PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Gold Road Resources has launched a prefeasibility study into the potential for openpit mining at the Attila deposit, in Western Australia, following a more than 100 000 oz increase in the project’s mineral resource.
Gold Road on Monday announced a 46% increase in the Attila openpit mineral resource, increasing to 327 300 oz of gold, following a 2016 drilling programme.
The Attila deposit is located on the Gruyere joint venture tenements and is some 30 km west of the Gruyere gold project.
The Attila feasibility study will focus on the deposit’s potential supply of supplementary feed for the proposed Gruyere mill, and could potentially enable the definition of a maiden reserve by the September quarter.
The proposed Gruyere plant being developed with South Africa’s Gold Fields, will have capacity to handle 7.5-million tonnes a year of fresh ore, and up to 8.8-million tonnes a year of oxide ore, over a mine life of 13 years.
Gold Road executive director for exploration and growth, Justin Osborne said on Monday that the company had more than 14 km of known mineralisation along the Attila-Alaric trend, of which the company was developing a much more detailed understanding.
“Given the success at Attila, and further north at Alaric, we have a high level of confidence that other recognised zones along this trend may offer similar upside exploration potential.”
“Our 2017 exploration programmes will be aggressively testing this well-endowed trend over the coming months.”