Pantoro Ltd (ASX:PNR) is busy advancing production activities at OK Underground Mine of the Norseman Gold Project in Western Australia, completing the secondary egress rise and moving on to stoping ore extraction.
Read: Pantoro pours first gold at Norseman
Excavation from the Star of Erin 095 level has successfully maintained design width and good fragmentation.
PNR has already begun bogging or clearing away waste rock from the stop ahead of backfilling and excavation of the next production panel.
“It is very pleasing to see progress in both the underground and open pit mines at Norseman,” Pantoro managing director Paul Cmrlec said.
“While the project start-up has been difficult for a number of reasons, we remain very confident in the long-term value of the Norseman project.
“While it is still early days, the potential upside displayed in the development at OK is very encouraging, and we look forward to increasing production from the mine as more work areas become available in the coming months.”
High-grade development at Star of Erin
Pantoro’s development progress at Star of Erin has produced consistent and very high-grade ore, surpassing the company’s modelled expectations.
PNR says development east of the current ore reserve boundary has revealed “outstanding width and grade” consistently from the ore block and in the latest development cuts.
The company has yet to test vertical continuity of the ore zone but previous results suggest there is strong potential to grow the ore reserve in the Star of Erin as OK ore has been documented as being a highly nuggety ore body.
In other news, the processing plant is being operated at or near nameplate capacity, and improvement works are underway to further increase production capacity in the near term.
Pantoro expects to be in a position to declare commercial production during the June 2023 quarter, coinciding with a step change in available ore from Scotia in May and June 2023.