of the drill program is to upgrade the current open-pit mineral resource areas to at least indicated classification, and to inform the geometallurgical and geotechnical models needed to complete the PFS, along with supporting the delivery of a Maiden Ore Reserve Estimate for the project.
The company reports 4 diamond drill rigs are currently in operation at Kharmagtai targeting areas with potential for future mineral resource to ore reserve conversion.
Commenting on the drill program, Xanadu Mines Executive Chairman and Managing Director, Colin Moorhead says: “The Kharmagtai Joint Venture is off to a flying start with infill and exploration diamond drilling well underway, targeting infill, near mine extension, and discovery exploration.
We have 4 rigs executing about 30,000m of diamond drilling designed to upgrade, improve, and grow the large Kharmagtai open-pit resource, supporting delivery of our PFS and a Maiden Ore Reserve.
“It will define key enablers including power, water, and infrastructure, and it will provide a single go-forward business case”
The PFS is scheduled for completion during H2 2024. This study will incorporate deposit knowledge models and will test our significant upside opportunities, including but not limited to oxide processing, coarse particle flotation, bulk ore sorting, and electrical haulage. It will define key enablers including power, water, and infrastructure, and it will provide a single go-forward business case.
Importantly, Kharmagtai still has significant new discovery potential, and we continue to explore with one diamond drill rig testing shallow higher grade targets and potential high-grade resource extensions at depth as part of our ongoing exploration discovery strategy.”
The company says ‘high-grade’ mineralisation at Kharmagtai outcrops at surface with the potential to establish multiple open pits which could lead to underground development in the future through further drilling.
Xanadu reports an upgraded resource is expected to be released in Q4 2023 once all assays have been received and resource modelling has been completed. The indicated resource will enable the company to start economic studies, supplemented by the subsequent PFS scheduled for completion in Q4 2024.
Xanadu Mines is an ASX-listed copper-gold exploration company focused on the Kharmagtai Project in Mongolia. Kharmagtai is in the Omnogovi Province about 420km southeast of Mongolia’s capital city Ulaanbaatar.
Images: Xanadu Mines Ltd
