The ore reserve estimate for the Mount Gibson gold project in the Murchison region of Western Australia has been increased by 26 per cent, or 380,000 ounces (oz).
Capricorn Metals upped the Mount Gibson ore reserve to 61.6 million tonnes at 0.9 grams per tonne of gold for 1.83 million ounces (Moz).
The updated ore reserve estimate remains shallow with an average depth of 160m, a maximum depth of 260m and operating strip ratio of 4.2. The company increased the ore reserve after 89,543m of drilling was completed at the project over the past year.
Capricorn’s group gold reserves now equals 3.1Moz.
“It is exciting that the ongoing drilling and resource upgrades at Mount Gibson have delivered a 380,000-ounce increase in the reserve to 1.83 million ounces,” Capricorn Metals executive chairman Mark Clark said.
Capricorn released a pre-feasibility study (PFS) for Mount Gibson in April 2023, which detailed a compelling case for the development of a second mining operation at the site.
The company said updates to the April 2023 PFS continue to demonstrate the operation as a compelling second mine growth opportunity.
Updates to the PFS include Mount Gibson having an average annual gold production of 155,000oz for the first nine years of mine life at forecasted all in sustaining costs of $1450–$1550 per ounce, and the operation having potential to generate over $1.7 billion of operating cashflow over a 11.5 year mine life.
“The update of our 2023 PFS shows an operation with long life, high margin gold production averaging over 150,000 ounces per annum,” Clark said.
“The development of Mount Gibson will see Capricorn enter the very limited space of companies having all Australian based gold production exceeding 250,000 ounces per annum and gold reserves in excess of three million ounces.”
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