PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Junior Manuka Resources has flagged the restart of gold production at its Mt Boppy project, in New South Wales, in the June quarter of this year.
The ASX-listed company on Wednesday reports that it is targeting the production of 25 000 oz/y over a three-year period. Ore from Mt Boppy will be treated at the existing Wonawinta plant, starting in April this year.
Manuka told shareholders that its gold production strategy included a number of measures to prolong the mine life and increase yearly production, including exploration to underpin the development of a number of small-scale opencast deposits.
Re-entry into the Mt Boppy opencut is scheduled for later in 2023, subject to the finalisation of an economic mining plan to produce up to 45 000 oz of gold beneath the base of the pit, with the recovery of between 3 000 oz and 4 000 oz targeted from broken ore at the base of the pit.
Manuka ceased openpit mining operations at Mt Boppy at the tail-end of 2021, with the project currently hosting an openpit resource of 281 850 t, grading 4.95 g/t gold. Drilling to evaluate the possibility of an underground mine is planned to start in the second half of 2023.