Ora Banda Mining has delivered a solid increase to its gold inventory at Davyhurst in WA after it tabled a maiden resource for the Callion underground deposit of 77,000 ounces of high-grade gold, paving the way for the company to complete a DFS over the project.
The high-grade Callion gold deposit forms part of the Ora Banda’s 100%-owned Davyhurst gold project located 120 km to the northwest of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
The work at Callion brings the global resource for Davyhurst up to 2.13m ounces and the combined underground and open pit resource at Callion to 680,000 tonnes @ 4.9 g/t gold for 107,000 ounces – a 72 % upgrade in that location.
Callion is one of six mining centres at Davyhurst being assessed for development by Ora Banda and it is within easy trucking distance of the company’s Davyhurst gold plant.
Management at Ora Banda hasn’t put a foot wrong since taking the Davyhurst assets out of administration in early 2019 following the demise of Eastern Goldfields Ltd. The company put in place an ambitious development program aimed at rapidly bringing the operation back into production and the Callion resource represents the last piece of the puzzle ahead of the DFS being tabled.
Ora Banda’s Managing Director, David Quinlivan, said: “This update completes the resource estimation process for the imminent DFS. The deeper, high-grade drilling results received to date from Callion indicate there is significant potential for a lower tonnage, higher grade underground mine and we continue to evaluate this opportunity as we believe it could make a significant contribution to the larger Davyhurst Gold Project.”
The Callion gold deposit has a rich history dating back to the late 19th century. It operated as an underground mine from 1899 through to 1956, producing over 75,000 ounces with mined grades tipping the scales at more than half and ounce gold to the tonne.
In the late 1980s, the Callion open pit was developed by Byrnecut Mining, delivering an additional 14,000 ounces to the mill, however since that time the mine has been largely dormant – that is until Ora Banda’s arrival on the scene in 2019.
Ora Banda’s program of extensional drilling across the Callion deposit has quickly identified additional open pit resources and it has now also outlined a number of unmined lodes in the deeper underground portions of the mine.
Recent underground modelling at Callion has identified a resource of 411,000 tonnes at 5.8 g/t gold down to 350 metres below surface with drilling already showing the system’s greater potential at depth.
The technocrats at Ora Banda say there is still significant potential for Callion to continue at depth, with drilling now being designed to test the down plunge extensions to the system. The new target may add significant high-grade tonnage to the Callion inventory and further improve the economics of the developing Davyhurst operation.
With all of the Davyhurst resource estimates and models now in place, Ora Banda can put the finishing touches on its ‘imminent’ DFS and perhaps look forward to the most enjoyable phase of the development process – pumping gold out of the mill.
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By Matt Birney
