PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A scoping study into the recently acquired Hermes deposit, at gold miner Northern Star Resources’ Plutonic operation, in Western Australia, has revealed that the deposit could add 86 000 oz over a two- to three-year life.

The Hermes deposit, which was within trucking distance of the Plutonic gold mine, was acquired in February this year, after Northern Star signed a series of agreements with fellow-listed Alchemy Resources.

The expected production from Hermes would increase Plutonic’s production from between 75 000 oz and 80 000 oz this financial year, to about 100 000 oz/y from the 2017 financial year.

Mining at the Hermes deposit was expected to start next year, from three pits, with the ore being trucked to the Plutonic plant via a direct haulage route. The scoping study estimated that all-in sustaining costs at Hermes would amount to some A$1 095/oz, with the project requiring a capital investment of A$10-million.

The increase in production at Plutonic was part of Northern Star’s plans to grow its production to 700 000 oz/y from the 2018 financial year, up from the expected production of between 535 000 oz and 570 000 oz this year.

Since taking ownership of the Plutonic mine, Northern Star had invested significantly in exploring new resource areas around the mine, which had led to the development of four new areas.

Northern Star MD Bill Beament said that it was clear the company’s strategy to rebuild Plutonic was now starting to pay dividends.

“We bought Plutonic because we were confident there was a lot more gold to be found. The results of our exploration and development strategy show that we were right.

“We have made the investment in identifying and developing these new areas, which will enable us to move away from remnant mining into genuinely new areas of mineralisation.”

With the new mineralised zones now moving from the development to the mining phase, total expenditure at Plutonic had fallen from around A$11-million a month to A$9.2-million in October, with the miner aiming to further reduce this figure to A$8.8-million a month early next year.

“The start of mining at Hermes and the shift away from remnant mining into these new areas will ensure Plutonic plays its role in our plan to be a 700 000 oz/y producer,” Beament said.