PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold junior Capricorn Metals has reported a 20% increase in the Karlawinda mineral resource, in Western Australia, following an exploration and resource drilling programme between May and July this year.
The project is now estimated to host a mineral resource of 38.3-million tonnes, at 1.1 g/t gold for 1.32-million ounces.
“At Karlawinda, the Bibra deposit continues to reveal itself as part of a very significant Archaean gold system. We continue to achieve outstanding success in growing the resource base at a very low discovery cost per ounce,” said Capricorn executive chairperson Heath Hellewell.
“Since acquiring the project at the beginning of last year, we have now doubled the resource base and improved our understanding of the controls on mineralisation. We are very well placed to deliver further significant increases in the project’s resources with drilling in the coming months.”
A recent feasibility study (FS) into the Karlawinda gold project found that the project could support an average production of 100 000 oz/y over a six-and-a-half-year mine life. The FS was based on a single openpit mine and a three-million-tonne carbon-in-leach plant, which was expected to require a capital investment of A$133.3-million.