JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Vast Resources has significantly expanded the mineral resource estimate of its Manaila polymetallic mine, which, when the company bought the Romanian mine in 2015, had less than 400 000 t of mineral resources left in the operating pit.
The openpit mineral resource in the measured and indicated category has increased by 209% on the July 2016 estimate to 3.589-million tonnes. The total openpit mineral resource in the indicated and inferred categories have increased by 78% from July 2016 to 4.6-million tonnes at a grade of 0.97% copper, 0.32% lead, 0.68% zinc, 25.8 g/t silver and 0.23% gold.
The underground mineral resource in the measured and indicated category increased by 299% to 399 000 t. The total underground resource in the indicated and inferred categories is 1.1-million tonnes at 1.58% copper, 0.82% lead, 0.88% zinc, 14.6 g/t silver and 0.15 g/t gold at an 1% copper cutoff.
The openpit and underground measured and indicated mineral resource implies a mine life of 11 years, at a rate of 30 000 t/m.
Vast CEO Andrew Prelea said that the larger mineral resource would support technical studies and would allow for the expansion of the mine’s Carlibaba extension, which would include the installation of a metallurgical processing facility planned to be funded by Tranche B of the $9.5-million Mercuria prepayment offtake agreement.