PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner Gold Road Resources has reported a 1.07-million-ounce increase to the ore reserve of the Gruyere joint venture (JV), in Western Australia.

At the end of September, the openpit reserve was estimated at 110.4-million tonnes, grading 1.28 g/t gold for 4.54-million ounces, a 31% increase on the previous estimate, despite a 0.21-million-ounce depletion during 2021.

“This is a material increase in ore reserves that further establishes Gruyere as a Tier One gold mine. Very few gold producers can reliably claim such a long-life production outlook with confidence. The update is the culmination of multiple comprehensive high-quality studies undertaken by the Gruyere JV. Gruyere will be amongst the deepest Australian open cut gold mines, achieving a final depth of approximately 500 m,” said Gold Road MD and CEO Duncan Gibbs.

The openpit mineral resource remains unchanged at 155.8-million tonnes,at 1.34 g/t gold for 6.71-million ounces.

Meanwhile, Gold Road on Thursday confirmed that production at Gruyere reached 59 710 oz during the September quarter, at an all-in sustaining cost of A$1 697/oz. This was compared with the 53 132 oz produced in the June quarter, at an all-in sustaining cost of A$1 659/oz.

Gold Road previously told shareholders that operations in the September quarter had been impacted on by low plant utilisations, including the unscheduled ball mill maintenance. Normal production resumed at the end of September, with the project expected to produce between 71 000 oz and 81 000 oz in the December quarter, while full year production has been estimated at between 250 000 oz and 260 000 oz.

All-in sustaining cost for the full year is expected at between A$1 450/oz and A$1 525/oz.

Gold Road’s gold sales for the quarter ended September totalled 28 350 oz, at an average price of A$2 231/oz, and this included the delivery of 9 800 oz at an average price of A$1 836/oz into forward sales contracts.