Artemis discovers conglomerate gold at Pilbara tenement near Purdy’s Reward, starts plant refurbishment
Artemis Resources’ Radio Hill processing plant.
Exploration at Artemis Resources’ (ASX: ARV) Mt OscarWits project, 16km from Purdy’s Reward, has uncovered conglomerate gold grading up to 15.3 grams per tonne (g/t) across 14km of strike, as the company kicks off refurbishment of its Radio Hill processing plant.
Stream sediment sampling at the tenement has also identified gold grading 1.37g/t.
Artemis Resources has targeted initial exploration over 14km strike at Mt OscarWits, with 5km strike now mapped in detail.
Artemis Resources’ projects in Karratha area.
“We have seen gold grades in some of these conglomerates below the Mt Roe Basalts up to 15.5g.t gold, and we are seeing stream sedimentary results up to almost double what was originally seen at Purdy’s Reward using the same techniques,” Artemis Resources’ executive chairman David Lenigas said.
Mr Lenigas said that Artemis Resources owned 100% of the Mt OscarWits project, which had all required exploration approvals.
He added that exploration was ongoing.
Pilbara’s gold rush
Western Australia’s Pilbara region is undergoing a gold frenzy, after conglomerate-style gold was discovered at the Purdy’s Reward prospect.
Subject to a joint venture between Artemis Resources and TSX-listed Novo Resources (TSX: NVO), Purdy’s Reward triggered a gold rush in the area as the duo and many other explorers including De Grey Mining (ASX: DEG), Calidus Resources (ASX: CAI), Kalamazoo Resources (ASX: KZR) scrambled to secure gold rights in the region and have begun reporting their own discoveries.
The frenzy has been a result of the conglomerate-style of the gold mineralisation, which has been likened to the Witwatersrand deposit in South Africa. What makes this special is Witwatersrand is believed to be the world’s largest gold deposit, having already produced 1.5 billion ounces, with much more to come.
Radio Hill processing plant
As part of Artemis Resources’ strategy to fast track its exploration-to-production time-frame, the company announced this morning it has begun refurbishing its Radio Hill processing plant which under stage one, will be process up to 500,000 tonnes of ore per annum. Under stage two, the plant will be upgraded to 1 million tonnes per annum capacity.
The fully-permitted plant will include a new gold circuit and will also be able process cobalt, copper, nickel and zinc sulphide ore.
According to Mr Lenigas, a gold processing circuit will also enable the company to process bulk samples of conglomerate gold ore from its Pilbara projects, which can assist with cost and time-frame reduction.
“Even though we are producing positive cash flow from copper sales from our Whundo copper mine near Radio Hill, the board is committed to moving Artemis Resources towards becoming a significant multi-metals production company as soon as possible,” Mr Lenigas said.
Shares in the company were up almost 7% in early afternoon trade, on the back of the company’s announcements.