Artemis Resources has received positive results from pit optimisations of its Weerianna gold project’s mineral Resource
The optimisation was done to potentially prioritise initial plant feed of Artemis’ Radio Hill Processing Plant at the rate of 50,000 tonnes per month for the first few months after its re-commissioning scheduled for June 2018.
Weerianna is located about 35 km north-east of Artemis’ Radio Hill Plant site.
The project is on a granted Mining Lease and has a current Inferred Mineral Resource classified and reported in compliance with the JORC Code (2012) of 1 Mt at 2.2 g/t Au for total contained metal of 70,000 ounces of Au. The current resource outcrops at surface and remains open at depth and along strike.
As announced last week, Artemis is reviewing all of its projects in the Karratha area to prioritise potential plant feed for the Radio Hill Plant in readiness for its recommissioning scheduled for June this year,” David Lenigas, Artemis’s Executive Chairman said.
“Current plans are to kick-off with a gold only strategy to commission the plant’s new gold circuit for a number of months.
“Weerianna, Silica Hills and the gold bearing conglomerates in the area are all currently being assessed. These results from Weerianna are positive and now allows us to move forward with seeking approvals from the authorities to have Weerianna ready for mining by the end of June.”
At a gold price of A$1,650/ounce the optimal pit shell, based on the maximum undiscounted operating cash flow were estimated and then potential haul roads were added, resulting in the generation of the West (45m depth) and East Stage 1 (30m depth) starter pits.
East (Stage 1) Pit includes 184,735 tonnes at a grade of 2.01 g/t gold at a strip ratio of 1.5:1; and North West Pit which includes 90,908 tonnes at a grade of 2.96 g/t Au at a strip ratio of 5.9:1.
A Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling programme is planned for Weerianna next month to infill drill the deposit and test for extensions of the mineralisation along strike and down dip.
Artemis is targeting an updated Mineral Resource before the end of June 2018. The company will now work on submitting a Mining Proposal and a Project Management Plan to the WA Department of Mines Regulations, Industry and Safety (DMIRS) to seek approval to mine Weerianna.
Shares in Artemis were last trading at 19c.