Name of the Project
Laverton Stage 1 gold openpit.

Location
Laverton, Australia.

Project Owner/s
Australian gold explorer Focus Minerals.

Project Description
A first-pass prefeasibility study (PFS) scenario has used a selection of five openpit resources and assumed milling at a refurbished 1.5-million-tonnes-a-year Barnicoat mill. The assessment has delivered positive economic value.

The Stage 1 scenario delivers a Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant mineral resource of 16.4-million tonnes at 1.47 g/t for 770 000 oz. This is just 21% of Laverton’s total mineral resource of 61.3-million tonnes at 1.85 g/t of gold for 3.64-million ounces of gold.

Stage 1 of the PFS envisages the production of 513 000 oz of gold. The mine will use mined-out Barnicoat openpits for tailings storage.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, a 5% real discount rate, of A$132-million and an internal rate of return of 17.2%, with a pretax discounted payback of 6.5 years.

Capital Expenditure
Not stated.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Takeover target Focus Minerals has reported a maiden inferred mineral resource of 33 900 oz of gold for its Lancefield Far North deposit, which forms part of the Laverton gold project.

The Laverton project covers 362 km2 of highly prospective tenements, and Focus’ strategy is to identify sufficient openpit mineral resources across the tenement to support a Stage 1 mining operation.

“This maiden mineral resource at Lancefield Far North, starting just 4.9 km north and along strike of the Wedge deposit, highlights the enormous potential of our tenement position,” Focus CEO Zhaoya Wang has said.

An exploration target of between 70 000 oz and 116 000 oz has been estimated for Lancefield Far North.

Focus is currently the target of a takeover offer from fellow-listed Theta Gold Mines, which is offering two of its own shares for every one Focus share held.

However, the company’s biggest shareholder, Shandong Gold, which holds a 63.18% interest in Focus, has confirmed that it will reject the takeover offer from Theta.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Focus Minerals, tel +61 8 9215 7888 or email info@focusminerals.com.au.