Photo by: Bloombeg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Kidman Resources this week poured the first gold at its Burbanks project, in Western Australia.
“The maiden gold pour at Burbanks is a significant milestone for the company as it transitions into an Australian gold producer,” said MD Martin Donohue.
The company was currently processing ore from the underground mine at Burbanks, with plans to supplement this production with openpit ore during the December quarter.
Ore from the openpit would be processed over the December quarter in conjunction with underground ore and, from early 2016, all ore processed would be sourced exclusively from the underground operation.
The openpit was expected to produce 4 552 oz during the quarter.
“Since acquiring the project only four months ago, Kidman has completed successful surface drilling programmes and has now started an extensive new underground drilling programme,” said Donohue.
“We have also delivered an initial resource, which we expect to upgrade on the back of recent drilling; upgraded the underground development and infrastructure; commenced underground and openpit mining; and now poured our first gold.”
Donohue said the cash flow from production would underpin further underground development and the underground diamond drilling programme, which, in turn, would generate the gold inventory needed to build a longer-term plan.