Ora Banda Mining Ltd (ASX:OBM) has revealed an updated resource for the Golden Eagle deposit, a key part of its Davyhurst Gold Project in WA.
The upgraded Golden Eagle Resource totals 393,000 tonnes at a substantially higher grade of 3.9 g/t gold for 49,000 ounces of contained gold to reflect the potential to mine this deposit by conventional underground mining methods and includes an indicated resource of 247,000 tonnes also at a substantially higher grade of 4.1 g/t gold for 33,000 ounces of contained gold.
Golden Eagle mineral resource
Ora managing director David Quinlivan said: “Defining this resource is an important step towards declaring a reserve position that leverages off the existing and significant capital investment of the recent past.
“We are now well positioned to bring this underground mine back into production as an integral part of our operational restart plan.”
Ora’s total resource stands at 23.5 million tonnes at 2.6 g/t gold for 2 million ounces of contained gold
The upgraded Golden Eagle underground resource is based on a gold price of A$2,400 per ounce, a cut-off grade of 2.0 g/t and has been derived following the input of:
- drilling results received since the previous resource was quoted; and
- recent underground face sampling information together with the application of various constraints including modifying factors for potential underground operations.
Mine is well established
The most recent phase of underground mining operations at Golden Eagle commenced in August 2017 and was subsequently suspended in August 2018.
About 2,100 metres of underground development was completed and 25,000 tonnes of ore at a grade of 3.4 g/t gold was mined from production stopes during this period.
Collectively ore recovered from both development and production areas totalled 70,150 tonnes at a grade of 2.9 g/t gold for 6,640 contained ounces of gold.
As a result of these activities, the mine is well established with capital decline development approaching 150 vertical metres below the surface and 85 metres below the portal.
Ore development is well established on four levels (395, 375, 355 & 335), with stope production well established (or complete) on three (395, 375 & 355).
Detailed mine design work aimed at defining a mining reserve has commenced. All environmental permitting approvals remain in place.