Auric Mining (ASX: AWJ) has announced a 32% increase to the in situ mineral resource at its Munda gold project in Western Australia, despite the depletion of 10,000 ounces from recent starter-pit mining.
Utilising the same resource drilling as the previous 2024 block model but reflecting a less conservative treatment of high-grade drill samples and more selective mining, Matrix Resource Consultants re-estimated the Indicated and Inferred resource at 4.2 million tonnes grading 1.43 grams per tonne for 192,000oz gold.
The new estimate incorporates data from mining of the starter pit, with 8,886oz produced versus the budgeted 6,100oz, and a further 2,900oz stockpiled for future processing.
This includes reconciled gold production from the mill, which was 46% higher than expected.
It also takes into account a substantially stronger gold price and constrains the resource to an optimal pit shell (resource pit) generated at $7,000 per ounce, compared to $3,200/oz used in 2024.
Enhanced Understanding
Mining of the Munda starter pit has substantially improved Auric’s understanding of the gold deposit, particularly the contribution of high drill sample grades to mineable grades.
Gold production from the starter pit exceeded Auric’s expectations, leading to refinement in the estimation of the project’s mineral resources.
The optimal pit shell extends over 980 metres of strike with a maximum width of 400m and a maximum depth of 200m, or around 50m deeper than the $3,200/oz pit.
With Munda’s gold mineralisation visually indistinct, the company sees reverse circulation grade control drilling as a critical step in defining ore blocks and grades for mining.
Auric considers this approach appropriate to providing reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction.
Initial Estimates Exceeded
Managing director Mark English said Munda had developed into a very sizeable gold asset, calling the latest results “outstanding”.
“The main purpose of the initial mining was to test the resource model and increase our understanding of the gold mineralisation at Munda—encouragingly, the recovered gold production far exceeded initial estimates,” Mr English said.
“The starter pit also enabled us to build our knowledge and experience in our self-mining capability and generate substantial cash reserves [that] will allow us to progress the greater Munda and Burbanks operation and transform the company into a fully integrated mining house.”
“We are looking forward to additional drilling, which we anticipate will continue to expand and grow the gold resource,” he added.
