Kingston Resources Ltd (ASX:KSN) has delivered a 114% increase in total tonnage to 3.8 million tonnes at 1.29 g/t gold, 19.2 g/t silver, 0.9% copper, 1.6% lead and 1.4% zinc from its first update of the mineral resource for the Southern Ore Zone (SOZ) at the Mineral Hill Mine in western New South Wales.
This represents an increase of 54% in contained gold, 64% in contained copper, 131% in contained silver, 175% in contained lead and 193% in contained zinc at the deposit.
Looking ahead, the new mineral resource estimate (MRE) will assist in identifying additional targets for potential resource expansion, as well as optimising the underground production schedule as part of Kingston’s overall five-year mine plan which is being developed for the project in the Cobar Basin.
Five-year plan
Kingston managing director Andrew Corbett said: “This updated resource for SOZ provides insight into what’s possible at Mineral Hill in terms of maximising value.
“We are making rapid progress on delivering our five-year plan and this MRE is another milestone towards that outcome.
“This work has created huge excitement about the potential of transitioning to open pit and/or underground mine production in the near term to deliver a significant impact on Australia’s critical minerals output.
“SOZ contributes significantly to our mineral resource base in terms of tonnage, grade and metal.
“We also have other deposits within our Mineral Hill pipeline that have significant potential to grow the company.
“Our strategy will be to continue adding resource updates to feed into our five-year mine plan while exploring other undeveloped sites within our land package to ensure Mineral Hill has access to high-quality gold and copper resources now and into the future.
“Our team is dedicated to creating long-term returns for shareholders by continuously looking for new opportunities to create additional value for shareholders.”
Key updates
Key updates in the current MRE include refined geology interpretations and the use of a $50/tonne net smelter return reporting cut-off.
The previous MRE for SOZ used a 1.5% copper equivalent reporting cut-off. The updated metrics proved a better reflection of the reasonable prospects for economic extraction given the current critical minerals landscape.
Kingston chief geologist Stuart Hayward said: “This MRE update is significant for the company, as it marks the first release of an estimate, we have ownership over directly as a technical team.
“SOZ continues to have huge potential for extending our five-year mine development plan.
“Our team is working hard to continue building our knowledge and confidence of this outstanding mineral system, which we look forward to sharing with the market as soon as it gets finalised.”
Forward plan
With the SOZ MRE updated, Kingston’s mining engineering team will use this to develop a production target and mineral ore reserve.
Subsequently, the company aims to re-enter the underground workings and complete underground drilling to infill and extend the mineralisation.