Phoenix Gold strengthens Castle Hill

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Phoenix Gold has increased its Total Mineral Resources to 32.4 million tonnes at 1.8 grams per tonne gold for 1.835 million ounces of gold.

This represents an increase of 208 per cent since the company acquired the project in 2010.

The upgrade includes increases to resources at the company’s Castle Hill project and from drilling it completed in the recent December and March quarters plus a recently announced increase at the Broads Dam gold project.

Phoenix has taken the resource at Castle Hill from an initial 253,000oz to 655,000oz in less than two years.

 

Project location and Phoenix tenements. Source: Company announcement

“Castle Hill is fast becoming the latest large scale gold discovery in Western Australia’s Gold fields and we have barely scratched the surface,” phoenix Gold managing director Jon Price said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The recent Kintore deal will give us near complete ownership over this large gold system and is clearly demonstrating its multimillion ounce potential.

“Our focus is now squarely on growing this resource below the current 80 metres and completing mine development studies to determine optimal mining and processing routes including the construction of our own processing plant at Castle Hill.”

The current resource envelope at Castle Hill is from surface to 80 metres depth with little to no drilling beneath.

Strike length is now over seven kilometres and remains open in all directions.

Lateral extension drilling carried out by the company has linked structures to form a continuous mineralised system with broad mineralisation supplemented with high-grade vein sets.

The company said deeper drilling it currently has underway is focussed on growing the resource below the current envelope at 80 metres from surface.

Some 376,000oz is currently in the Measured and Indicated resource category and Phoenix has commenced a pre-feasibility study on Castle Hill Stage 1 to assess optimal mining and processing routes and indicative capital and operating costs for mine development.

The company said it expects to receive more drilling results in the September quarter.