Horizon Minerals has added more gold tenements and licence applications around Kalgoorlie with the latest acquisitions being a short trucking distance from the flagship Boorara project, just south-east of Australia’s major gold hub. The additions include both surface and deeper resources as well as targets at the neighbouring Cannon underground mine.
The company has reached a binding agreement with private gold company Aurenne Group Holdings to take up 100 per cent ownership of that company’s Bulong South, Glandore and Cowarna projects. Bulong South takes in the Cannon mine, adjacent to the site of Horizon’s proposed Boorara gold plant.
Horizon will pay Aurenne $2.5 million on settlement and a further $2.5 million at the time of first gold production from Cannon, or within 12 months of deal settlement. Aurenne decided to divest all of its east Kalgoorlie leases to focus on its Menzies gold project further north.
Horizon said Cannon would join its Boorara, Rose Hill, Binduli, Kalpini and Teal properties as core projects for a feasibility study due to be completed in the December quarter this year.
The Cannon deposit was discovered in 2008 and was developed by Southern Gold as an open cut to produce 53,000 oz grading 3.02 grams/tonne gold. It later passed through several companies that probed deeper, including Aurenne. This established an underground resource of 142,270 tonnes grading 5.17 g/t gold for an in-place 23,580 oz.
Horizon said Cannon had strong exploration scope at depth and along strike and that metallurgical testwork by ALS Ammtec had indicated its ore was suitable for processing by standard treatment methods.
The Glandore property is 14km east of Boorara and contains multiple advanced open pit and underground exploration targets, while the larger Cowarna holdings further south-east sit immediately east of Silver Lake Resources’ Mount Belches project – part of its Mount Monger gold operation.
Horizon’s core focus remains on establishing a stand-alone gold plant for the Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie region.
Horizon Managing Director, Jon Price said: “The Cannon underground gold project presents a high-grade, near-term development opportunity that will now be incorporated into the consolidated feasibility study and can provide high-grade ore feed in the early years to complement the base-load Boorara deposit and the four advanced open pit and underground satellite projects currently under evaluation.”
"We also see the potential for significant resource growth and exploration upside from the Bulong South, Glandore and exciting project areas with multiple walk-up drill targets on major geological structures.”
Planning for the start of drilling at the acquired ground is underway.
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