New drill assay results highlights

  • 60.6 m (54.5 m true width) at 1.98 g/t Au from 4.15 m drill depth, including 5.75 m (5.2 m true width) at 16.88 g/t Au from 42.55 m drill depth in drill hole LIDC452 located between the two proposed starter pits.
  • The wide zone of gold mineralization near surface has the potential to reduce the strip ratio in this area due to the increase in gold mineralised tonnage verse waste rock, thus improving project economics.
  • 3.75 m (3.4 m true width) at 9.94 g/t Au from the hanging wall of the historic mine workings in drill hole LIDC454 located between the two starter pits.
  • Potential to amalgamate the two starter pits into a single, larger starter pit as a broad zone of high-grade gold mineralisation was previously interpreted as a low grade zone with the main La India opencast.
  • 9 m (8.5 m true width) amalgamated width at 4.98 g/t Au from 55.05 m drill depth in the hanging wall and footwall of the historic mine workings, including 5.35 m (5 m true width) at 6.61 g/t in the hanging wall of drill hole LIDC456. This drill intercept is located to the south and below the Southern Starter Pit.

Mark Child, Chairman and CEO commented: “The high grade, wide, drill assay results between the two La India Starter Pits are a positive surprise as this area was previously interpreted as a lower grade zone within the main fully permitted La India opencast. LIDC452 returned 60.6 m (54.5 m true width) at 1.98 g/t gold from 4.15 m drill depth, including 5.75 m (5.2 m true width) at 16.88 g/t gold. Mine schedules will be re-run to determine whether the two Starter Pits can be amalgamated into one Starter Pit and thus provide additional high-grade mill feed from surface. Furthermore, the broad zone of mineralisation is likely to reduce the overall strip ratio for the main La India opencast, as there is more mineralised gold tonnage vs waste rock, thus potentially improving the project’s economics.

“The drill results strengthen the case for expanding the Starter Pits, which are within 35 m of the surface and contain approximately 455 000 t at 4.17g/t Au for 59 674 oz Au using a 2 g/t cut-off grade. The intention is to mine the Starter Pits early to quicken the payback period. The Starter Pits sit within the main fully permitted La India opencast, which has a mineral reserve estimate of 6.9 million t at 3.1 g/t Au for 675 000 oz Au.”