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Big plans for Bengwenyama

outhern Palladium Ltd has begun source from the company’s 134-201mt ex- many of the main barriers to entry had
Sdrilling its expansive exploration foot- ploration target will form the basis of Phase been lowered.
print in South Africa’s Bushveld Complex 2. “If you look at downstream beneficia-
which managing director Johan Odendaal Speaking at Africa Down Under, tion, the hurdles to entry for the platinum
unashamedly compares in size to the Odendaal illustrated the extent of South- industry is high and we’ve got it all in South
Kalgoorlie Super Pit. ern Palladium’s property in the Bushveld Africa, it’s not that we have to go a long dis-
Phase 1 drilling at the Bengwenyama Complex, comparing it to Australia’s most tance to get out our product smelted and
project kicked off in August after the com- famous gold mine. refined,” he said.
pany listed on both the ASX and JSE in the “Our exploration footprint is the same “Currently, all the concentrate from the
preceding months. Up to 25,000m will be size as the Kalgoorlie Super Pit, which Eastern Limb goes to the Western Limb
completed over the next 10-12 months, fo- gives you an idea of the size of this ore- smelters near Rustenburg and that can get
cused mainly on converting the existing 19 body,” he said. refined in Johannesburg, although there
moz inferred resource to indicated status. “What’s so unique about the Bushveld are also some refiners in Rustenburg.”
Further drilling to deliver an inferred re- Complex and these orebodies is that it’s a Odendaal also highlighted the strong
tabular orebody. It runs consistently from relationship his company shares with the
the east to the west. It’s not that we have Bengwenyama community which holds a
to go and find platinum, we know it’s there, 9.3% share in Southern Palladium via Nuri-
we just have to go and firm it up. nox Investments Pty Ltd, as well as 30%
“If you want to be in platinum, South Af- of prospecting right holder Miracle Upon
rica is still the place to be.” Miracle (MUM) Pty Ltd.
Three drill rigs were turning at Beng- “If we can develop this project in a safe
wenyama last month, with another two rigs and healthy environment, it will all benefit
expected on site in due course to fast-track us,” he said. “The community is an impor-
exploration. tant partner, not just a BEE partner but a
While Southern Palladium is some years very important partner in this project.”
away from starting production, Odendaal – Michael Washbourne
said the availability of third-party smelting
facilities in the Bushveld Complex meant
Johan Odendaal

Chesser moves into place

t’s all eyes on the Karakara target at August included 1m @ 12.1 g/t gold from “We think this will deliver significantly
IChesser Resources Ltd’s Diamba Sud 80m, 14m @ 2 g/t from 114m, and 11.45m to our resource inventory but should also
gold project in Senegal as the company @ 7.2 g/t gold from 84.55m. have a lower strip ratio than the Area A pit
looks to hurdle the 1 moz goal line with an “We’ve got all the final results now, we and probably a slightly higher grade than
upgraded resource estimate. can start the resource estimation on this,” what we’re seeing in the resource, so it
“We’re growing the resource and put- Grove said. “We’ve defined mineralisation should uplift that value we see in a future
ting ourselves into position to build the next over 250m, these high-grade zones in the mine development.”
mine in Senegal,” Chesser managing di- area seem to be about 200-300m long. Across the border in Mali are Bar-
rector Andrew Grove said at Africa Down rick Gold Corp’s Loulo mine (12.5 moz)
Under. “We’ve got a baseline of resources, and Gounkoto mine (5.5 moz), as well as
importantly, we believe that’s going to grow B2Gold Corp’s Fekola mine.
to beyond 1 moz this year. Drill success at Diamba Sud has so far
“The development metrics, as proven by capitalised on near-surface mineralisa-
our scoping study, show a very high-value, tion and Grove is curious to test further at
technically simple, robust project. The val- depth.
ue is going to improve significantly as we “What we’ve done [at Diamba Sud] is
add more ounces and we’re on the road to find the near-surface mineralisation as
an investment decision.” indicated by the geochemistry,” he ex-
The March scoping study at Diamba plained. “What we haven’t done, and what
Sud outlined a 7.5-year mine life, post-tax Barrick haven’t done to the east of us, is
NPV of $US301 million and IRR of 59% understand the system well enough to
with AISC of $US820/oz. The study was target effectively repeats at depth. There
based on the November maiden resource must be mineralisation at depth.”
of 781,000oz @ 1.6 g/t gold. Diamba Sud’s FID is expected by mid-
An estimate at Karakara is expected by 2024.
the end of this year to join the Area A and
Area D deposits and bring Diamba Sud to – Fraser Palamara
1 moz gold.
Drill results from Karakara at the end of
Andrew Grove

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT OCTOBeR 2022 Page 67