Fresh off a record half of gold revenue, Ora Banda Mining has continued its smooth transition to become a high-grade underground miner, with its Sand King underground ramping up production and over-delivering on gold returns from its Davyhurst project in Western Australia.
The company says it has successfully processed its first batch of Sand King ore through the 1.2-million-tonne per annum Davyhurst mill, with both the reconciled gold grade and metal recovery exceeding expectations at the recently opened underground mine.
Ora Banda believes the high-grade deposit is shaping up beyond the company’s initial estimates, with early grade control drilling indicating a 19 per cent uplift in gold endowment, growing it from 17,000 ounces to 21,000 ounces.
Management has attributed the increase to some newly identified discrete ore lodes and three high-yield “blow-out” zones - significant intersections where multiple mineralised structures converge, creating bulk mining opportunities.
Stand-out hits in the blow-out zones, identified via 10,844m of drilling, included 7.2 metres running at a juicy 17.0 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, a smaller 2.5m intercept grading 16g/t and a meaty 6.8m going 8.3g/t gold.
The company says stoping at Sand King is on track to begin this quarter, with the growing underground mine on course to hit steady-state production by June.
It believes the continued solid results from both its Riverina and Sand King undergrounds indicate the company is well on its way to achieving its 150,000-ounce annual production target.
The “drive to 150” milestone would denote the third consecutive year the company has over-performed on its guidance, reflecting a significant turnaround for the established goldie from nearly three years ago.
Ora Banda Mining managing director Luke Creagh said: “The seamless ramp up of Sand King Underground towards steady-state production has been a credit to the operational and planning teams and demonstrates Ora Banda’s capability to find and rapidly advance underground opportunities. It is great to see the development ore reconciling positively compared to FID assumptions, and exciting that early grade control drilling shows a potential uplift in the gold endowment of the deposit."
Under Mr Creagh’s leadership, Ora Banda has evolved from a flat-lining producer of 12,000 ounces per quarter at a grade of 1.5g/t to being on track to pour more than 30,000 ounces per quarter at nearly three times the grade.
The company is also confident it can achieve further resource growth at its other major underground mine Riverina, where additional diamond rigs continue to uncover high-grade discoveries and extensions to the south of the existing underground development.
Since breaking ground at Sand King last August, Ora Banda’s mine development has advanced swiftly, with some 1866m of development completed, including 676m of decline development. Following the intersection of first ore in December, the company has developed 558m across six separate ore lodes on the first production level.
As the transformation to full-blown underground miner continues for Ora Banda, it appears to have hit a sweet spot with its efficient, high-grade gold operation. A self-funded expansion strategy and record-breaking gold price environment has this gold market darling on track to nail another production milestone on its path to 150,000-ounce annual gold production.
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By Andrew Todd
