Teal Stage 2 and Stage 3 Feasibility Studies Commence
Perth, Aug 1, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Intermin Resources Limited (
ASX:IRC) ("Intermin" or the "Company") announces the commencement of Feasibility Studies for two further mining stages at the 100% owned Teal Gold Mine, located 11km north west of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in Western Australia.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Teal Stage 1 delivering on expectations with grade and recovery above plan to date
- Resource model review, grade control drilling and mill reconciliation has improved geological confidence and identified additional ore outside the current mine design
- Current Mineral Resource (JORC 2012) at Teal totals 104,400 ounces with 15,000 - 16,000 ounces expected to be mined from Stage 1
- Free milling oxide and transitional material within the Measured and Indicated Resource Categories excluding Teal Stage 1 currently totals approximately 7,600 ounces
- The Stage 2 Study will assess the economic viability of a cut back to expose the oxide ore within the current Resource on the Eastern side of the pit
- The Stage 3 Study will evaluate a larger pit expansion up to 200m along strike to the south with additional infill drilling planned to commence next week
- Completion of the fully funded studies for Teal Stages 2 and 3 is expected in the September and December Quarters respectively
Commenting on the success of Teal, Intermin's Managing Director, Mr Jon Price said:
"The potential for further stages of the Teal gold mine have always been a part of our future mining project pipeline and the excellent performance of Teal Stage 1 to date has provided additional confidence to move forward with the Stage 2 and Stage 3 Feasibility Studies.
"With Stage 1 completion expected in October, the aim is to focus on a relatively low cost cutback of the eastern pit wall to enable mining at Teal to continue uninterrupted as we assess a potential Stage 3 at Teal and the Goongarrie Lady Feasibility Study by December this year."
The Current Mineral Resource (JORC 2012) is shown in Table 1 in link below.
Mining of the Teal Stage 1 open pit commenced in late 2016 and is scheduled to be complete in October 2017 after recovering 15-16koz gold from oxide ore with minor transitional material. To date, mine to mill reconciliation has been in line with the predicted models and recent close spaced grade control drilling that has provided the Company with additional confidence to convert Resources to Reserve.
STAGE 2 FEASIBILITY STUDY
The grade control information from Teal Stage 1 when combined with adjacent Resource data, shows clear extensions to the flat lying supergene gold blanket to the east of the current pit design. The remaining ore and immediately adjoining Resources to the east have potential to be contained within an economic Stage 2 cutback (Figures 1 and 3). The mineralisation is a high-grade, flat lying zone up to 20m wide and occurs continuously for 200m along strike.
Preliminary technical and economic assessments have demonstrated that up to 5,000 ounces from within the current Teal Resource of predominantly oxide material is contained in this zone.
The Company is completing a Feasibility Study for the Stage 2 cut back and an investment decision is expected in the September Quarter. No further Resource infill drilling is anticipated for this zone however grade control reverse circulation ("RC") drilling will be required as part of normal mining operations.
STAGE 3 FEASIBILITY STUDY
In relation to a potential Stage 3 development, the Teal Resource is known to extend south along strike and to vertical depths of >250m from the Teal Stage 1 pit. Flat lying supergene mineralisation very similar in form and thickness to material currently being mined has been identified directly south of the current Teal pit.
An RC drill program comprising 18 holes for ~1,200m will commence in August to infill known mineralisation, test its continuity and free milling metallurgical properties (Figure 4). The results of the drilling will enable an updated Resource Model to be compiled and an updated mine optimisation and design to be completed.
If an economic southern cutback can be demonstrated, work will commence on related mine approval activities with completion expected in the December Quarter.
To view tables and figures, please visit:
http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/F6K35KU7
About Horizon Minerals Limited
Horizon Minerals Limited (ASX:HRZ) is a gold exploration and mining company focussed on the Kalgoorlie and Menzies areas of Western Australia which are host to some of Australia's richest gold deposits. The Company is developing a mining pipeline of projects to generate cash and self-fund aggressive exploration, mine developments and further acquisitions. The Teal gold mine has been recently completed.
Horizon is aiming to significantly grow its JORC-Compliant Mineral Resources, complete definitive feasibility studies on core high grade open cut and underground projects and build a sustainable development pipeline.
Horizon has a number of joint ventures in place across multiple commodities and regions of Australia providing exposure to Vanadium, Copper, PGE's, Gold and Nickel/Cobalt. Our quality joint venture partners are earning in to our project areas by spending over $20 million over 5 years enabling focus on the gold business while maintaining upside leverage.
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