Updated Gold Resource and Reserve Estimates at Meekatharra Project
- New Bluebird Reserve of 1,410,000t @ 1.92g/t for 87,000oz represents base load feed for first year’s planned gold production;
- Resource/Reserve extension drilling planned for landbridge between Bluebird and South Junction Pits and infill drilling of Inferred Resources within the current pit shell;
- New Rand Resource completed by Snowden has 10% higher grade and increases contained ounces 23% to 233,000oz;
- Re-modelling of Prohibition, Surprise, South Emu and Whangamata are well advanced.
- Resource definition drilling planned for Yaloginda and Paddy’s Flat as part of a near-mine expansion project;
Australian diversified resources company Reed Resources Ltd (ASX: RDR) (the “Company” or “Reed”), is pleased to announce an update of its evaluation to resume operations at the recently acquired Meekatharra Gold Project, Western Australia.
A new Probable Ore Reserve at Bluebird, adjacent to the processing plant at Yaloginda, and new Mineral Resource estimate at the Rand deposit in the Reedy area, continue the success of the Company’s systematic re-estimation and optimisation of resources at the historical mining centres using current economic and operational parameters. The focus, driven by economics, is to build a lower tonnage but higher grade resource and reserve base by applying better defined geological constraints to the mineralisation and delineate a more selective resource.
Managing Director, Mr Christopher Reed said, “As expected the remodelling of these orebodies continue to deliver either additional ore or higher grade ore, be it in resources or reserves. Bluebird has now reached a point where we have an optimised sole-source ore body to span a 12 month production profile in the mill which is a quantum step toward de-risking the Project.”
BluebirdOreReserve
The Bluebird Ore Reserve was estimated using current economic parameters to more accurately reflect increases in operating costs and gold prices. Although the Probable Ore Reserve is almost identical to the previous estimate (Tables 1,2 of the ASX announcement) there are still potential gains to be made. Resource extension/definition drilling of the landbridge between the South Junction pit and the southern end of the Bluebird pit will test for mineralisation that could potentially see the two pits combined. The optimisation process has identified areas of inferred resources within the current pit shell, these will be infill drilled with the aim of upgrading the resource classification to Indicated and potentially converted into reserves.
A definitive pit design will be created from which an underground feasibility can commence. There is currently no underground mining plan into the Bluebird ore body (Figure 2 of the ASX announcement). It is expected to commence this work in the next 3 months. Tables 1 and 2 of the ASX announcement compare the historical and new Mining Reserve.
Rand Mineral Resource Estimate
The previous Resource estimate for the Rand deposit (undertaken by Cube in 2005) has been re-calculated and reclassified. The geological interpretation and modelling was completed internally, with the grade estimation and Mineral Resource classification completed by Snowden Mining Industry Consultants. The interpretation is based upon the known geology that was encountered in the pits and on reports written on the structural nature of the ore body, using a nominal cut-off of 0.5 g/t Au. This has resulted in a 10% increase in grade and 17% increase in tonnes, and added some 53,000 additional ounces of gold (see Tables 3,4 of the ASX announcement).
Previous drilling at Rand focussed on 50m beneath the existing workings and there is a lack of drilling beneath this depth, ie beneath the Indicated Resource outline (Figure 2 of the ASX announcement). An area at the north end of the Rand pit has not been assigned to an Indicated Resource category as the primary source of data is from Rotary Air Blast (RAB) drilling. This, area is targeted for infill drilling to raise the Resource category. The March 2011 Rand Mineral Resource has been depleted for previous open-pit mining. Approximately 15% of the Inferred Resource is considered to be extrapolated due to the sparse data at depth in the northern portion of the Rand mineralisation (Figure 2 of the ASX announcement).
Forward work – Resource Evaluation
The geological and engineering team are continuing to progress the other resource areas ahead of the planned timeframe. Resource modelling of the larger deposits (Prohibition at Paddys Flat, and Surprise at Bluebird) are well advanced.
Drilling to compliment the resources is being systematically planned and it is the intention to commence drilling as soon as a project ranking framework has been completed to ensure prioritisation of the highest yield targets. This will include a mix of targets from initial greenfields exploration through to resource expansion.
Project Timeline and Progress
Metallurgical, geotechnical and hydrological reviews are ongoing as the various ore sources and potential mining areas are evaluated. An electrical engineering review of the diesel power facility is under way and with various options being evaluated for either a refurbishment or replacement with diesel/gas powered facility. The accommodation village has been audited and options are being reviewed to upgrade the facility to modern standards.
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