The shallow, gold orebody at Classic Minerals’ flagship Kat Gap project has been revealed for the first time. The gold explorer says the ground-breaking exposure is only seven metres below the surface and comes from a shallow hole in the floor of the bulk sample mining pit.
According to the company, a three-kilogram crushed sample of quartz from the shallow test hole was crushed and panned, yielding good amounts of fine visible gold.
The shallow hole exposing the ore body was dug to gauge the overall thickness of the remaining silcrete overburden that hosts the river gravel layer that Classic now estimates to be 2m thick.
Removal of the overburden was progressing as planned and Classic had recently moved down to a level five to six metres below the surface. After extending the depth of the bulk sample mining pit with another shallow hole, the main ore zone was exposed at just 7m below the surface.
With an eye to the future, the explorer is already storing the topsoil for future rehabilitation.
Classic Minerals Chief Executive Officer, Dean Goodwin said: “The next phase is to strip off the remaining overburden and expose the entire orebody on the pit floor for the first time.”
Only a small part of the ore zone has been exposed and Classic expects much greater widths when the removal of the overburden is complete.
The main ore zone consists of extensive quartz veining in oxidised host granite and Classic says the overlying gold-bearing river gravels encountered earlier in March are being mined and stockpiled separately for detailed sampling and assaying.
Interestingly, the unanticipated river gravels had not appeared in previous reverse circulation drilling programs. However, the rock layer was ultimately a welcome guest as an onsite crush and pan resulted in minor amounts of visible gold in the panning dish.
Classic says the ongoing bulk sample mining program is expected to run for another four to six weeks.
Importantly, the bulk sample is a critical pre-production procedure that will allow the explorer to fine-tune its mobile processing plant ahead of any full-scale mining operations.
The Kat Gap project holds 975,222 tonnes of ore grading a respectable 2.96 grams per tonne gold, containing 92,856 ounces of gold.
In particular, Kat Gap is the highest-grade contributor to Classic’s total mineral resource of 8.24 million tonnes of ore going 1.52 g/t gold, containing a grand total of 403,906 ounces of gold.
Classic appears to be rounding the corner into production at its flagship project. As it comes down the home stretch there will no doubt be a willing crowd cheering it onto the finish line.
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By Matt Birney
