Spartan Resources has taken a significant step to getting the Dalgaranga goldmine running, ticking all regulatory boxes needed to develop underground and upgrade processing equipment.
Spartan Resources has taken a significant step to getting the Dalgaranga goldmine running, ticking all regulatory boxes needed to develop underground and upgrade processing equipment.
Historically an open-pit mine, the Simon Lawson-led Spartan hopes to build an underground operation at Dalgaranga, tapping high-grade mineralisation for processing through new and existing infrastructure at the Murchison site.
Spartan revealed it had received approvals from the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety and the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation for its underground plan today.
These include approval of full-scale underground mining and production activities and the installation of a ball mill and pre-leach thickener at the existing processing plant.
Spartan will also build a paste plant, using tailings as a feedstock for the paste fill it needs to support its underground infrastructure, and has approval to re-mine tailings from an existing tailings facility.
It will also be allowed to dewater the now-disused Gilbey’s open pit.
Spartan’s interim executive chair, Mr Lawson said the approvals process had been smooth sailing for his team.
“On behalf of the Spartan team, I would like to thank the regulatory agencies for the efficient and pragmatic way in which they oversaw our pre-submission consultation period, clearing the way for a seamless and expedient approvals process,” he said.
“The robust technical work undertaken by our in-house approvals and development team alongside our valued technical consultants has demonstrated low environmental risk associated with the Dalgaranga operation.
“All key parameters associated with the project are thoroughly understood and well managed, as we progress Dalgaranga to an operational restart based on the still-growing high-grade underground Never Never and Pepper gold deposits.”
Spartan outlined a 2.48-million-ounce underground gold resource at Dalgaranga in July.
At the time of that announcement, Mr Lawson lauded the company’s turnaround since its recapitalisation in early 2023.
“The Spartan team has taken the pieces of a struggling low-grade open-pit goldminer and rebuilt it as a highly successful high-grade exploration, discovery and development machine,” he said.
Dalgaranga produced more than 70,000oz in the 2022 financial year, before it was shut as part of an operational reset by Spartan management.
Today’s announcement comes weeks after Spartan announced it was selling its Glenburgh and Egerton gold projects to Benz Mining Corp in a $15.6 million deal, as it focuses back in on Dalgaranga.
Spartan has been something of a market darling in 2024 off the back of gold’s record run and attracted a strategic investment from Ramelius Resources in July which has grown in the months since.
It started the year with a share price of 51c and touched highs of $1.65/share in October.
The company’s share price was 2.3 per cent higher in early trade, at $1.31.
