Kin Mining NL (ASX:KIN) has boosted its mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the Cardinia Hill gold deposit by 45,000 ounces.
The precious metals explorer delivered its updated MRE for the WA gold source on Thursday, bringing it up to 2.2 million tonnes at 1.5 g/t for 106,000 gold ounces.
Apart from the increase in ounces, the update also factors in a maiden underground inferred MRE and an increase in indicated gold resources.
The deposit sits within Kin’s cornerstone, 100%-owned Cardinia Gold Project (CGP), which is now thought to host 1.28 million ounces of gold.
Company shares are up 4.76% in early afternoon trade, priced at 11 cents each in a $83.96 million market cap.
“Strong potential for MRE growth”
Kin Mining managing director Andrew Munckton said the company would continue to bolster its mineral resource inventory as drilling results came in.
“This is another pleasing update to the Cardinia Hill Project resource, delivering a 72 per cent increase in contained ounces, while also ensuring the project-wide MRE is constrained by optimised pit shells and is based on the latest gold price and operating cost assumptions," he said.
“We are pleased to have delivered a mineral resource of over 100,000 ounces for the recently-discovered Cardinia Hill deposit, including a maiden underground mineral resource estimate.
“We believe that Cardinia Hill and several of our other deposits hold potential for similar underground estimates where we see strong potential for MRE growth and category upgrades with further drilling."
Gold resource continues to mature
With 45,000 more ounces factored into Cardinia Hill’s gold source, the deposit’s MRE update has had a ripple effect on its parent tenement.
Kin Mining’s CGP now boasts a 31.1 million tonne resource estimate grading 1.27 g/t for 1.28 million ounces.
The broader project last saw a mineral resource update in mid-May, which brought its gold source up to 1.23 million ounces.
Kin chalks the 45,000-ounce increase up to extension-focused drilling across Cardinia Hill’s mineralised footprint.
Activity targeted the deposit’s Northern and Southern lodes, extending the mineralisation at depth to bolster the mineral resource.
The deposit was also extended along strike to the north, while closer-spaced drilling at the Southern Lode informed the indicated resource upgrade.
Now, Cardinia Hill boasts 38,000 gold ounces of indicated gold, meaning there’s higher confidence in this resource’s potential.
Kin’s updated MRE is based on the parameters set out in its 2019 pre-feasibility study.
This means the open-pit resource estimate uses an A$2,600-per-ounce gold price and a 0.4 g/t cut-off grade.
The resource also includes a maiden underground inferred MRE, which totals 125,000 tonnes at 2.71 g/t for 11,000 ounces with a 2.0 g/t cut-off grade.
More to come
Gold potential continues to firm up across the CGP as drill rigs work across the landscape.
Earlier this week, a deep diamond hole confirmed a new gold discovery at Mt Flora, hitting 8.96 g/t along the way.
Results like this continue to build confidence in the deposit’s potential to bolster the project’s mineral resource down the line.
Munckton concluded: “We also have a strong pipeline of deposits that are yet to be fully assessed that are outside the latest mineral resource estimate, including Eagle-Crow, Mt Flora, Iron King and further depth extensions to Bruno-Lewis deposit”.
More updates are expected next year.
