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Thalanga plant but things there haven’t started in January. By March 16, shares gold for the Bakers Creek stockpile,
run as smoothly. had fallen to 5c amid the coronavirus- handing it the opportunity to build a rapid
The December quarter saw production related sell-off. redevelopment case for Hillgrove.
shortfalls at the Far West underground “It is frustrating at times [to see the “For the first 12 months, we will be dig-
ramp-up but Palancian is confident the share price fall], but ultimately if we keep ging stockpiles and putting that through
troubles are behind Red River. delivering, we will see that value be- the plant,” Palancian said. “It is a quick,
Thalanga produced 3,781 dry metric ing realised in the share price. It is just cheap restart and hopefully we can be
tonne (DMT) of zinc concentrate, 876 a matter of time,” Palancian said. “The ready to go by October. In the next four
DMT lead concentrate and 1,560 DMT news out of the company is positive, so weeks we will put out a straightforward
copper concentrate in the December the rest will follow. In fact, the growth part restart plan, based around making gold
quarter, with Red River citing ramp-up of the business is the best it’s ever been.” doré through a concentrate.
delays in mining operations at the Far That growth story includes the Hill- “From there we have got an existing
West underground mine as the reason grove project in New South Wales. resource and stopes which are ready to
for missing 30-40,000 tpm production Acquired in August 2019 for $4 mil- be mined. Then, we have lots of targets
forecasts. lion in shares, Hillgrove already boasts a which remain undrilled and extensional
Palancian said the company was work- 250,000 tpa plant, surface infrastructure, targets from the existing orebody.”
ing with contractor Pybar to overcome underground development and mining The recent Australian gold price surge
the production shortfalls. fleet as well as a 2.8mt @ 5.1 g/t gold and has undoubtedly piqued Red River’s in-
“There were hiccups in the last quar- 1.7% antimony 2012 JORC-compliant re- terest in Hillgrove and Palancian is eager
ter, but we are seeing improvements this source (with a further 3.93mt @ 4.7 g/t to ensure the company doesn’t miss its
quarter,” he said. “There were produc- gold and 1.3% antimony in 2004 JORC- opportunity.
tivity issues in October and November compliant resources). “Our focus is on gold, previous compa-
which delayed ramp-up of Far West. I’m Palancian said since “getting the keys” nies’ focused on antimony, but Hillgrove
still not completely happy, but that is my to Hillgrove, the company had found fur- has always been successful when it is
nature, and this quarter has been better ther opportunities to improve Hillgrove’s focused on gold,” he said.
than last.” economics. “There won’t be a full feasibility study;
In February, Red River announced “There were a few things we have a that would cost more than the restart. We
record monthly copper concentrate pro- hunch on but didn’t have the info,” he are aiming for a very simple, gravity gold
duction of 860t and monthly increases in said. “Since we moved in, we have been scenario.”
zinc and lead production. Total monthly focused on the Bakers Creek stockpile. – Dominic Piper
ore mined at Far West was 26,322t in We have done some met testwork and it
January, up from 22,756t in December looks like having a lot of free gold at good
and 11,000t in October. grades.”
The improved January figures failed On February 28, the company pro-
to find a receptive market audience with duced a maiden inferred re- Underground mining rates at
Red River shares continuing a drift which source of 225,000t @ 2.5 g/t Thalanga have rebounded after a
poor December quarter

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