John Lester

Classic Minerals is edging closer to cashflow after its mining license application for development of the near-surface Kat Gap gold project in WA cleared a major hurdle when Western Areas Ltd withdrew its objection to the application. Fresh from an over-subscribed $1.2 million placement earlier this week, Classic has clear air to move forward with planning to begin mining and gold production at Kat Gap next year.

Classic Minerals has ticked the last box on the pathway to production at its high-grade Kat Gap project after the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety granted its mining lease application. Kat Gap threw up some spectacular high-grade results last year which prompted the company to purchase a mobile plant to mine the near-surface gold.

ASX-listed Classic Minerals has successfully commissioned its Australian-designed “Gekko” mobile processing plant in a key step towards producing gold from its Kat Gap gold project south of Southern Cross in WA by August this year. Classic has a granted mining lease and circa-93,000 ounce JORC gold resource at Kat Gap.

Classic Minerals has achieved another significant milestone on the way to production start-up in the form of a native title agreement over the mining area at its developing Kat Gap gold project about 170km south of Southern Cross in WA. The company says it has now executed a Noongar Alternative Heritage Agreement with the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council, representing the Ballardong Agreement Group.

Classic Minerals’ customised gold plant is on its way to the company’s 404,000-ounce Forrestania gold project south of Southern Cross in WA, where final environmental approvals attached to its granted mining lease for 100 per cent-owned Kat Gap are now awaited. Classic expects to have Kat Gap’s native vegetation clearance permit and approved final mining proposal documentation in its hands within three months.

Classic Minerals has hit paydirt at Kat Gap in Western Australia with infill and extensional drilling across its evolving resource area intersecting uber high-grade gold mineralisation. Results include the company’s best ever intercept of an impressive 10 metres at 40.54 grams per tonne gold. That drill hit featured an interval of 0.5m going at an astonishing 592 g/t from only 26.5m down-hole.

ASX-listed gold developer, Classic Minerals has moved a step closer to full-scale gold production at its Kat Gap project near Southern Cross having turned the first sod in a trial mining operation. The company is targeting up to 1,000 ounces of gold initially from a bulk sample that will also provide important geological, engineering and metallurgical information prior to full-scale mining of its 93,000-ounce resource.

Classic Minerals has only one hurdle left to clear now to develop its Kat Gap gold mine near Southern Cross after being given a permit to clear native vegetation for its mine and processing plant in WA’s goldfields. The company only needs regulatory approval for its mining proposal now including the mine closure plan before it can kick its operation into gear.

Classic Minerals has entered into a joint venture treaty with Tribitrage Holdings that will see the company offload 80 per cent of its lithium interest rights at two Kat Gap mining tenements in WA. Under the agreement, Tribitrage will cough up $300,000 to claim a majority stake and will be required to spend $500,000 on exploration within the first 2 years.

Gold-focused Classic Minerals has cleared the final hurdle in its race to develop the Kat Gap gold mine after receiving regulatory approval for its mining operations. With its mining proposal and closure plan now given the green light Classic can progress to full-scale mining. The company is continuing the mining of a 49,000-tonne bulk sample that commenced last year.

Classic Minerals’ share price skyrocketed over 290 per cent during intraday trading after news the company had secured a cash injection worth up to $10 million to take its flagship Kat Gap gold project in WA to production. The deal saw over 200 million securities exchange hands, representing nearly all of its shares on offer as punters clamoured to get in on the action.

Classic Minerals has been given the green light to begin production at its Kat Gap gold mine near Southern Cross after officially receiving WA Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety approval. The Kat Gap deposit hosts almost 93,000 ounces of an inferred mineral resource at 2.96 grams per tonne gold and is the principal contributor to the company’s total gold inventory of more than 400,000 ounces.

After a pilot test run to assess the suitability of its plant to process ore from the company’s premier Kat Gap deposit, Classic Minerals’ Gekko processing plant has outperformed its expectations. The low-cost modular plant delivered more than 95 per cent of the liberated gold through a simple gravity process. After receiving approval for a tailings storage facility the company will now move to assemble its plant before commencing the processing of ore and finally the production of long awaited gold.

In a pilot run of its innovative “Gekko” gold processing plant, Classic Minerals has achieved an average grade of 6.06 grams per tonne gold using its first bulk sample of ore from the company’s Kat Gap gold resource that averages 2.96 g/t gold. Encouragingly, the pilot head grade was much higher than the average inferred resource grade calculated in April 2020.

WA-focused gold explorer Classic Minerals has received final approval from the state regulator to produce gold from the company’s flagship Kat Gap project south of Southern Cross in WA. The company says over the coming months it will move from a pure explorer to gold producer. Classic intends to take a staged mining approach at Kat Gap as it looks to reduce early overhead costs and mitigate risk.

Classic Minerals has attracted the interest of global investment group LDA Capital who will provide a $15m equity line over the next three years for Classic to develop its 93,000 ounce high grade Kat Gap gold deposit in WA’s Southern Cross region. The company has also locked away a $5m con-note to turbo-charge the funding options for Kat Gap and its greater Forrestania project area.

Classic Minerals appears set to fully own its Forrestania gold project, south of Southern Cross in Western Australia, after it entered into an agreement with Hannans subsidiary Reed Exploration to purchase the final 20 per cent of the operation. Combined with its Kat Gap project, the company’s total resource around Forrestania comes to 8.41 million tonnes at 1.45g/t gold for 391,417 ounces.

Classic Minerals appears set for a significant financial boost as it pushes towards production at its Kat Gap gold project after executing a binding term sheet with an international fintech for an initial US$10 million. The agreement with Swiss-based AuResources also provides for the advance of a further US$50 million in five tranches of US$10 million each.