Gold production on the up and up for Ora Banda

ASX-listed gold producer Ora Banda Mining says its central Davyhurst gold processing hub and surrounding satellite mines in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields have continued to make performance improvements across the board during the operation’s current ramp-up phase. The Perth-based company eked out gold production of just over 2,450 ounces at Davyhurst over the past couple of weeks and it estimates total gold output has exceeded 9,000 ounces across July and August.

Ore feed for Ora Banda’s recommissioned 1.2 million-tonnes-per-annum- Davyhurst plant about 120 kilometres north-west of Kalgoorlie is sourced from the company’s Riverina open-cut and Golden Eagle underground mines and from the new Missouri open pit.

Riverina is located about 45km north of the plant, Golden Eagle lies 3.2km south of the plant and Missouri about 40km to the south-east.

Among an array of improvement initiatives, the introduction of deeper material now being mined at Riverina that provides better materials handling properties and a higher percentage of fresh rock for blending has bolstered the performance of the Davyhurst treatment facility, according to management.

Plant availability has also risen courtesy of a raft of rectification measures.

Ora Banda recently released an updated probable and proved reserves statement for the multi-deposit Davyhurst project that now stands at 6.2 million tonnes grading an average 2.4 grams per tonne for 470,000 ounces of contained gold.

The revised ore reserve numbers speak for the gold mining and processing operation’s six main satellite deposits of Riverina, Golden Eagle, Missouri, Waihi, Sand King and Callion – all situated within 50km of the plant.

Last month an infill and extensional follow-up diamond drilling program undertaken by the company at what it calls “Riverina Underground” returned a string of impressive high-grade gold hits below the mine’s current pit design.

Some of the eye-catching drill intersections included 1.3m at an average grade of 25.3 g/t gold from 217.8m, 2.8m at 21.2 g/t from 253.7m, 1.4m at 18.1 g/t from 281.6m and 5m at 16.7 g/t from 200m.

Other stand-out assay results from the recently completed round of 18 diamond holes for an aggregate drilling coverage of 3,460m were 2.6m going 13.4 g/t from 250m including 1.8m at 19.2 g/t, 6.8m at 8.6 g/t from 143.8m and 1.7m at 7.7 g/t from 199.7m.

Riverina’s measured, indicated and inferred open-pittable and underground resources currently tip the scales at a combined 2.95 million tonnes at grades averaging 3.2 g/t for 300,000 ounces of contained gold.

Of that total, Riverina Underground accounts for one million tonnes at a sterling grade of 5.6 g/t for 183,000 ounces of contained gold.

Ora Banda says the diamond drill results will be incorporated into a new mineral resource estimate for Riverina Underground that will be used as base case for proposed mining studies.

Gold mineralisation at Riverina Underground is still open to the south and at depth on three prospective shoots, the company says.

The main mining area at Riverina hosts mineralisation in three separate lode systems – the Main lode, Murchison lode and Reggie lode – that cover a strike length along the auriferous Riverina trend of more than 1km in a north-south orientation and spans a width of about 300m.

Open-cut mining at Riverina is currently taking place within a single pit that has a planned ultimate depth of about 110m below surface.

According to the company, Davyhurst remains on course to deliver on the annual production guidance target of 80,866 ounces of gold in the current financial year.

Ora Banda’s cash balance and unsold bullion on hand as at September 1 were $8 million and 1,298 ounces respectively, with no debt.

It has also just signed a non-binding and exclusive term sheet to sell the high-grade Mount Ida gold project about 200km north-west of Kalgoorlie and about 122km north of Davyhurst to ASX-listed junior explorer TNT Mines for $11 million cash.

Mount Ida encompasses a trio of deposits, dominated by the underground Baldock indicated resource of 136,000 tonnes averaging a bonanza grade of 18.6 g/t gold for 81,000 ounces of contained gold.

The project’s existing overall inferred and indicated resource including Baldock weighs in at 318,000 tonnes at 13.8 g/t for 141,000 ounces of contained gold.

TNT intends rattling the tin for $12 million in a capital raise to help cover the cost of the acquisition, subject to a formal agreement being ratified between the two parties.

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