Mining

Testwork shows Grace deposit could be early gold producer for Youanmi owners Rox Resources and Venus Metals

Go to Imelda Cotton author's page
By Imelda Cotton - 
Rox Resources Venus Metals ASX RXL VMC Youanmi Project Update July 2021 OYG gold

Grace mineralisation does not require drilling and blasting – resulting in potential cost savings in an open pit mining scenario.

Copied

Venus Metals Corporation (ASX: VMC) and its OYG joint venture partner Rox Resources (ASX: RXL) have conducted a ripping trial at the high-grade near-surface Grace deposit at the Youanmi gold project near Mt Magnet in Western Australia.

The trial was conducted on Grace mineralisation and surrounding material in the existing Youanmi main pit to ascertain whether the material will be amenable to free-dig or require blasting in an early-stage mining scenario.

The results showed that Grace oxidised granites to a depth of 60 vertical metres below surface will not require drilling and blasting, representing a significant cost saving with respect to future open pit mining costs at the deposit.

They will be incorporated into the broader Youanmi feasibility study which commenced in June following the announcement of a resource upgrade.

Youanmi’s OYG joint venture is shared between Rox (with a majority 70% stake) and Venus with remaining 30%.

Early opportunity

Rox managing director Alex Passmore said the deposit presents an “early opportunity for gold production” within the overall development plan for Youanmi.

“These results support the concept that Grace will be an early contributor to production and cash flow upon the development of this project,” he said.

In February, initial metallurgical testwork delivered high gold recoveries from Grace, indicating the deposit would be amenable to a conventional gravity and cyanide leach processing circuit.

Displacement of mineralisation

Grace is one of several north-south trending lines within accommodation structures at the Youanmi Granite which relate to the geological displacement and emplacement of mineralisation.

The deposit’s gold content is hosted in quartz-sericite altered shear zones within the granite and characterised by high-grade, semi-continuous to discontinuous ore shoots.

In order to better understand the controls on mineralisation and the style and continuity of structure, Rox resolved to cut a “window” into the top of Grace by removing the cap rock in the southern, more densely-drilled area of the deposit.

Ditchwitch trenches, supplied by Beeline Services in Mt Magnet, were cut to gain further knowledge from long face exposures and yield samples for gravity test work and grade estimation analysis.

Free gold was readily panned from trenches where the mineralised zones occur.

“Our strategy of continuing development at Grace is based on first understanding in detail the southern area near Youanmi’s main pit and applying that knowledge to the lesser-drilled areas to the north,” Mr Passmore said.