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NEWS

Novo rings in record production

by Fraser Palamara

ovo Resources Corp expects production from Beatons “We’re starting to prove people wrong now, we’re producing
NCreek to continue to grow after posting record output now, we produced 5,000oz and made a profit on site,” he
from the Pilbara-based operation in May. told GMJ.
A monthly record of 5,064oz gold under Novo ownership But the job isn’t done yet. The Pilbara’s gold mineralisation,
generated $11.5 million in revenue. Production is up more which was once described as a “cousin” to Witwatersrand by
than threefold since the company churned out first gold from Novo president Quinton Hennigh, fuels the ongoing curiosity
the former Millennium Minerals operation in February. of the team to keep digging.
Novo expects mill throughput will quickly increase to 1.8 “We’re still exploring,” Humphryson said. “There’s 3 boz
mtpa from the current 1.5 mtpa over the coming months and in the Witwatersrand. We don’t know how much is in the
achieve consistent recovery rates of 94.5%. Pilbara, we’re not saying it’s anywhere near that, we just
TSX-listed Novo also recently approved a new $12 million don’t know what we’ve got yet.”
exploration programme to fuel its growth ambitions around Like many of Novo’s supporters, Humphryson attributes
Nullagine. much of the company’s achievements to Hennigh.
Novo will soon be changing its mining approach with Ozland “Quinton Hennigh is arguably the world’s best gold geologist,
Drill and Blast Pty Ltd signing a two-year contract and joined at Novo by our general exploration manager Kas [De
expected to mobilise to site by the start of July. Luca],” he said.
The company took control of Beatons Creek and the Nullagine “Quinton used to work for Newmont [Corp]. Newmont had a
operations last year after Millennium entered administration team of people scouring the globe for the next Witwatersrand,
in 2019. The purchase was seen as a strategic boost to for conglomerate-style deposits.
Novo’s growing presence in the Pilbara. “But nobody has done any systematic work in the Pilbara [in
years]…but there’s been a few efforts.”
What specifically opened the door for Novo in the Pilbara
was Hennigh’s reputation in the industry, based on both his
resume and his character.
“Not only is Hennigh a brilliant geologist…everyone loves
him and people want him to go well,” Humphryson said.
“So, when people hear about these kinds of discoveries,
people ring him and say ‘get over here and look at this’.
“When he saw what he saw, he was like ‘this is it, this is
fantastic.”
Since then, Novo has been “putting the jigsaw together”.
“My tagline is that it’s flat, shallow and everywhere,”
Humphryson said of the nuggets.
“It’s not the sort of story where you can just sit back and get
10 drill rigs.”
Rob Humphryson Along with the unique mineralisation in the Pilbara, and Novo
being listed on the TSX rather than the ASX, Humphryson
Novo attracted both scepticism and hysteria upon its arrival seems to enjoy the company being labelled a dark horse –
in the region in late 2017 following the discovery of high- both for the opportunity to stand out and prove disbelievers
grade nugget gold mineralisation and its likeness to the wrong.
Witwatersrand basin in South Africa. In a matter of months, “This is the classic case of ‘you’ve got to believe it to see it,
the company gained more than 900% on the TSX at the time. and you’ve got to see it to believe it’,” he said.
Almost four years on, Novo chief executive Rob Humphryson “If you don’t believe the model [we used], people won’t look.
hopes the company’s list of achievements since has “I think we’ve proved a few doubters wrong with mining
converted the naysayers. Beatons Creek.”

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