It expects results of the assessment to be reported next January.
Cayley Lode has 9.3 million tonnes grading 1.23% copper and 0.23 grams per tonne gold, with Stavely saying it will focus its development assessment on “higher-grade, predominantly indicated material within 300m of surface”.
The catalyst for the assessment has been rising copper and gold prices.
Stavely has spent many years exploring its namesake project in Victoria — containing Cayley Lode — for something akin to a Cadia, the big copper-gold discovery in New South Wales that made Newcrest Mining a fortune prior to its takeover by Newmont.
However, last year, it decided to also try its luck elsewhere, farming into ground in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Earlier this week, it received a A$400,000 grant from the WA Government for geophysical and drilling of that ground.
That funding is very handy given cash of only $960,000 at the end of March.
