Commodities● Neutral
Pacgold finds shallow gold extensions, fast-tracks Vertigo restart
Shallow oxide hits on the Vertigo pit margins could cut pre-strip costs and advance gold production timelines, MD Matthew Boyes said.
Continue with
Pacgold (ASX:PGO) is planning to fast-track the restart of mining at the Vertigo deposit on its White Dam gold project east of Broken Hill in South Australia's Olary Province.
Drilling completed in March targeted an upgrade of the Inferred resource category – currently 75% of the resource – to Indicated on the Vertigo Pit 2020 MRE. The initial program of 178 holes for 10,526 metres turned up several intercepts of very shallow gold mineralisation on the northern and eastern margins of the historic open pit, material that had not been included in the MRE and could increase the resource size.
A follow-up program of 102 holes for 2,904 metres was completed in May and June to assess grade distribution and support inclusion in the updated MRE.
A review of historical geochemical, geophysical, drilling and structural data has identified under-explored corridors with potential for both near-surface oxide and deeper sulphide mineralisation adjacent to existing mines and prospects on the White Dam ML's, including Hannaford (200,000 ounces plus), Vertigo (100,000 ounces plus) and White Dam North (20,000 ounces plus).
"These excellent shallow oxide intervals represent a very material win for PGO in respect to fast tracking the restart of the Vertigo mine and getting shallow low-cost oxide dirt onto the old pad while extending the ore leaching capacity with the new pad expansion," MD Matthew Boyes said.