Mt Coolon tenure has large scale gold bearing epithermal systems
The Mount Coolon Gold Project (MCGP) is located within the Drummond Basin, one of Queensland’s most prolific gold provinces. Located 250km to the West of Mackay in North Queensland, the tenement package covers a total area of over 1,898 km² and holds potential for further significant discoveries.
The Basin’s past production is more than 4.5 million ounces of gold and has a total known gold endowment in excess of 7.5 million ounces of gold. The Drummond Basin is an established gold mining region which has proven fertile for discovery of epithermal and intrusive relation gold systems
Mineralisation in the Drummond Basin is typified by low sulphidation epithermal style precious metal Deposits. Examples include Pajingo (3.0 Moz), Wirralie (1.1 Moz), Yandan (0.6 Moz) and Koala (0.36 Moz). Epithermal mineralisation is typified by very fine-grained gold, sometimes occurring in electrum, in quartz veins and or breccias. These deposits are variously interpreted to have formed in locally extensional jogs or bends of transform fault systems.
Highlights:
- 100%-owned Mt Coolon tenure: 1,898 km2
- Historic production to 1990’s totalling 0.59 Mt at 12.2 g/t Au for 232 koz gold
- Current resources at Koala, Glen Eva and Eugenia of 6.65 Mt @ 1.54 g/t Au for 330 koz gold
- 7 priority prospects that encompass up to 45 occurrences / targets
- Extensive thin post-mineral cover may conceal further occurrences
- Koala, Glen Eva and Eugenia drill targets: down-plunge of ore shoots and along-strike extensions of existing resources
- Large-scale gold bearing epithermal systems that warrant further drill testing
Targeting +1 Million ounce resource in Australia’s premier epithermal province
GBM is prioritising exploration at Mt Coolon focussed on discovery of new ounces and rapid targeted resource build to +1 Moz. The current in-pit resources are calculated at A$1,667/oz vs prevailing spot price of +A$2,200/oz.
The Company is evaluating potential “processing radius” consolidation options to further aggregate resource inventory. There is potential for the low-cost heap leach option at Eugenia deposit to support near term cashflow.
| Mt Coolon District Gold Resources | Tonnes (000's) | Au (g/t) | Au oz (000's) |
|---|---|---|---|
| GBM Mt Coolon District | |||
| Koala Tailings, ML | 124 | 1.6 | 6.6 |
| Koala - Sulphide + Transition + Oxide | 1,430 | 2.6 | 121.5 |
| Glen Eva - Sulphide | 1,660 | 1.47 | 78.3 |
| Eugenia - Oxide | 1,482 | 1.08 | 51.6 |
| Eugenia - Sulphide | 1,947 | 1.16 | 72.4 |
| GBM Sub Total | 6,643 | 1.54 | 330.4 |
| Third Party Resources within 70km of Mt Coolon | Tonnes (000's) | Au (g/t) | Au oz (000's) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yandan East | 4,000 | 2.4 | 300.0 |
| Twin Hills + Lone Sister | 6,940 | 2.8 | 633.0 |
| Other Company Gold Resource Sub Total | 10,940 | 2.6 | 933.0 |
Existing Mt Coolon Scoping Study
(refer ASX announcement 4 December 2017)
Key outcomes
- Completed in December 2017; utilised a gold price assumption of A$1,667/oz
- Conducted by Mining One Consultants, with input from other external consultants
- Demonstrated technical and economic viability of:
- OP/UG mining of Koala, Glen Eva & Eugenia deposits
- Processing via a combination of CIL and heap leach
- Low risk operational parameters
- Excellent projected margins, cashflow and returns
| Operating parameters | Units | Scoping Study (Dec 2017) |
|---|---|---|
| Production mine life | years | 5.5 |
| Total mined ore | Mt | 3 |
| Indicated Resources | % | 72% |
| Inferred Resources | % | 28% |
| Strip ratio | t : t | 4.6 |
| Total ore processed | Mt | 3 |
| Ore processed - CIL | Mt | 1.2 |
| Ore processed - heap leach | Mt | 1.8 |
| Gold head grade (LOM avg) | g/t | 1.9 |
| Gold head grade - CIL | g/t | 3.5 |
| Gold head grade - heap leach | g/t | 0.8 |
| Overall gold recovery (LOM avg) | % | 84% |
| Gold recovery - CIL | % | 86% |
| Gold recovery - heap leach | % | 81% |
| Total gold produced | koz | 155 |
| Gold produced - CIL | koz | 118 |
| Gold produced - heap leach | koz | 37 |
| Financial parameters | Units | Scoping Study (Dec 2017) |
|---|---|---|
| Forecast gold price (LOM avg) | US$/oz | 1,250 |
| Forecast A$/US$ (LOM avg) | A$/US$ | 0.75 |
| Total revenue | A$M | 258 |
| Operating costs | A$/M | 141 |
| Operating cash cost (C1) | A$/oz | 909 |
| Operating cashflow | A$M | 117 |
| Pre-production capital | A$M | 25 |
| Underground development capital | A$M | 8 |
| LOM sustaining capital | A$M | 4 |
| Environmental bonds and royalties | A$M | 19 |
| Net cashflow pre-tax | A$M | 61 |
| All-in-sustaining-cost (AISC) | A$/oz | 1,020 |
| Pre-tax NPV (10% discount rate) | A$M | 37 |
| Pre-tax IRR | % | 48 |
| Payback period | years | 2.0 |
Mt Coolon Mineral Resource Estimate
There have been no changes in the Mount Coolon resource since the last Annual Statement of Mineral Resources as at 30 June 2018.
The company considers that any minor increases in mining and operating costs that may have occurred through the year are greatly outweighed by the increase in gold price in Australia resulting from a favourable combination of price and currency movements.
