PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed junior Westgold Resources has started openpit mining and the wet commissioning of the refurbished one-million-tonne-a-year gold plant at its Fortnum gold project, in Western Australia.
The Metals X spin-off on Thursday said that the plant was currently being fed from existing low-grade ore stockpiles, which would provide an initial 12 months of feed, with ore from the planned cutbacks to the existing openpits to slowly replace the lower-grade stocks.
First gold production from the Fortnum project, which was acquired in 2015, will start shortly.
Meanwhile, the junior company is advancing the dewatering and recommissioning of the Starlight underground mine, regaining access to the upper declines and return airway.
To date, some 850 000 m3 of water has been pumped from the pit and underground excavations, with the remaining 250 000 m3 scheduled to be pumped in May and June this year.
Underground ore production is expected to start in the September quarter of this year.
The project is estimated to host a mineral resource of some 29.7-million tonnes, at 1.84 g/t gold for 1.75-million ounces, and a reserve of 5.4-million tonnes, at 1.95 g/t gold for 339 000 oz.