MacPhersons Gives go-ahead for Nimbus Superpit

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: MacPhersons Resources (ASX:MRP) has decided it has advanced pit optimisation studies to the stage where it has now released mining contracting tender documentation at its 100 per cent owned Nimbus silver-zinc-gold project located east of Kalgoorlie’s Super Pit gold mine.

MacPhersons recently announced 46 per cent upgrade in the JORC classified Mineral Resource at Nimbus to 4.4 million tonnes at 129 grams per tonne silver equivalent for 18.3 million ounces.

The company has conducted pit optimisation studies, which it claims have confirmed the original two open pits at Nimbus can be merged into a single Silver Superpit.

“The pit optimisation studies all support a single superpit model, which is what we predicted when the new mineralisation zone at Lens 3 was intersected,” MacPhersons Resources managing director Morrie Goodz said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The drilling results, resource upgrade, and new pit model support the Directors decision to approve the plant expansion and the new Merrill-Crowe plant scheduled for delivery in October 2013.”

MacPhersons is still considering a number of various optimisation scenarios that are still being modelled, however all of the options have the new proposed operation being a single superpit of approximately 900m length by 500m width and 205m depth.

 

Longsection view of insitu mineralisation blocks showing the new
proposed Silver Superpit and the existing Discovery and East Pits. The
key point illustrated is that the edge of the proposed superpit boundary
is limited by existing drilling and remains open to expansion in
further modelling. Source: Company announcement

 

Measured and Indicated resources continue along strike and beneath the pits and are anticipated to support further extensions to the Silver Superpit in future mine planning scenarios.

The pit cutback in Year 1 will have four shallow pits to focus on the oxide ore and the new gold zone and Lens 4, and then in Year 2 will commence the merging of the pits as the primary ore is developed.