PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed explorer Syndicated Metals has reported an upgrade to the mineral resource at its Barbara copper project, in Queensland, with some 74% of the contained copper metal now classified as indicated.
The junior company said on Friday that the Barbara project was now estimated to host an indicated resource of 3.25-million tonnes, grading 1.7% copper, 0.15 g/t gold and 2.76 g/t silver, for 55 600 t of copper, 15 700 oz of gold and 288 500 oz of silver.
The project also had an inferred resource of 1.49-million tonnes, grading 1.3% copper, 0.16 g/t gold and 2.17 g/t silver.
Syndicated MD Andrew Munckton said that the completion of the new mineral resource estimate represented another important step towards the development of the Barbara project, and provided a strong foundation to the ongoing feasibility studies.
“The completion of this updated mineral resource enables us to move forward immediately with openpit optimisation and design work,” he added.
He pointed out that the distribution of the new mineral resource was more amenable to openpit mining because the grade in the upper 140 m was now higher on average, with only a minor reduction to the tonnage within the indicated resources category.
“This is likely to reflect well in the upcoming optimisation and mine design work,” he added.