Name and Location
Matilda gold project, Australia.

Client
Blackham Resources.

Project Description
The Matilda project has Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resources of 44-million tonnes grading 3.3 g/t within a 20 km radius of the Wiluna gold plant.

At least 20-million tonnes grading 3.5 g/t are in the indicated resource category.

A prefeasibility study (PFS) has confirmed the robust cash flows that the project will generate by the project, as well as its capital efficiency nature and its being brought into production rapidly.

The results of the PFS show similar economics to the scoping study released in December 2014, but with a longer mine life and a superior confidence level improving. The PFS has also confirmed that the mining and processing parameters are very similar to the results of the scoping study.

Mining contractors will undertake mining at the Matilda gold project. PFS mine designs have been completed on the main mining centres at Matilda, Galaxy, Williamson and Wiluna.

Openpit mining is planned for Matilda, Williamson and Galaxy and will use a standard truck-and-excavator mining technique involving conventional drill, blast, load and haul. Ore will be hauled by road train to the company’s gold processing plant at Wiluna.

In addition to the mining fleet, ancillary equipment comprising tracked bulldozers, wheel loaders, graders and water carts will be required. The ancillary fleet will prepare drill-and-blast areas, maintain active digging areas, mine roads and waste dumps. Trucks will deliver the ore to the run-of-mine (RoM) pad at the plant site, after which it will be fed to the treatment plant using a RoM loader.

Two underground mines have been designed at Wiluna. The Golden Age underground mine will be accessed from the existing Bulletin portal and current Golden Age decline. The East West underground mine will also be accessed from existing underground infrastructure and portal access from East Pit. Ore from the underground mines will be extracted using the longhole open stoping technique in a top-down sequence. Suitable pillars will be left behind to ensure ground stability during the mining. Ore is trucked to the surface and then hauled to the treatment plant.

Of the openpit and underground mining studies completed to date, the PFS mining inventory contains six-million tonnes and 465 000 oz of gold respectively, recovered over four years and nine months. The mineral inventory under the PFS has increased by 58 000 oz from the scoping study.

The PFS metallurgical testwork has been applied to optimising the milling capability of the Matilda project ores through the 100%-owned Wiluna gold plant. The initial processing route will be crush, grind, gravity and carbon-in-leach, with elution into the gold room. The free milling ore will initially be processed through Mill 1 and Mill 2 for an average current life-of-mine throughput of 1.27-million tonnes a year. The metallurgical recoveries from the openpits are estimated to average 88%, which is consistent with the previous production from the Matilda and Williamson orebodies.

It is forecast that Matilda will have an overall achievable metallurgical performance of 87.7% gold recovery, 86.6% from Williamson, 91.9% from Golden Age and 95.8% from Galaxy.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an estimated pretax net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of A$124-million and an internal rate of return of 105%, with a payback of 14 months.

Value
Preproduction costs are estimated at A$30-million.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Blackham has started construction at the Matilda gold project, approving the refurbishments to plant equipment and the camp.

The Wiluna gold plant refurbishment will be undertaken by contractors Interquip/Mintrex and Practon Mining Services, with all critical-path long-lead items having been ordered and engineering work has started.

Blackham has also committed to the refurbishment of the Matilda camp.

The A$20.3-million placement announced earlier this week has allowed for the contracts to be awarded and work to proceed at Matilda.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Blackham Resources, tel +61 8 9322 6418, fax +61 8 9322 6398 or email info@blackhamresources.com.au.
Interquip/Mintrex, tel +61 8 9493 0444, fax +61 8 9493 0299 or email Info@interquip.com.au
Practon Mining Services, tel +61 8 9572 6108 or fax +61 8 9572 6105.