Classic holds 80% of the gold rights for the FGP, which also includes the unmined
With the recent update to the Lady Magdalene mineral resource, the FGP now comprises existing resources of 7.27Mt at 1.33g/t for 311,050 ounces of gold. Resources are located beneath an existing open pit shell at Lady Ada and the unmined, near-surface deposits at Lady Magdalene.
The project presents an opportunity for near term mining operations and production. The current mineral resources are reported in compliance with the JORC Code (2012) and are estimated with a lower cut-off grade of 0.5g/t gold.
When a higher cut-off is applied (1g/t gold), it is possible to delineate higher-grade pockets of the mineral resources, particularly at Lady Ada, which was previously mined at an average grade of 8.8 g/t gold. Classic continues to focus on delineating these higher-grade zones at both deposits, to potentially generate early cash-flow and support the costs associated with mining, haulage and toll treatment.
At a block cut-off grade of 1g/t gold, the Lady Ada resource is estimated to contain combined Indicated and Inferred resource of 590,750 tonnes grading 2.17g/t gold for 41,200 ounces and at a block cut-off grade of 2g/t, the Lady Ada resource estimate produces 218,300 tonnes grading 3.56g/t gold for 24,950 ounces. As development efforts ramp up, and in addition to engaging reputable 3rd party consultants as required, Classic will bolster its team with personnel experienced in gold to ensure the company delivers value from the FGP to its shareholders.
As part of its due diligence process, Classic will engage consultants to undertake a review of the updated mineral resource and related technical data, to complete an update Scoping Study on the FGP. Classic is hopeful that plans for a JV to mine and process ore will be finalised in the first half of 2020.
The FGP currently consists of two major deposits, located approximately 120 km south of Southern Cross, WA and 17 kilometers southwest of the historic
The FGP area deposits occur at the northern end of the Forrestania greenstone belt, which is the southern extension of the north-south trending Southern Cross greenstone belt, a 40 km wide supracrustal belt, bounded by Archaean granitoid/gneisses and is intruded by less deformed granite/pegmatite assemblages, and is cut by easterly-trending Proterozoic doleritic dykes.
Work has been conducted by a series of companies in previous years throughout the Forrestania district, initially for nickel deposits and latterly for lithium deposits. The discovery of the Bounty deposits by Aztec Mining in 1986 outlined the gold prospectivity and potential of the Forrestania greenstone belt and many deposits have been identified since that time.
The FGP deposits (formerly known as Blue Haze and Red Haze) were discovered due to grassroots exploration of prospective ground undertaken by Aztec Mining. Regional soil-auger sampling programs identified anomalies at the FGP. These were RAB drilled to nominal depth, with only limited success. However, the drill holes did confirm the interpreted geology deduced from regional mapping programs, ground and aeromagnetic reconnaissance traverses.
Mining at Lady Ada (formerly Blue Haze) pit commenced on the
Locally, primary gold mineralisation is hosted by a shallow, east-dipping quartz dolerite unit. This unit is bounded by high-MgO basalt to the west and low-MgO ultramafic to the east. The so-called, higher-grade, Sapphire shear zone strikes between WNW-ESE and WSW-ENE, and dips at approximately 15-degree - 35-degree , hosting the bulk of the gold mineralisation at Lady Ada, in association with a number of flatter lying shears. These flatter lying shears are more prevalent at the Lady Magdalene deposit, about 1km to the north of
Gold mineralisation is associated with vein quartz within moderately to strongly foliated dolerite. Pervasive ore related calc-silicate alteration consists of diopside-biotite-quartz +/- arsenopyrite +/- pyrite. The Sapphire shear is generally less than 3m thick vertically; however, at shear intersections, mineralisation widths may be up to 20 metres (vertically). There is also interpreted to be a significant supergene gold overprint at Lady Ada, which may or may not, be present at Lady Magdalene.
A lot of valuable technical and geological work has been completed on the FGP by various holders since the discovery of
Classic's proposed future activities will be focused on
Gold mineralisation at Lady Magdalene is hosted within a sheared mafic suite. The mineralisation is over nearly a kilometre long and is drilled to a down-dip length of up to 400 m (240 m vertical depth), generally over 3-5m thick (true thickness), with grades ranging between 1 - 5 g/t Au (peaking at 31.1g/t gold over 1m). The area was the subject of historical RAB, RC and diamond drilling, heap- and dump-leaching metallurgical column test work completed by
The recent drilling by Classic and resource estimation work for
Historical diamond drill hole FWRD011 contained an intersection of 7.0m @ 9.07 g/t Au (true width), with visible gold less than 25m from the natural surface and alludes to these, higher-grade, cross-cutting, sheared intersections being present in the ore system at Lady Magdalene. Overall though,
There is scope for significantly increasing the mineral resources at Lady Magdalene further, mostly by drilling down-dip extensions, but there is also poor definition of the known, narrow, higher-grade intersections, closer to the surface. This could be somewhat rectified, by a large program of infill RC resource definition drilling, with selected diamond drilling to better understand the orientation of gold mineralisation in these interpreted highergrade zones.
In compliance with the requirements of the ASX listing rules, the following information provides further technical detail on the updated
Contact:
Tel: (08) 6305 0221
Email: contact@classicminerals.com.au
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