PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Western Australian Department of Mining, Industry Regulation and Safety has approved gold miner Gascoyne Resources' updated mining proposal for its Dalgaranga gold project, clearing the way for mining at the higher-grade Never Never and Gilbey’s North deposits.
In addition to mining at the two deposits, the approval also covers the construction of an initial lift of the Golden Wings tailings storage facility, an increase to the height of the existing waste dumps, and additional storage capacity for potentially acid forming waste.
Gascoyne told shareholders on Wednesday that the approval supported the plan to target higher-grade ore sources and increase the head grade at Dalgaranga, with mining at the two deposits expected to start in November.
The two deposits have an initial mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 1.43-million tonnes at 2.32 g/t gold for 107 200 oz and an ore reserve of 0.38-million tonnes at 1.63 g/t gold for 20 000 oz. An upgraded MRE for Never Never is due in the December quarter.
Production at Galgaranga is currently sourced from the Gilbey’s and Plymouth openpits, and the project produced 71 000 oz of gold in the 2022 financial year.