PNX Metals Limited (ASX:PNX) (FRA:4P1) expects to submit the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for its flagship Fountain Head Gold Project in the Northern Territory by the end of 2020.
The company is now finalising the EIS and incorporating updates related to the proposed carbon-in-leach process route, and tailings and water management.
“Exciting production opportunity”
In the company's annual report, chairman Graham Ascough said: “2020 has set the stage for a transformational year for PNX.
“The board and management are confident that continued technical studies and exploration work will be successful in growing our resource base and that the completion of development studies at Fountain Head will provide a clear pathway for this exciting production opportunity, that has the potential to deliver strong returns for PNX shareholders.
“We are committed to progressing the company and growing our flagship Fountain Head and Hayes Creek projects towards development for the benefit of all shareholders … and I look forward to providing further updates as our activities move forward in 2021.”
Fast-track Fountain Head development
Subsequent to the June 30, the company signed a non-binding term sheet for a proposed $40 million financial commitment by private company Halifax Capital to fund gold carbon-in-leach processing infrastructure and related costs that would fast track the development of Fountain Head.
This proposed transaction includes a 50/50 production joint venture with Halifax’s subsidiary Bridge Creek Mining Pty Ltd and provides a clear pathway for the development of Fountain Head.
Ascough added: “The executive team is currently working to finalise the formal documentation for this transformative transaction, and we look forward to updating shareholders and investors on the final details once the binding documentation is complete.”
Fountain Head hosts a significant amount of gold and the updated mineral resource announced in June 2020 estimates 156,000 ounces of contained gold in the indicated and inferred categories at an average grade of 1.7 g/t.
Additional prospective land holdings
In addition to Fountain Head and Hayes Creek, PNX Metals also holds 90% in a large and very prospective landholding - in excess of 1800 square kilometres – in the Pine Creek region of the NT under a joint venture with Newmarket Gold NT Holdings Pty Ltd.
In parallel with the studies and permitting activities underway, PNX has implemented an exploration strategy to identify and test exploration targets to deliver a pipeline of gold mineral resources for processing at Fountain Head, potentially adding to mine life and enhancing project economics.
An early observation to emerge from the work is that large areas of the exploration tenements remain untested by drilling, with the majority of previous work centred on known, outcropping gold deposits and their immediate surrounds.