Alkane Resources Ltd (ASX:ALK) has tabled its resource and reserve statements for the 2021 financial year, ending the period with more than 1.7 million ounces of gold in mineral resources and in excess of 700,000 ounces in reserve.
The statements cover the gold producer’s Tomingley Gold Project, which hosts the namesake gold operations, the Roswell and San Antonio deposits that form the Tomingley Gold Extension Project and the Peak Hill Gold Project in Central West New South Wales.
In FY20, Tomingley’s total mineral resources came in at 1.6 million gold ounces, while ore reserves came in at 176,000 ounces, meaning this year’s results represent an increase in both categories, namely thanks to discoveries at the extension project.
Alkane’s updated gold resources and reserves underpin the project’s updated life of mine plan, with the expanded Tomingley operations set to extend production into at least 2031.
Mineral resources
The Roswell and San Antonio deposits made the biggest impact on the FY21 mineral resources at Tomingley.
During the previous financial year, a drill program targeted two prospects at the deposits, with indicated and inferred mineral resource estimates (MREs) calculated for Roswell and San Antonio in November and January, respectively.
The fresh MREs bolstered the overall resources at the Tomingley asset, with more than 1 million gold ounces, or just under two-thirds, of the mineral resource held within the Tomingley Gold Extension Project.
Over at the Tomingley Gold Operation, which has been active since 2014, resources estimates take into account the ore depleted by mining over the financial year.
Together, four deposits with both open pit and underground resources — the Wyoming One, Wyoming Three, Caloma One and Caloma Two assets — were thought to host 550,000 gold ounces in resources by the end of FY21.
Finally, the Peak Hill Gold Project, situated 15 kilometres south of the Tomingley Gold Operation, four pits make up the mineral resources.
Peak Hill’s gold mine is currently in care and maintenance, and the mineral resources have not changed since their calculation in October 2018.
The project contributed 108,000 gold ounces to the FY21 mineral resources, bringing the tally to 27 million tonnes at 1.99 g/t gold for 1.727 million gold ounces.
Ore reserves
Turning to ore reserves, the San Antonio and Roswell deposits were also the major contributors to the FY21 estimates.
Together, the assets make up nearly 80% of the financial year’s ore reserves at Tomingley, adding 563,000 ounces to the statement.
Alkane estimated the open pit reserves for the extension project based on the mineral resource modelling, while the underground reserves for Roswell were based on resources from the current site-based Tomingley Gold Operation mine design.
Comparatively, the operation itself contributed 144,000 ounces to the FY21 reserves, calculated based on the Wyoming and Caloma deposits and stockpiles.
As the mine is in care and maintenance, Peak Hill did not contribute to the ore reserve in FY21.
The ore reserve for the financial year totalled 11.82 million tonnes at 1.86 g/t gold from 707,000 gold ounces.
Resources and reserves support extended life of mine
With the revised mineral resources and reserves for Tomingley now tabled, Alkane believes they form the basis of its updated life of mine plan.
This includes an expanded Tomingley Gold Operation that extends the mine’s life to at least 2031, once the necessary approvals are achieved.
It also factors in a production rate of roughly 745,000 gold ounces over the period, with processing poised to ramp up to a 1.5 million tonne-per-annum feed rate.
Ultimately, this is forecast to help the operation produce more than 100,000 gold ounces each year.
Beyond these statements, there’s still substantial upside potential to extend the Roswell underground metrics.
This would help maintain production over the FY28 to Fy31 period at or near the Fy25 to FY27 levels and beyond.