JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Having secured all the necessary approvals, the management team of near-term gold producer Blackham Resources is now focused on preparing for the start of openpit mining at the ASX-listed company’s Matilda gold project, in Western Australia.

The company plans to start mining in three weeks at the 4.8-million-ounce gold resource, located within an 860 km² tenement package that had historically produced more than 4.3-million ounces.

Since publishing a definitive feasibility study (DFS) in February, Blackham noted on Friday that the ore reserves at Matilda had grown by 17% to seven-million tons at 2.5 g/t for 560 000 oz, with the mining inventory growing by 14% to nine-million tons at 2.9 g/t for 873 000 oz, the ASX-listed miner said on Friday.

Successful drilling, resource upgrades, and openpit and underground mine designs recently concluded the gold project also added an additional 43 000 oz to the free milling reserves at the project.

“Matilda’s gold production is now imminent,” commented Blackham executive director Alan Thom, adding that the mine’s strengthened reserve would lengthen the project life.

“The expansion of the free milling services gives us confident that we can keep growing the size of the Matilda gold project,” he added.

Blackham was primarily focused on the free-milling resources, which it intended to process through the established low-risk circuit of crushing, grinding, gravity and carbon-in-leach. The free-milling openpit deposits were planned to provide a base load feed stock for the Wiluna gold plant, which would be supplemented with the high-grade quartz reef deposits and shallow underground deposits.

The Matilda gold project was located in Australia’s largest gold belt, which stretched from Norseman and Kalgoorlie to Wiluna.

Blackham’s 100%-owned Wiluna gold plant, which operated until 2013, was located in the centre of the Matilda gold project and could process up to 100 000 oz/y, as confirmed by the DFS.