Greatland Gold has welcomed the reserve estimate published today by Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM, TSX:NGT, ASX:NEM, ETR:NMM), its joint venture partner in the Havieron gold-copper project, which it said closely matched its figure for indicated resources.
Variances in the inferred mineral resource category largely reflect differences between the reporting criteria under JORC Australian reporting standards, which Greatland uses, and the US code under which Newmont reports.
Newmont's indicated mineral resource equates to contained gold equivalent metal of 4.9Moz, a 35% increase on the indicated mineral resource published in June 2023 and 3% lower than Greatland’s 5m oz estimate.
Newmont's inferred estimate is 900,000 oz compared to 3.4m oz estimated by Greatland at the end of 2023.
Greatland was responding after Newmont said it has put its 70% stake in Havieron up for sale along with its nearby Telfer Mine.
Sean Day, Greatland’s managing director, added: "We welcome Newmont's update to the Havieron Mineral Resource today, which increases Newcrest's previous estimate for the Indicated Mineral Resource category by approximately 35% in terms of gold equivalent content, bringing it into line with Greatland's latest estimate.
“The increased Indicated Mineral Resource can now support an Ore Reserve estimate update as part of the Feasibility Study which is ongoing."
"We consider the close correlation to Greatland's December 2023 Indicated Mineral Resource, with a differential of less than 3% in gold equivalent content, to be excellent confirmation of this world-class asset and a credit to the quality of our technical team and processes."
Newmont became Greatland’s JV partner when it acquired Newcrest last year.
Havieron, in western Australia, is being developed on a 70/30 basis between Newmont and Greatland.