Barton Gold (ASX: BGD) (OTCQB: BGDFF) has started a drilling campaign to upgrade the 313,000-ounce resource at the Challenger project in South Australia, adjacent to its wholly-owned Central Gawler Mill (CGM).
Contractor Kennedy Drilling will conduct the program, comprising up to 8,000 metres of reverse circulation work to target the conversion of mineralisation at existing open pits and other near-surface targets from inferred to indicated category.
Barton expects to convert the resource into an ore reserve on completion of the project’s definitive feasibility study (DFS), which aims to establish a low-risk, simplified development plan to restart the CGM, elevate Barton to ‘producer’ status, and maximise Challenger’s Stage 1 development optionality over the next decade.
Restarting the CGM will materially enhance the development prospects for Barton’s ‘regional enhancement’ assets such as the Tarcoola and Wudinna gold projects and the high-grade Tolmer silver prospect.
DFS Design Concept
The baseline Challenger operation outlined in the DFS will utilise historical higher-grade material from tailings storage facility 1.
It will also use limited, near-surface material without disturbing the project’s historical high-grade underground mine, its mineralisation, or its infrastructure access.
The design concept will help defer the technical risk and cost of underground operations to a future date (following the de-risking of Stage 1 operations) and provide Barton with further time to optimise its development plans.
The company is currently in discussions with credit, minerals trading, and other investment groups regarding the financing of Challenger’s Stage 1 operations.
Maximising Developmental Optionality
Barton managing director Alexander Scanlon said the company had moved straight to the DFS phase to capitalise on record gold and silver prices, as well as to give it flexibility moving forward at the CGM, which is the region’s only existing gold mill.
“Recent Challenger resource updates demonstrate considerable on-pit and near-surface gold mineralisation adjacent to the CGM,” he said.
“Our objective is to commence an initial ‘baseline’ operation that minimises cost and risk, while maximising development optionality for the Challenger underground mine and our Tarcoola, Tolmer and Wudinna projects.”
“In parallel, we are rapidly advancing our neighbouring large-scale Tunkillia gold project, targeting a mining lease application by the end of 2026.”
