De Grey Mining (ASX: DEG) has obtained promising infill grade control drilling results from the Brolga deposit at the Hemi Gold Project in Western Australia.
The drilling was conducted as part of an Operational Readiness program at Hemi. The drilling was not required for Project financing. However, the results are expected to provide continued confidence to debt providers as to the quality and consistency of the mineralisation of Brolga deposit and Hemi more broadly.
Mining and processing at Hemi are scheduled to commence with the Brolga Stage 1 (starter) pit. This infill grade control drilling covers the first 12 months of ore production from Brolga.
Ore production from Brolga is a key factor in the payback period of the Project of less than two years as outlined in the Hemi DFS. The Brolga Stage 1 pit contains a Probable Reserve of 26.9Mtz @ 1.64g/t Au for 1.42Moz of contained gold and has a strip ratio of 2.4:1 (waste:ore), including the pre-stripping of unmineralised transported sediments.
Current drilling within the Brolga deposit is spaced at 40m x 40m.
The infill program comprised nine diamond and 130 RC holes corresponding to the first year of ore production at Brolga. This increased the drill hole density to 20m spaced lines and 40m spaced collars. A smaller zone (100m x 120m in area) at Brolga has been drilled to a closer spacing of 20m x 20m (Figure 2) for geostatistical purposes. Assay results for the diamond holes and approximately 60% of the RC holes have been received and are reported in this release.
The first 12 months of ore production from Brolga will progress through the full regolith profile. The increased understanding of the orebody regolith profiles, metallurgical characteristics and domain variability during this period will also be utilised for detailed mine run-of-mine (ROM) stockpile design and operation.
“It is great to see these solid intercepts returned from the infill grade control drilling at Brolga. While not surprising considering the results of previous drilling, it confirms the quality of the Brolga orebody,” General Manager Exploration, Phil Tornatora, said.
“Many of these holes intersect wide, continuous zones of mineralisation directly beneath the transported cover, where ore production will commence. This drilling continues our strategy of building operational readiness across the business as we await final environmental approvals and a final investment decision for Hemi.”