Page 44 - pd297-Sept21-mag-web

DIGGeRs & DeALeRs ReVIeW
ASX: MLG

Enough room for two kings

t seems there is enough room at the top of ground mine life past its current five years,”
Ithe hill for two kings after all, as Red 5 Ltd he said.
managing director Mark Williams revealed “The underground, once in operation, will
a number of initiatives to boost mine life and add about 50,000 ozpa where we’ve only
throughput at both of its King of the Hills scratched the surface. Every time we drill a
(KoTH) and Darlot gold plays. hole into this unique orebody, we find more
Williams highlighted the fact that it was gold.
only 12 months since Red 5 completed “Potentially, if the mineralisation extends
feasibility studies for KoTH, but the ideas across the whole of the potential, our chil-
keep flowing to enhance a project which dren will be mining this.”
is scheduled for first gold pour in the June Meanwhile, the Red 5 presentation
quarter of next year. showed just as much love for its other mine,
“We’re looking to increase the open pit Darlot, with a plan to collaborate the two
mine plan from 4 mtpa northward, so we’re projects for no extra cost.
looking at a 5 mtpa or 6 mtpa mining sched- “Today we announced two initiatives to
ule,” Williams said. “To take advantage of breathe new life into Darlot,” Williams said.
that, we’ve already made the decision to go “We’ve taken the decision to truck the ore
from 140t class trucks to 190t class trucks.” from Darlot to our KoTH process plant. Mark Williams
These planned enhancements build “A study confirms that with no additional
upon a significant mining history at KoTH capital, our processing plant at KoTH can Construction at KoTH starts in October
which has previously seen 2 moz depleted take the 700,000t of ore from Darlot on an and Red 5 anticipates a processing cost
via both open pit and underground. annual basis together without any issues to under $12/t during production.
Williams and his team continue to find ramp up smoothly.” “The project is on track and on time and
themselves excited by the potential un- Red 5 has also engaged with Redpath will be one of the great projects of this dec-
derground at KoTH, adding to the mine’s Mining Contractors and Engineers on a ade,” Williams said.
brownfield history and abundant historical 12-month basis to advance Darlot’s under-
data. ground development in fast-tracking ac- – Fraser Palamara
“We’re looking to progress the under- cess to the 1.3 moz of mine inventory.

Westgold rings a big bell

he absence of mining icon Peter Cook At the front of the development queue is to produce more than 900,000t in the cur-
Tfrom the Diggers & Dealers stage took the Reedy’s mining centre, where Westgold rent year. This long-term plan is underway.”
some adjusting to, but chief executive Deb- has earmarked new extensions from the Fullarton revealed that shallow drilling
bie Fullarton’s appearance did little to stem South Emu-Triton mine. conducted at Big Bell had identified a num-
enthusiasm for the Westgold Resources Ltd “The key focus continues to be the Triton ber of additional resources with “mine ready”
story. mine itself, which produced 228,000oz at plans.
Fullarton revealed a pipeline of growth just under 10 g/t before closing in the 1940s,” “Looking across the strike, we see [tar-
in exploration and production, including an Fullarton said. “We have drilled down-plunge gets] which extend the portfolio,” she said.
increase of gold output from its Murchison of this with excellent results…the picture is “The deeper drilling and development focus
portfolio to 270,000oz in FY2022. getting bigger as we extend our focus across on Big Bell stands out like a beacon.
2km of strike. “Our review of the lodes also shows pre-
“The historic drilling and new…opens up sent potential for independent mining op-
a potential for the mine to get bigger and po- tions, so the big picture here begins to un-
tentially produce a lot more. We will be pro- ravel. Big Bell’s resurrection has been such
gressing this strategy over the ensuing year.” a monumental task for the group.”
Standing out as the most exciting pros- Reflecting on Westgold’s four years of re-
pect in Westgold’s presentation, was the development and restarts, Fullarton said the
progress of the Big Bell mine in Cue. company was now generating a strong cash
Fullarton described the reestablishment flow and fully focused on present growth.
of Big Bell as the company’s “single largest “We are really upping the ante with fund-
mine development”. ing commitments for us to find more virgin
“[Developments at Big Bell] are occurring ore in our ground and hopefully another ma-
this week as we speak,” she said. jor mine,” she said.
“Big Bell continues to ramp up which is “We are playing the long game here.”
much easier now with more than 10 produc-
tion fronts open at any one time. We expect – Fraser Palamara
Debbie Fullarton

Page 44 SePTeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT