Deposit grade boost for Horizon Boorara gold project

ASX-listed aspiring Kalgoorlie gold producer, Horizon Minerals, has firmed up the mineral resource estimate for one of its quintet of key satellite gold deposits which are set to complement its proposed flagship Boorara gold project development 10km east of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

The revised combined open-pittable and underground measured, indicated and inferred resource for the Rose Hill deposit, which is located less than one kilometre south-east of Coolgardie, now stands at 793,400 tonnes at an average grade of 3.65 grams per tonne for 93,200 ounces of contained gold. It includes an underground resource component of 506,800 tonnes at 4.6 g/t for 74,900 ounces of contained gold.

Perth-based Horizon pointed out the updated resource models show a reduction in tonnage offset by a 47 per cent increase in grade, which will boost Rose Hill’s credentials as a potential satellite ore feed source for its proposed central gold production operations at Boorara.

As part of a massive drilling blitz across its suite of deposits, all of which sit within trucking distance of Boorara, the company carried out confirmation, infill and extensional RC and diamond drilling to a depth of 200m at Rose Hill this year.

Stand-out intersections from the 45-hole Rose Hill program were 11m going 8.79 grams per tonne gold from 43m, 10m at 6.28 g/t from 28m, 7m at 7.26 g/t from 27m, 3.4m at 17.92 g/t from 79m and 4m at 9.77 g/t from 84m. Other notable intercepts included 16m at 4.10 g/t from 93m, 5m at 4.79 g/t from 4m and 3m at 6.63 g/t from 10m.

Horizon says open-pit and underground mining optimisation and design studies, which will be used to calculate maiden ore reserves numbers for Rose Hill and plugged into the Boorara consolidated feasibility study, were well advanced.

Rose Hill joins four other core satellite gold deposits – Binduli/Crake, Teal, Kalpini and Penny’s Find – Horizon is evaluating in the feasibility study as potential supporting cast members for the lead, base-load Boorara deposit to underpin the construction of a new, stand-alone gold treatment plant at Boorara.

Horizon Minerals Managing Director, Jon Price said: “The excellent open-pit and underground grades at Rose Hill have demonstrated its potential to be a significant contributor to the initial five-year mine plan being developed as part of the feasibility study due for completion in the June quarter 2021.”

Horizon’s Kalgoorlie gold mining and processing development vision is predicated on the chief Boorara measured, indicated and inferred resource of 16.45 million tonnes going 0.96 g/t for 507,000 ounces of contained gold.

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