Emmerson Resources Ltd (ASX:ERM) has reported an updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the White Devil gold deposit in the Tennant Creek Mineral Field, Northern Territory, under its joint venture with TCMG, a wholly owned subsidiary of PAC Partners’ spin-out partner PAR.
The new MRE for White Devil stands at 4.7 million tonnes at 4.1 g/t gold for 616,200 ounces of contained gold. This includes an indicated resource of 4.0 million tonnes at 4.3 g/t gold for 549,100 ounces, representing about 89% of the total, and an inferred resource of 0.7 million tonnes at 3.0 g/t gold for 67,100 ounces, or 11% of the total.
“Our strategy to prioritise opportunities to expand the Company’s high-grade resource base, while also increasing confidence in the resources, continues to pay dividends. The Tennant Creek Project’s high grade Mineral Resources have increased to 992,200oz," Emmerson’s managing director, Mike Dunbar, said.
“White Devil has clearly been a game changer for the Company and our JV partner. In the space of 10 months, we have identified the opportunity at White Devil, drilled 90 RC holes, completed an initial MRE and two subsequent MRE updates, and completed a scoping study. This is a credit to the team at Emmerson and our JV partner Tennant Mining / Pan African.
“While the global resource increase is modest at ~5,000 ounces, the conversion of almost 19,000 ounces of shallow resource to Indicated is a significant step forward. The conversion of the western extension of the deposit within the conceptual scoping study pit design to the higher confidence Indicated resource category is important for the feasibility and future development
“White Devil now contains 549,100 ounces in the Indicated resource category, which will underpin the current feasibility studies and allow a maiden Probable Ore Reserve to be estimated as part of the studies.”
Improved confidence in resource base
The indicated component at White Devil has increased by 18,600 ounces of gold, improving confidence in the resource base and supporting the move into technical and development studies. As part of the update, the company has also redefined the open pit component of the resource within a scoping study pit shell.
The redefined open pit resource now totals 2.7 million tonnes at 4.7 g/t gold for 404,400 ounces of gold, accounting for about 66% of the global White Devil resource. Within this, the indicated open pit resource comes to 2.63 million tonnes at 4.7 g/t gold for 397,800 ounces (around 98.4% of the open pit total), while the inferred open pit resource is estimated at 70,000 tonnes at 2.9 g/t gold for 6,600 ounces (1.6%).
Feasibility studies begin
Feasibility studies have commenced at White Devil to determine the preferred development pathway for the deposit, assessing mining options and project economics. Emmerson notes that mineralisation at White Devil remains open down dip and along strike, offering potential for further resource growth with additional drilling.
At a broader project level, the latest work lifts the total Tennant Creek resource base to 7.0 million tonnes at 4.4 g/t gold for 992,200 ounces of gold.
The total indicated resource base across Tennant Creek now stands at 5.6 million tonnes at 4.8 g/t gold for 861,000 ounces of contained gold, providing a stronger platform for ongoing studies and potential development within the joint venture’s Northern Project Area.