Ora Banda Mining Ltd has been pleasantly surprised by the gold yields of the first Sand King Underground Mine development ore processed through the Davyhurst plant, with the reconciled grade notching 4.3% above expectations (2.3 g/t versus actual 2.4 g/t gold).
The ore’s metallurgical recovery was also reconciled at 1.2% above expectation, achieving 88.2% compared to the 87% expected.
The company says its early grade control drilling indicates a 19% uplift in gold ounce endowment so far, with the additional gold coming from discrete ore lodes to produce grade control estimates of 21,000 ounces versus mineral resource estimates of 17,000 ounces of gold.
Gold endowment even better than expected
"The seamless ramp up of Sand King Underground towards steady state production has been a real credit to the operational and planning teams and demonstrates Ora Banda’s capability to find and rapidly advance underground opportunities,” Ora Banda Mininer managing director Luke Creagh said.
“It is great to see the development ore reconciling positively compared to final investment decision (FID) assumptions, and exciting that early grade control drilling shows a potential uplift in the gold endowment of the deposit."
Ora Banda’s grade control drilling has also identified at least three “blow-out” zones of localised gold, which could support bulk stoping opportunities, with results up to 7.2 metres at 17 g/t gold.
OBM says the Sand King Underground Mine is on track to reach its steady state production rate in June, with all capital projects completed after the primary fan and escapeway were commissioned in February.