Aurumin Ltd (ASX:AUN) has generated material increases to the Central Sandstone Gold Project’s mineral resource estimate (MRE), updating the Shillington and Two Mile Hill deposits with new data from recently completed reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilled (DD) resource expansion programs.
The overall resource now stands at 946,000 ounces at 1.5 g/t gold and this includes the resource at Johnson Range.
This resource also includes the combined Shillington and Two Mile Hill open pit resources, which have increased to 181,000 ounces while the Two Mile Hill underground resource now stands at 574,000 ounces at 1.6 g/t.
“We have been maintaining a dual-focused approach since acquiring the Central Sandstone Project, to both optimise existing resources and identify new resources,” Aurumin managing director Brad Valiukas said.
“We continue to see the Two Mile Hill underground deposit as a key part of the project going forward, with the scale to potentially underpin future production, and this has focused our optimisation efforts.”
The Central Sandstone Project is 12 kilometres south of the township of Sandstone and some 550 kilometres northeast of Perth, on a sealed highway between the mining towns of Mt Magnet and Leinster in the East Murchison Mineral Field of Western Australia.
The resource upgrade was achieved with data from nine RC holes drilled at Skellington and four DD holes drilled at Two Mile Hill.
Resource upgrade improves project confidence
“This resource update is an important step in progressing the project, and is in line with the potential identified when the Sandstone assets were acquired,” Valiukas continued.
“The increase in grade to 1.6 g/t for the Two Mile Hill Underground MRE, up from 1.1 g/t, is a result of Aurumin’s recent infill and extensional drilling, delivering improved data density, grades and geological understanding.
“This resource model at Two Mile Hill has generally tightened up the lateral extents and there remain portions of the tonalite host to be tested with further potential upside. We will now undertake some scoping-level work on the deposit.
Oblique view toward the North-west showing major geological units within the Shillington-Two Mile hill complex
“The next drill program at Sandstone will focus on the current geochemical and structural targets, with plans and programs of work currently being finalised, to further advance the new targets that we have.
“Soil sampling work continues to progress in the background, and we expect to release the first results from tenement E57/1140 during November.”