Barton Gold to Accelerate SA Portfolio Development after Successful June Quarter

Barton Gold Holdings (ASX: BGD) (OTCQB: BGDFF) is preparing to accelerate its South Australian project development opportunities after a run of recent successes.

Releasing its report for the June quarter, Barton highlighted its decision to accelerate feasibility and mining lease application programs at the company’s Tunkillia gold mine.

Barton’s ramp-up of Tunkillia’s overall development schedule will feature a dual-track acceleration of key approvals and development finance processes.

Positive Production Numbers

The decision to expedite activities at Tunkillia followed the release of an optimised scoping study that identified the potential production of 942,000 ounces of gold and approximately 2Moz silver, with an 0.8-year payback on a 10-year project, and $35 million in up-front capex savings.

Barton has since contracted SA environmental and social impact advisor ERIAS Group to prepare an environmental scoping report for the project.

Along with its progress at Tunkillia, Barton also used the recent quarter to focus on establishing the basis for a ‘Stage 1’ operation supported by its Central Gawler Mill (CGM).

Barton believes this unique piece of infrastructure – the only gold mill in the area – will help re-rate the company’s equity and credit profile to ‘producer’.

Low-Cost Gold Targets

The company has identified a number of potential gold mineralisation options to follow-up near the CGM for use as lower-cost and lower-risk ‘Stage 1’ mill feed.

They include the nearby Challenger gold project, where Barton recently unveiled an updated gold mineral resource estimate of 223,000oz including approximately 81,000oz @ 3.75 grams per tonne gold in higher-grade pit materials.

“It has been another truly exceptional quarter for Barton, with major progress on our CGM ‘Stage 1’ and Tunkillia ‘Stage 2’ projects,” managing director Alex Scanlon said.

“We are very well-positioned to continue building value on all fronts with $9m cash, a track record of asset monetisation and low dilution, and our substantial platform of existing, fully-permitted infrastructure.”