New Talisman Gold Mines doubles its high-grade gold resource
New Talisman Gold Mines (ASX: NTL) announced a substantial upgrade to its gold resources after the completion of the first module pertaining to the Talisman Deeps project in the Coromandel region of New Zealand.
Key Highlights:
- Total JORC 2012 resources in Dubbo alone doubles to 312,800oz gold equivalent at 21.98g/t;
- Updated resource estimate place Talisman among the highest grade underground gold mines globally;
- Updated Pre-feasibility study the next step in the development of Talisman Deeps;
- Resource upgrades of remaining Talisman Deeps modules by 31 July;
- Development work underground has commenced;
- Acceleration and/or expansion of exploration & extraction programmes to be considered;
- NTL Fully funded to 2020 under current prospecting and bulk sampling plans.
Resource modelling of the Dubbo Zone has resulted in measured, indicated, and inferred resources increasing to 312,800 oz gold equivalent (Au Eq) at a grade of 21.98g/t Au Eq. This is an increase of 102% over the 2004 resource estimate of 140,600 oz gold and 445,800 oz Ag for this zone (154,690 oz Au Eq). Reporting standards are compliant with those set out in the 2012 version of the JORC Code.
CEO of New Talisman Gold Mines, Matthew Hill said:
“The grades established of up to 146.2g/t for an average of 21.98g/t places this deposit as one of the highest grade mineral resources in NZ and ranks in the top 5 worldwide. The dramatic increase in Dubbo resources ultimately proves our long-held belief that there is significant remaining ore at depth. The data compilation and resource modelling has brought a much greater understanding of the mine and sets a very positive platform for long term mine development at Talisman. Work at site continues to progress underground and is on budget and ahead in project timelines.”
Figure 1: Work in progress with support upgrades at the Talisman Project.
Mineral resources upgrades to JORC 2012 standards are underway at three other modules within the Talisman Deeps zone:- they lie under the Talisman workings that currently are being refurbished by the company. Bulk sampling of the Mystery Vein zone will be undertaken once that refurbishment is completed.
The increase in measured, indicated, and inferred gold equivalent resources in the Dubbo Zone is a significant milestone and demonstrates the potential for increasing the life of the project.
Source: Natural Resources Ltd, 2013.
A further 95,000 oz Au Eq has also been identified at a grade of 23.75g/t as exploration potential, giving a total Mineral Inventory for the Dubbo Zone of 408,000 oz Au Eq.
The exploration potential constitutes a global Exploration Target as defined in the 2012 JORC Code. The potential quantity and grade is conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a Mineral Resource.
New Talisman removed a stockpile of remnant ore believed to be representative of ore from the Dubbo zone in 2014. It was milled at Newmont’s Waihi treatment facility and returned on average 42g/t gold.
The prospecting phase, currently well underway at the Talisman site, has established the site and the refurbishment of underground areas is providing access to the Mystery Vein.
Once underground refurbishment and prospecting is completed, the company will initiate a bulk sampling project. Consent from Hauraki District Council has been received to remove 20,000 cubic metres per annum for a period of two years.
The resource upgrade at Dubbo Deeps, together with any further resource increases at Talisman Deeps in its entirety, will be included in an updated pre-feasibility study and ore reserve statement in due course. Where possible, areas identified will be prospected and tested for inclusion into the body of works during Bulk Sampling.
Based on current plans the company is fully funded for completion of the Talisman deeps resource modelling and completion of prospecting and Bulk sampling through to 2020. The Board will consider acceleration and/or expansion of exploration and extraction plans subject to funding.
Figure 2: Oblique view of the Maria Vein wireframe with historic drives shown in grey, the Dubbo Zone is shown in red . This is the pre – mined model, historic depletions were subtracted from this model.
Figure 3: Long Section showing the Measured (red), Indicated (green) and Inferred Resource blocks with the historic stoping shown in grey.
The updated resource table for the Dubbo Zone is shown below:
Figure 4: Sample taken from Talisman Deeps areas – currently stored at Auckland museum.
A lower cut-off grade of 3.0g/t Au Eq (previously 0g/t) was applied to reflect the mine cut-off grade estimated for the financial modelling in the 2013 prefeasibility study. No top cut to the data was applied.
Gold equivalents have been used due as the historic data is expressed in bullion values. These have been converted to gold equivalents based on the gold price during the main historic mining period to 1919 where gold price was a constant £4.25 or USD20.47. All more recent exploration data has been converted to gold equivalents at the same metal prices for consistency of resource estimation and reporting.