Bardoc Gold continues to kick goals at its 1.7-million-ounce Aphrodite gold deposit in WA, with recent drilling returning a quiver of high-grade gold hits that sit outside the current ore reserve and pit design. Best results from the newly discovered Omega lode, which extends south from the proposed Aphrodite open pit, included 14 metres at 7.63 grams per tonne gold from 106m and 5m at 3.99 g/t gold from only 67m down-hole.
The company says drilling will continue to test the Omega lode with the ongoing flow of broad gold intercepts expected to be incorporated into updated reserve estimates and mine design.
Bardoc Gold Chief Executive Officer, Robert Ryan said: “These new results within the Omega Lode are situated just outside the proposed Stage 1 open pit shell at Aphrodite and offer strong potential to significantly add to the current resource and reserve inventory. The high-grade nature of Omega Lode also presents the opportunity to expand the proposed underground mine plans at Aphrodite.”
“Recent drilling success across the Omega, Sigma and Gamma lodes at Aphrodite show these additional mining areas have the potential to underpin strong and sustainable production well beyond the current eight-year-plus mine plan. “
The company’s flagship Bardoc gold project is only 40 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie in the mineral-rich Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. Bardoc’s project area covers more than 40km of the fertile Bardoc Tectonic Zone, or “BTZ” that it shares with a number of other aspiring miners and explorers including Ardea Resources and Zuleika Gold.
However, Bardoc is currently leading the race to production having recently tabled a definitive feasibility study and identified more than 3.07 million ounces in resources.
Primary ore sources for the proposed mine are the 530,000-ounce Zoroastrian and 354,000-ounce Excelsior deposits in the south and the 1.66-million-ounce Aphrodite gold deposit in the north of the company’s tenure.
The company has designed a 2.1 million tonne per annum plant to process ore from these three deposits and a host of satellite pits, with planned annual production of more than 135,000 ounces of gold per annum.
Mr Ryan said: “The mining proposal has now been submitted in line with our development schedule, putting us on track to commence construction of the 2.1Mtpa processing facility in the December 2021 quarter.”
With the company now charging into a construction phase for its milling operation near Zoroastrian and drilling in the near-mine environment continuing to add to potential ore reserves, Bardoc looks to be well placed on its path to production in 2022 and to continue unlocking value via the drill bit.
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By Matt Birney
