Navarre Minerals’ (ASX: NML) global mineral inventory has reached 1 million ounces of gold equivalent, which reflects “significant growth” at its wholly-owned Mt Carlton operation in Queensland.
At the end of June, Navarre’s group mineral resource stood at 17.5 million tonnes at 1.8 grams per tonne gold equivalent for the 1Moz gold equivalent.
Group gold resources were 17.5Mt at 1.45g/t gold for 819,000oz, while the silver component was 13.6Mt at 24.1g/t for a contained 10.585Moz and copper contributed 11.2Mt at 0.2% copper for a contained 19,200t of the red metal.
Commitment to drilling at Mt Carlton key to result
Navarre says the new resource estimate reflects “significant” growth in the company’s Mt Carlton operation, and for the first time, includes the satellite Crush Creek deposit.
It is a year since Navarre, until then solely focused on gold exploration in the Stawell Corridor of Victoria, signed a deal with Evolution Mining (ASX: EVN) to buy the operating mine located 130km south of Townsville — immediately pushing the junior into the producer category.
As part of the agreement, Evolution became a significant shareholder in Navarre. The deal also included Evolution’s Crush Creek gold deposit, 30km from Mt Carlton, acquired in 2020.
The company says its commitment to resource definition and exploration drilling at Mt Carlton is the result of its new resource milestone.
Managing director Ian Holland says this 1Moz equivalent resource represents another important milestone for Navarre as it executes its strategy of becoming a significant Australian gold producer.
“The Mt Carlton operation is a strategic, cornerstone asset for our business and it is pleasing that our ongoing drilling programs continue to deliver significant resource growth,” he added.
Maiden resource for Crush Creek deposit
The company’s Queensland projects now account of 740,000oz of gold equivalent, while the Stawell Corridor project contribute 304,000oz of gold equivalent.
Four new mineral resource estimates were completed at Mt Carlton using the latest drilling data.
One of those, at Crush Creek, was a maiden estimate for the BV1 deposit of 435,000 tonnes at 2.8g/t gold for a contained 40,000oz.
