Impressive Results From Aphrodite Omega Lode
Bardoc Gold Limited (ASX: BDC) has intersected broad zones of shallow, high-grade mineralisation within the Omega Lode at the 1.7Moz Aphrodite Gold Deposit, which forms part of its flagship 1Moz Reserve/3.07Moz Resource Bardoc Gold Project, located 40km north of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
CEO, Robert Ryan, said the latest results, which sit outside of the current Ore Reserve envelope, are located at the southern end of the Aphrodite Stage 1 open pit and indicate potential to further increase the existing project-wide 1.0Moz Ore Reserve and 3.07Moz Mineral Resource inventory.
The Aphrodite Deposit is a multi-lode system located 20km north of the Excelsior/Zoroastrian deposits where the processing facility for the Bardoc Gold Project will be located.
It forms a key baseload ore feed in the later years of the mine plan, which was outlined in the recently completed Definitive Feasibility Study which forecast gold production of 136kozpa with pre-tax cashflow of A$740M based on a forecast AISC of A$1,188/oz.
Mr Ryan said the new drilling results at Omega further highlight the outstanding growth potential across the broader Aphrodite region, where environmental approvals are now underway ahead of the planned start of construction by year-end.
“These new results within the Omega Lode are situated just outside the proposed Stage 1 open pit shell at Aphrodite and offer strong potential to significantly add to the current Resource and Reserve inventory. The high-grade nature of Omega Lode also presents the opportunity to expand the proposed underground mine plans at Aphrodite,” he said.
“Recent drilling success across the Omega, Sigma and Gamma lodes at Aphrodite show these additional mining areas have the potential to underpin strong and sustainable production well beyond the current eight year plus mine plan.
“The mining proposal has now been submitted in line with our development schedule, putting us on- track to commence construction of the 2.1Mtpa processing facility in the December 2021 Quarter.”
The Aphrodite Deposit has a current Resource of 1.7Moz of contained gold and a Reserve of 573koz of contained gold from both open pit and underground mining methods. The Omega Lode is located on the southern edge of the Aphrodite Stage 1 Open Pit and is not included in the current Reserves. These recent results from the Omega Lode have intersected mineralisation that is just outside the southern pit wall of the
Stage 1 open pit, as seen in the cross section below, which presents an opportunity to either deepen the proposed open pit and/or potentially extend the Aphrodite underground mine.
Results from this drilling program include:
- – 5m @ 3.99g/t Au from 67m in 21APRC0042
- – 14m @ 7.63g/t Au from 106m in 21APRC0042
- – 2m @ 13.8g/t Au from 140m in 21APRC0045
- – 7m @ 2.35g/t Au from 123m in 21APRC0047
- – 5m @ 2.60g/t Au from 63m in 21APRC0041
The Omega Lode is a north-south striking lode that trends sub-parallel to the Phi Lode. Omega is about 50- 80m west of the Phi trend and is geologically controlled by the proximity of a dolerite and fine grained porphyry.
The Bardoc Gold Project runs contiguously north for 40km in the Eastern Goldfields. There are four main deposits and a multitude of smaller projects within the 250 sq. km land-holding, providing a large Resource base and excellent exploration potential within the prolific Norseman-Wiluna greenstone belt and junction of the Bardoc Tectonic Zone (BTZ) and the Black Flag Fault (BFF).
