Name of the Project
Penny’s Find gold project.
Location
The project is located about 50 km north-east of Kalgoorlie, in Western Australia.
Client
Empire Resources.
Project Description
A bankable feasibility study (BFS) on the Penny’s Find project has found the project to be technically sound and financially viable.
The BFS is based on a probable reserve of 146 000 t grading 4.62 g/t gold.
The project has total mineral resources (opencut and underground) of 470 000 t grading 4.42 g/t gold.
The study proposes conventional mining of a single openpit to a depth of 80 m using excavators and dump trucks, with ore transported to a nearby toll milling facility using conventional gravity and a carbon-in-leach circuit.
The openpit mine life is estimated at 11 months.
Potential Job Creation
Not stated.
Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a payback of eight months at a base case of A$1 500/oz.
Value
Capital expenditure has been estimated at A$1.5-million.
Duration
Not stated.
Latest Developments
Crushing operations have started at Maximus Resources’ Burbanks gold treatment plant, with ore from the Penny’s Find project being introduced to the crusher in early September.
Under a toll treatment agreement Empire will supply up to 150 000 t of ore from the Penny’s Find project to the Burbanks treatment plant.
About 8 600 t of ore is currently on the Burbanks run-of-mine pad, with ore haulage continuing at between 15 000 t/m and 20 000 t/m.
The mill has a capacity of about 180 000 t/y, with a continuous improvement programme being implemented to improve throughput rates and reduce costs.
Maximus is also continuing discussions with other parties to supply additional tonnes throughout 2017 and 2018, to ensure the mill performance is maintained at full capacity.
Empire has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with nickel miner Poseidon Nickel to evaluate processing Penny’s Find gold ore through the Black Swan operation gold processing facility.
Poseidon is hoping to process more then two-million tonnes of gold ore a year at the 2.2-million-tonne-a-year Black Swan processing facility, and currently has an MoU in place with Aphrodite Gold and Northern Star Resources to process gold ore through the Black Swan facility.
Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.
On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.
Contact Details for Project Information
Empire Resources, tel +61 8 9361 3100, fax +61 8 9361 3154 or email info@resourcesempire.com.au.