Kin Mining releases updated mineral resource estimate for Cardinia gold project

Junior explorer Kin Mining (ASX: KIN) has released an updated global mineral resource estimate for its flagship Cardinia gold project near Leonora in Western Australia.

The gold resource has hit 1.4 million ounces with the addition of 132,000 ounces grading 1.3 grams per tonne gold and a 95,000oz contribution at 1.3g/t from the recently-discovered Rangoon deposit within the project’s emerging Eastern Corridor.

The project-wide updated estimate now sits at 34.5 million tonnes at 1.27g/t for 1.41Moz of contained gold.

It represents an increase of 10% in contained ounces since the previous update published this time last year and reflects the success of Kin’s strategic drilling programs within the under-explored corridor.

Resource estimate breakdown

The updated resource estimate includes 2.29Mt at 1.29g/t for 94,000oz contained gold at Rangoon, representing an increase of 62,000oz on the previous estimate.

The Eastern Corridor deposits now total 7.2Mt at 1.47g/t for 338,000oz contained gold.

Also included was an updated estimate for the Bruno-Lewis prospect in the Western Corridor of 12.1Mt at 1g/t for 390,000oz contained gold, taking the total resource for Western Corridor deposits to 12.5Mt at 1.02g/t for 410,000oz.

The Mertondale and Raeside deposits contain resources of 11.7Mt at 1.22g/t for 457,000oz gold and 3.1Mt at 2.04g/t for 202,000oz gold, respectively.

The estimate for all optimised resources has also been extended into underground mining positions below the open pit optimisation shells.

This has added an additional 22,000oz at a 2g/t cut-off grade, representing an increase of 3.36Mt at 1.22g/t on the previous estimate.

All updates have been based on a gold price of $2600 and cost assumptions from a 2019 pre-feasibility study for the Cardinia project.

Exploration approach

Kin managing director Andrew Munckton attributed continued growth in the Cardinia resource base to the company’s exploration approach.

“We are particularly pleased to have delivered a 94,000oz estimate for Rangoon, where we have announced strong exploration results over the past 12 months and see outstanding potential for further growth,” he said.

“The Eastern Corridor, where Rangoon is located, has been the major focus of our drilling efforts and now boasts an impressive resource base for 338,000oz.”

While relatively small at this stage, the deeper and higher-grade resources are expected to grow as drilling advances at depth.

“We have a very strong pipeline of deposits which are yet to be estimated at the mineral resource level including Helens East in the Eastern Corridor and Pegasus and Eagle-Crow in the Western Corridor,” Mr Munckton said.

“We have planned further programs of work for the next 12 months to advance these exciting prospects to the resource stage.”

He said the company will continue working towards unlocking the value of Cardinia by converting exploration potential into JORC mineral resources.