Red 5 Limited (ASX: RED) has reported further strong results from in-fill and extensional underground diamond drilling at the King of the Hills (KOTH) gold mine in the Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia.
The current 85,000-metre underground diamond drilling program, which commenced last year and is continuing with three diamond rigs, is aimed at:
- Converting as much of the existing Underground Resource into Ore Reserves for inclusion in the Final Feasibility Study (FFS), due in the September 2020 Quarter;
- Reassessing the final pit shape (to determine whether more of the underground Resource can be included in the pit due to grade uplift in both the North and South; and
- Testing potential extensions of the existing underground Resource along strike and down-dip.
KOTH has a current Mineral Resource totalling 3.1 million ounces of contained gold, with the existing Resource model based on assays received up to 14 February 2019.
The current underground Resource includes 500,000oz in the Indicated category, suitable for estimating Ore Reserves, and 610,000oz in the Inferred category based on the reported 1.0 g/t cut off, which requires in-fill drilling to be upgraded to Indicated status.
Red 5 Managing Director, Mark Williams, said the company’s decision in the December 2019 Quarter to boost its underground drilling capacity at KOTH with three diamond rigs, has produced results that add further confidence to the Final Feasibility Study (FFS), currently underway for KOTH.
The 85,000-metre underground drilling program is progressing strongly with approximately 60% of the program completed,” Mr Williams said.
“The volume and quality of the data being generated are progressively being fed into an updated Resource model, that will underpin an update to the current 3.1Moz Mineral Resource as part of the FFS on an integrated bulk open pit and underground mining operation due to be released in the September 2020 Quarter.
“Importantly, the results continue to contribute towards achieving the three outcomes we are targeting – namely, to convert as much of the existing Underground Resource into Ore Reserves as we can for inclusion in the FFS, to reassess the final shape of the open pit, and to identify extensions to the underground Resource both along strike and down-dip.
“In-fill and grade control drilling is also delivering positive results by reinforcing the continuity and tenor of the stockwork development zones, which have formed part of our transition to bulk underground mining program and will provide us greater confidence for the future.”
