PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Cannon gold mine, in Western Australia, is continuing to deliver above expectations, with Southern Gold reporting that 44 576 oz of gold had been recovered during the seven processing campaigns undertaken to date.
The seventh processing campaign, which treated ore during January and February this year, delivered 14 257 oz of gold.
Southern Gold on Wednesday said some 81% of the gold estimated to be recovered under the current base case had now been recovered, with the eighth processing campaign of around 40 000 t of gold ore scheduled to start at the end of March and extend into April.
“The seventh processing campaign was a substantial one for us, providing a window to sell gold into the current spot price north of A$1 600/oz,” said Southern Gold MD Simon Mitchell.
“Our recently announced hedge at A$1 621/oz covers a portion of this production yet to come.”
Mitchell said the Cannon proceeds account was now well in the black, providing the company with optionality on various final mine designs, including the potential to develop underground access that will enable the drilling of Cannon extensions at depth.
“These deliverables are providing significant upside and reward for our shareholders over 2017,” he added.
A number of final mine designs to enable the geotechnical issues to be managed, are currently being considered at Cannon, including the construction of a redeveloped northern access ramp, combined with the development of underground access.
It was thought that the underground access could provide a drill platform for testing of extensions to the Cannon orebody.