ASX-listed Calidus Resources has strengthened the open-pit credentials of its wholly-owned Warrawoona gold project in WA’s East Pilbara region, with recent RC resource drilling at its Klondyke deposit delivering several near-surface intercepts, including an impressive 26 metres grading 2g/t starting at a depth of just 1m.
The latest results will be used to establish a confident JORC-compliant measured resource and demonstrate that Klondyke’s gold mineralisation is easily accessible almost from surface.
The tenor and thickness of the gold zones highlight the technical and economic strength of the planned open-pit and are consistent with Calidus’ strategy to de-risk the present 1.25 million ounce Warrawoona resource, which is currently the subject of due diligence ahead of a DFS.
The project hosts an indicated mineral resource of 13.5 million tonnes at 1.83g/t gold for 795,000 ounces and an inferred resource of 7.7 million tonnes grading 1.81g/t gold for 453,000 ounces defined over five kilometres of strike.
Importantly, the ore system is still open in all directions.
Calidus controls about 781 square kilometres of prospective tenements that host over 200 historic workings and three satellite mineral resources at Fieldings Gully, Copenhagen and Coronation.
The company is completing 88 shallow RC holes to define the gold distribution grades it will look to exploit during the first 12 months of open pit mining at Warrawoona.
The drill campaign is concentrating on the near-surface expression of gold mineralisation in the eastern portion of Klondyke’s PFS proposed pit design and Calidus is enjoying considerable success from the work
At least 18 of these holes show gold mineralised intercepts almost directly from surface to 65m down-hole, including 14m at 3.8g/t gold from 1m, 23m at 2.3g/t gold from 37m and 14m at 3.51g/t gold from 2m in separate holes.
Other notable intercepts include 16m at 2.47g/t gold from 4m, 16m at 2.11g/t gold from 6m and 11m at 1.96g/t gold directly from the surface.
Calidus’ PFS shows that Warrawoona would churn out around 100,000oz of gold per annum over an initial six-year mine life at and all-in sustaining cost of about $1,159 per ounce.
The company now expects to upgrade a portion of its proposed gold production within the first years of open pit operations into the higher confidence JORC-compliant measured resource category.
This could potentially swell the ore reserve position and also lower the all-in sustaining costs of the gold production at Warrawoona.
Calidus Managing Director Dave Reeves said: “The outcropping nature of the ore body, high grades and substantial continuous widths of mineralisation will provide significant technical and financial advantages to the project.”
“The drilling for the measured resource is now complete and the RC rig has moved on to drilling areas east of the current pit design as part of our plan to continue growing the mine life inventory.”
“Drilling will then progress to Klondyke West, approximately 3km west of the current resource, to commence more detailed exploration of this large gold system.”
Calidus has deployed a diamond rig to speed up the conversion of inferred resources into the indicated category as part of the development work for a potential underground operation beneath the proposed Klondyke pit.
Work planned for the next quarter includes completion of the mineral resource drilling at Klondyke East, the regional exploration RC drilling across high-priority targets to the west of the Klondyke resource and the completion of the first phase of Klondyke’s diamond drilling.
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By Matt Birney
