Musgrave Minerals Ltd (ASX:MGV, OTC:MGVMF) has boosted the mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the Cue gold camp in Western Australia by 41%.
The updated MRE, which covers the indicated and inferred resource categories, now stands at 12.3 million tonnes, grading 2.3 g/t gold for 927,000 ounces.
This includes Cue’s near-surface, high-grade Break of Day trend, which has increased 25% thanks to the addition of the White Heat-Mosaic deposit.
The Break of Day trend is now reported to contain 982,000 tonnes of ore, grading at 10.4 g/t for 327,000 gold ounces.
Digging into the findings
Maiden MREs for the White Heat-Mosaic and Big Sky deposit were also revealed, clocking in at:
- White Heat-Mosaic: 185,000 tonnes at 11 g/t gold for 65,000 ounces; and
- Big Sky: 4.65 million tonnes at 1.2 g/t gold for 173,000 ounces.
Resource estimates were also updated for a number of satellite deposits at Cue, including Numbers, Leviticus, Rapier South, Jasper Queen and Gilt Edge.
These boosts brought the gold resources up to JORC 2012 standards.
Positively, Musgrave’s new resources are predominantly near-surface and are considered amenable to open-pit mining.
In addition to its exploration and resource definition drilling programs, MGV has been working on pre-feasibility-level studies for the Break of Day and Lena deposits.
Following the updated MRE, Musgrave has opted to expand the studies to integrate the White Heat-Mosaic and Big Sky deposits.
Growing near-surface resources
Commenting on the update, Musgrave managing director Rob Waugh said: “This is a significant result for the company and the growth in mineral resources will improve the future development potential of the project.
“The ongoing focus is to continue to grow our near-surface high-grade resources at Cue and progress pre-feasibility-level studies to accommodate these new deposits and potential future resource upgrades.
“The deposits sit on a combination of granted mining and exploration licences in a region with excellent infrastructure within a favourable mining jurisdiction.
“This latest mineral resource estimate increases the near-surface, potentially open-pittable gold ounces while also increasing confidence, with around 47% of resource ounces in the indicated category.
"The company is confident it can continue to expand its resource base as exploration drilling continues to intersect high-grade gold on new regional targets.”
Investors welcomed the news, sending MGV shares as much as 6.67% higher to A$0.32 and since the close on May 19, securities have risen from A$0.255.
Chasing further upside
Moving ahead, Musgrave hopes to continue regional, extensional and infill drilling programs in a bid to grow resources at Cue.
In particular, the drill bit will focus on the high-grade Break of Day stratigraphic trend, which hosts the Break of Day and White Heat-Mosaic deposits.
Regional drilling has also identified several new mineralised, near-surface, moderate- to high-grade gold zones, including Amarillo and the Waratah trend, where resource estimates are yet to be defined and more drilling is required.
Right now, an aggressive drilling program continues at Cue, with three drill rigs operating on Musgrave’s wholly-owned tenure.
The explorer says there is potential to further grow the resource base through extensions to existing resources and new discoveries.
Promisingly, all of Cue’s existing deposits remain open at depth, with Big Sky and White Heat-Mosaic currently only drill tested to 120 and 160 metres, respectively.
In the meantime, pre-feasibility level studies are expected to kick off at the White Heat-Mosaic and Big Sky deposits.
Musgrave is also honing in on more than 7 kilometres of untested stratigraphy along the Break of Day trend, with the potential to discover more new, near-surface, high-grade gold deposits. Drill testing in this domain will begin in three weeks.
Together with the Mainland and new Mt Magnet South tenure, Musgrave is building a sizeable tenement package in the Murchison in the hopes it’ll deliver a full pipeline of targets for future resource growth.
Exploration also continues on the Evolution Mining joint venture, where two drill rigs are in operation.