Shallow gold in all directions for KalGold
Kalgoorlie Gold Mining or KalGold has spotted a near surface open pit mining opportunity at its La Mascotte gold system near Kalgoorlie after reviewing a grab bag of historical bonanza near surface gold hits. The La Mascotte prospect sits within the Bulong Taurus gold project area approximately 35 kilometres to the east of Kalgoorlie and boasts a plethora of historically anomalous drill results.
Over 90 historical drillholes from the La Mascotte prospect were analysed primarily consisting of RC drilling with limited diamond drilling data. Drill hole spacing was approximately 40mx20m providing KalGold with a thorough and systematic dataset to interpret. KalGold says the shallow nature of mineralisation represents a great opportunity to sink an economically viable open pit into the La Mascotte prospect.
Any open pit mining opportunity would also have the potential to grow with mineralisation remaining open along strike in both directions. Additionally, the fantastic grades intercepted at depth provide the company with confidence that an underground mining extension is also a viable option. Mineralisation at La Mascotte represents a meagre 1 per cent of KalGold’s Bulong Taurus project area and is just one of dozens of historical mines and structural targets in the area.
Having just arrived on the scene, this junior explorer seems to have muscled in on some prime real estate where it will be looking to write its own chapter in 2022.
Kalgoorlie Gold Mining set to hit ASX with Ardea gold assets
Kalgoorlie Gold Mining is set to pocket up to $12 million following the closing date of its initial public offering on the 26th of October. The company is set to list on the Australian Securities Exchange on 12 November and plans to use the money to follow up on some bonanza historical gold hits east of Kalgoorlie that inexplicably were never really run to ground. Kalgoorlie Gold will spin out of Ardea Resources who has been quietly amassing some serious gold tenure amongst its massive nickel holdings in WA.
The company will come to market with some seven gold projects scattered around WA that were previously housed under Ardea’s roof but did not receive enough love from Ardea given its principal focus on its massive nickel deposits near Menzies. The flagship Kalgoorlie Gold asset will be the Bulong-Taurus project about 40km east of Kalgoorlie in the renowned Bulong mineral district that has been giving up precious metal riches for decades.
It is hard to understand why hits like this were never properly followed up by past explorers. One possible explanation is that it was very close to the tenement boundary which is no longer an issue as Kalgoorlie Gold and Ardea have now brought multiple tenements together under the one roof in the region. If you talk to the Kalgoorlie locals about the Bulong area to the east of Kalgoorlie you will get a lot of knowing looks – particularly from the old-timers who are only too aware of the gold prospectivety of Bulong.
Wiluna eyes development milestone
Perth-based gold-miner Wiluna Mining is frantically ticking boxes as it gains momentum on the downhill run towards commissioning its 750,000 tonne-per-annum flotation plant as part of its major production ramp-up plan at its namesake project in WA. The company expects the plant to be in operation in December and is targeting increased production to 120,000 ounces per annum by the end of the 2022 financial year.
Located in the mineral prolific Goldfields of WA, the Wiluna Mining Centre boasts over 7 million ounces which places it firmly in the top 10 of Australia’s largest gold districts under single ownership. More than 4 million ounces of gold have been historically mined from twenty open pits in the area and three underground mines within 20km of the company’s Wiluna processing facility.
Wiluna Mining is in the throes of completing the next development stage of a two-staged, three-year development plan which will see the company strengthen its balance sheet, increase operational cash flows, transition to the production and sale of gold concentrate and expand overall gold production dramatically. The company will also pursue more exploration and feasibility studies to ultimately reach its 250,000 ounce-per-annum Stage 2 milestone and add an additional 500,000 ounces to current underground ore reserves.
Under Stage 1 of the development plan, Wiluna aspires to increase gold production to 120,000 ounces per annum from the existing 60,000 ounces a year.
Australia surpasses China in gold production
Australian gold production for the first half of 2021 was four tonnes more than China’s figures for the same period, according to Melbourne consulting group Surbiton Associates. From January to June, Australia produced 157 tonnes of gold, with 74 tonnes in the March quarter and 83 tonnes in the June quarter.
China produced 153 tonnes of gold for the same period.
Australia’s 12 per cent increase in gold production from the March to June quarter of 2021 can be put down to new and existing operations increasing their output. Newmont’s Boddington operation in Western Australia increased by 36,000 ounces, while the output of Evolution Mining’s Mount Carlton mine in Queensland jumped by 11,700 ounces of gold.
Capricorn Resources’ Karlawinda mine also entered the fray.
“One of the new operations was Capricorn Resources’ Karlawinda project, in the Pilbara, south-east of Newman. Its first gold was poured in the June quarter and it is ramping up to annual production of around 100,000 ounces,” Close said.
According to US Geological Survey data, China has been the world’s largest producer of gold since 2007 when it overtook South Africa. For over a decade, Australia has been the world’s second largest producer of gold.
China’s drop in gold production can be put down to work accidents including deaths, Surbiton Associates reports, with shut downs occurring as investigations took place.
