New study highlights significant value of Barton Gold’s Central Gawler Mill

Barton Gold (ASX: BGD) has received another significant bonus related to its key South Australian gold producing infrastructure with an assessment of the Central Gawler Mill valuing the historic asset at over $100 million in replacement value.

The Central Gawler Mill, the only operational gold mill in the area, is currently being evaluated for its potential utilisation in future Stage 1 operations in the Gawler region.

The valuation is part Barton’s preliminary preservation program at the Central Gawler Mill, which was completed in December 2022 as part of recommissioning scope and cost estimates studies.

The studies which included disassembling, cleaning and storing of equipment from the mill, have already provided a major pay off for Barton.

The company revealed at the end of May that it had recovered gold estimated to be worth around $1.1 million dollars, while initial assays obtained from the overhaul identified “bonanza” grades of approximately 3,000 grams per tonne of gold.

Assessing an insurance valuation

These cleanup works are part of an independent valuation report of the mill and associated site infrastructure.

The results will be utilised to assess an appropriate level of insurance cover to protect the strategic assets as Barton progresses a regional development and assessment of potential options to commence accelerated ‘Stage 1’ operations utilising the Central Gawler Mill.

The valuation report has assessed Central Gawler Mill and associated infrastructure is worth $100 million on an ‘as new’ replacement value basis and over $50 million on an ‘as is’ indemnity value basis.

Key infrastructure advantage

The Central Gawler Mill continues to provide Barton with significant leverage for regional development of gold mineralisation and its South Australian focus.

The company holds a dominant position in the rich Gawler area, including ownership of the Tunkillia gold project and the Tarcoola and Challenger gold mines.

Barton Gold currently has a total attributable 1.3 million ounces of gold JORC Mineral Resources estimate.

The company is looking to add to those numbers with a number of advanced exploration projects and brownfield mines across its portfolio.

Barton reported recently that it had obtained promising drilling results from the Tunkillia gold project’s 223 deposit, which had led to an approximately 189 ounces of gold increase in the mineral resource estimation.

The total mineral resources at Tunkillia are now estimated at 1.15 million ounces of gold.