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Moving Towards First Production in Q2 2016 at Grants Patch Gold Tribute Project, Australia
Keras Resources, the AIM quoted resource development company, has confirmed that it has made progress at the Grants Patch Gold Tribute Project, located 30km north of Kalgoorlie in the prospective Western Australian goldfields. The Company believes it will commence initial production of c. 30,000 tonnes per month during Q2 2016, in line with expectations.
Highlights
· Production to commence from two shallow laterite gold pits
· Deposits modelled by the Company contain an estimated 164,000t at an average grade of 1.4g/t, containing 7,200oz Au
· No pre-strip required, with the two pits expected to provide 4 to 5 months of production feed
· Mine designs and environmental studies completed, enabling production to remain on schedule for Q2 2016
· Total historic resource estimates for the all deposits on tribute agreement ground is 5,741,155t at an average grade of 2g/t, containing 363,599oz Au
· Internal feasibility study in to the restart of mining at the Prince of Wales Underground Mine is progressing well. The mine has a historic resource estimate of 650,000t at an average grade of 10g/t, containing 209,000oz Au
Managing Director, Dave Reeves said, “I am pleased to report that the low cost activities required ahead of delivering production and cash flow from our Australian Gold Project during Q2 2016 are continuing at pace, on time and importantly on budget. Production will initially commence from two laterite pits that contain significant gold mineralisation and require no pre-stripping simplifying the start of production. The internal feasibility work on re-accessing the ultra-high grade Prince of Wales Mine is also progressing well and I look forward to updating shareholders on the Project as it progresses as it will form the backbone of future production within the tribute area.”
Keras’ initial mine development plan is to develop shallow laterite deposits to generate near-term cash flow. These deposits comprise of previously unmined at-surface deposits and previously mined pits with remnant mineralisation located below the pit floor. At the first two laterite gold pits, Accord and Anomaly 22, new estimates have been produced, mine designs finalised and environmental studies completed. This should allow mining to commence in Q2 2016.
In-house modelling of the surface laterite mineralisation has been completed for Anomaly 22 and Accord utilising, with limited validation of the historic database supplied by Norton Gold Fields. The modelling indicates a potential exploitable 94,350t at 1.39g/t Au, and 69,496t at 1.32g/t Au at Anomaly 22 and Accord, respectively. A small programme of confirmatory RC drilling will be completed prior to mining to finalise the mine plan. It is expected that these two pits will provide the first four to five months of mining for Keras. Modelling of Bent Tree, a remnant open pit, is on-going and will be announced when completed. Initial production will be targeting 30,000tpm during Q2 2016.
