Saturn Metals Upgrades Apollo Hill Gold Resource
THE DRILL SERGEANT: Saturn Metals (ASX: STN) reported an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Apollo Hill gold deposit at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Apollo Hill gold project near Leonora in Western Australia.
Saturn Metals released a Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource for Apollo Hill of:
105 million tonnes at 0.54 grams per tonne gold for 1,839,000 ounces reported above a cut-off grade of 0.2g/t gold and reported within a constraining pit shell under a low-cost bulk tonnage mining and heap leach processing scenario.
The update represents an addition of 370,000 ounces from the company’s previous Mineral Resource, representing an increase of 25 per cent in ounces.
“This Mineral Resource upgrade is the fifth in as many years for the company at its flagship Apollo Hill asset,” Saturn Metals managing director Ian Bamborough said in the company’s ASX announcement.
“We have made a significant step forward by fully embracing a conventional bulk mining and heap leach processing trajectory.
“The results of our 2023 metallurgical test program have demonstrated the ability to achieve higher gold recoveries across the deposits full grade range under an improved heap leach processing scenario.
“Our ongoing mining and engineering studies have leveraged off the deposit’s economies of scale and consistency to be able to consider efficient bulk tonnage mining and scheduling practices.
“This Mineral Resource is published within a single, simple, large ‘Whittle’ pit shell with a significantly improved stripping ratio.
“Consistent improvements in the quality of the resource, its overall size, and to the Mineral Resource classifications, through efficient drilling continue to bode well for the advancement of our business.
“Importantly, with the many inherent strengths as noted above, the Apollo Hill deposit has surpassed a critical juncture for development and we look forward to publishing our Preliminary Economic Assessment in the near future.
“As our geological understanding of the deposit continues to grow so does its potential for growth.
“The system is open along strike and drilling continues at the deposit, camp, and district scales with two rigs on site testing for additional mineralisation.
“As the company moves towards a Pre-feasibility study, the next stage of metallurgical test work has commenced to search for additional processing and recovery refinements.”
TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE
