Meeka Metals is getting close to achieving a first gold pour in June from its flagship Murchison project in Western Australia, as the company pushes ahead with open pit mining activities and works at pace to expand its onsite processing facilities.
Meeka says mining activities are running well ahead of schedule and construction of infrastructure for its open pit gold mine is well underway.
The essential two-metre lift of the southern cell of the tailings storage facility is proceeding well and Meeka expects this work to be finished by mid-March.
Process plant expansion works are also advancing ahead of schedule. The project’s final 145 cubic metre carbon-in-leach tank has been successfully installed, along with access to a new cyanide storage tank and unloading platforms.
Installation of the new mill deck and cyclone structure and a new electrical switch room area is progressing rapidly.
Meeka Metals managing director Tim Davidson said: “With commencement of mining activities in February 2025, ahead of schedule, we achieved an important milestone for the Murchison gold project and the company. It reflects our deliberate and focussed actions to deliver on the development schedule, and in this instance exceed it, bringing the project and the company closer to first gold in mid-2025.”
Meeka’s Murchison gold project hosts a 1.2-million-ounce deposit running at a healthy 3 grams per tonne (g/t) gold on granted mining leases.
The company expects to start open pit mining in the March quarter and to commission its process plant in the June quarter. The first ore is due to be extracted from the open pits and hauled to the processing plant between April and June, in advance of the plant’s commissioning.
Drilling of depth extensions from an underground drill platform at Meeka’s Andy Well gold project is also due to ramp up in June.
Andy Well is on the northern extent of the highly prospective Mount Magnet and Youanmi shear zones between the historic towns of Mt Magnet and Cue, 46 kilometres northeast of Meekatharra.
Meeka acquired Andy Well and the adjacent Gnaweeda gold project, which contains its Turnberry and St Anne’s deposits, from Silver Lake Resources in February 2021.
The company completed a definitive feasibility study for the Murchison gold project in December last year, which outlined a 10-year production plan to produce up to 76,000 ounces gold per annum averaging 65,000 ounces per annum in the mine’s first seven years.
It’s no wonder Meeka is pleased with its fast-tracked progress at Murchison. Its anticipated first gold pour mid-2025 couldn’t be better timed to coincide with the recent stellar gold price.
It’s predicted the gold price could reach an eye-watering US$5000 (A$8046) by 2030, which based on its current timeline, Meeka’s open pit should still have plenty of mine life left to run.
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