Northern Star anticipates Pegasus upgrade

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST) has wasted little time broadcasting news from the company’s recently-acquired Kundana gold operations near Kalgoorlie.

Recent drilling at Kundana’s Pegasus deposit has returned further high-grade intersections including:

9 metres at 37.8 grams per tonne gold (true width 6.8m);

5.3m at 26.3g/t gold (true width 3.7m);

2.5m at 9g/t gold (true width 1.7m);

2.2m at 12.9g/t gold (true width 1.7m); and

1.2m at 19.5g/t gold (true width 0.9m).

These results follow the intersection of mineralisation up to 500m outside the existing 355,000 ounce resource.

 

Long section view (looking East) of the Pegasus drill results
returned to date. Intersections denoted are uncut and downhole width.
Source: Company announcement

 

Northern Star said the development of Pegasus is underway, with a decline to access the deposit being excavated from the adjacent Rubicon mine.

The East Kundana Joint Venture partners Rand Mining and Tribune Resources have approved their share of the capital expenditure.
 
The company said first Pegasus development ore is anticipated in the December Quarter of 2014.

Fresh drilling results have demonstrated the strong potential to increase reserves at the existing Rubicon-Hornet mine at Kundana.

Resource definition drilling into the 2013 inferred resource beneath the Hornet mine has yielded encouraging results to date, including:

38.4m at 10.5g/t gold (true width 11.1m);

5.7m at 13.8g/t gold (true width 2.3m);

11.4m at 9.7g/t gold (true width 2.7m); and

2.5m at 97.7g/t gold (true width 0.8m).

Northern Star has further extensional drilling planned for the June Quarter from surface.

The company explained targeted regional exploration along the Kundana structural corridor has identified mineralisation 2km north of previous mining activities and 8km north of Pegasus, which it considers to highlight the regional potential for future discoveries.

Reconnaissance Reverse Circulation drilling at the Ambition prospect returned assays of 2m at 6g/t and 2m at 1.8g/t gold in the interpreted K2 position, which Northern Star has interpreted to indicate the structure continues to the north of previous mining activity.

“Pegasus is an outstanding discovery that will generate substantial cashflow at the same time as its resource and reserve inventory continues to grow,” Northern Star Managing Director Bill Beament said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“I am also confident that we will enjoy more exploration success on the K2 structure, both around existing operations and further out, as these early results from the Ambition prospect show.”

Northern Star acquired its interest in Pegasus, Rubicon and Hornet as part of the company’s purchase of Barrick Gold’s 51 per cent stake in the East Kundana Joint Venture.

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