The company is on a rapid pathway back into production at the project which produced over 70,000oz of gold in FY2022 before being placed on care and maintenance in November 2022 to implement an operational reset.
Spartan Resources’ (ASX:SPR) new – and sustainable – operating plan is underpinned by the exceptional high-grade Never Never gold discovery which hosts a resource estimate of 1,485,200oz at an average grade of 8.07g/t gold.
Work is now underway to establish the underground portal entrance from an existing ramp within the previously mined Gilbey’s Open Pit, with the first face cuts taken to establish the twin underground entryways by underground development partner, mining contractor Barminco, a subsidiary of Perenti (ASX:PRN).
Activities will continue to advance with additional ground support being installed around the portals as they are being advanced.
Notably, the company’s success at the project has so far been achieved from surface drilling alone.
“The first cuts have been taken on our journey underground at Dalgaranga,” SPR interim executive chair Simon Lawson said.
“The underground exploration drill drive, named the ‘Juniper Decline’, will establish multiple successive underground drill platforms over the coming months, providing Spartan with the ability to further define and rapidly grow our existing high-grade gold prospects and explore for even more of the same style of high-grade gold shoots.
“The incredible drilling success we have enjoyed in making two significant high-grade discoveries – outlining almost two million ounces of high-grade underground gold in front of our existing processing infrastructure – has all been achieved so far from surface drilling alone.
“The underground platforms will give us even more opportunity to grow our high-grade gold resources quickly and cost-effectively and bring us closer to a number of potential production scenarios that we are working on.”
SPR’s plan to deliver gold production of 130-150koz per annum over five years is centred around an aggressive exploration program at Never Never designed to target resource expansion, reserve definition and near-mine exploration drilling targeting Never Never lookalikes including Pepper, Four Pillars, West Winds and Sly Fox.
Surface drilling is now continuing on site with three drill rigs focused on infilling and extending the Pepper resource while a fourth focuses on testing additional targets on the Dalgaranga mining lease.
Data is also being systematically gathered from the Pepper resource to confirm both metallurgical and mining study parameters for inclusion in the planned feasibility study and maiden ore reserve to underpin future restart plans.
