PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The board of junior Exterra Resources has approved plans to restart mining at the Second Fortune gold mine, in Western Australia, on the back of higher gold prices.
Exterra in February announced that the upward swing in the Australian gold price had significantly increased the project’s prospects, almost doubling the cash surplus projected in the project’s 2014 prefeasibility study (PFS).
The board’s approval for the restart of mining operations initiated an important new phase for the company, executive chairperson John Davis said on Wednesday, as it transitioned from explorer to developer.
The development phase at Second Fortune will start with the construction of evaporation ponds, prior to early phase mining operations. The construction contract for the ponds would be let in the coming days, and work on the approval of the project management plan would also start.
Construction of the evaporation plant is expected to start in October, while mining is slated for early 2017.
In addition to the mine development, drilling at Second Fortune will also start shortly, to convert inferred resource into measured resource, particularly close to surface.
The PFS estimated a capital cost of some A$5-million to recover 56 600 oz of gold over a mine life of two-and-a-half years.