Saturn Metals (ASX: STN) has released Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 105Mt @0.54g/t Au for 1,839,000oz for the Apollo Hill gold deposit at its wholly-owned Apollo Hill Gold Project near Leonora in the Western Australian Goldfields.
The upgraded Mineral Resource has seen an increase in contained ounces from the previously published resource. It incorporates the results of a highly successful 142-hole 11,765m extensional and in-fill drilling campaign completed within the model area after the last Mineral Resource upgrade, which was published in early May 2022, and up until the end of March 2023, when a cut-off date for drilling related resource data was applied.
The updated Mineral Resource also incorporates a slight, but material drop in the cut-off grade from 0.23g/t to 0.20g/t Au and a modified estimate that now considers the simple non-selective bulk mining and heap leach processing scenarios.
The new Mineral Resource is also reported within a larger nominal constraining pit shell, as a guide to reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction (RPEEE), based on improved cost and recovery parameters.
The upgraded represents:
• A significant addition of 370,000oz from the previous Mineral Resource, representing an increase of 25% in ounces.
• The robust Mineral Resource update is based on:
o An additional 142 reverse circulation (RC) and diamond (DD) holes totalling 11,765m completed by Saturn within the model area since the previous Mineral Resource in mid-2022.
o Results from a heap leach focussed metallurgical testing program which contributed to improving confidence in the mineral recovery.
o Improvements in open pit cost factors including geotechnical parameters, selection of a larger selective mining unit, and decreased lower cut-off grade.
• Considering additional drilling:
o A total of 4.7Mt @0.55g/t Au for 82koz is classified for the first time as Measured
Mineral Resource representing 4% of the total Mineral Resource.
o A total of 54Mt @0.53g/t Au for 912koz is classified as Indicated Mineral Resource representing 50% of the total Mineral Resource (a 152koz addition to the Indicated Mineral Resource from the previous model).
• Saturn has added 1,334,000oz to the Apollo Hill Mineral Resource in just over five years from listing with 140,689m of RC and diamond drilling. That is 9.5oz of gold added for every metre drilled.
• Saturn’s updated Mineral Resource has produced an increase in tonnes, ounces, confidence, classification, and quality.
• The Apollo Hill Resource is now of a scale to warrant full evaluation of Mining options and Saturn is well underway with a Preliminary Economic Assessment due for release early in the next financial year.
• Potential exists to continue growing the resource, with mineralization open along strike.
• Drilling on the six km Apollo Hill trend is only a small part of the exploration potential on Saturn’s underexplored +1,000 sq. km, 100% owned contiguous tenement package in the Western Australian Goldfields. Drilling continues across the company’s land package with several significant intersections returned at nearby discoveries.
“This Mineral Resource upgrade is the fifth in as many years for the company at its flagship Apollo Hill Asset. We have made a significant step forward by fully embracing a conventional bulk mining and heap leach processing trajectory,” Managing Director, Ian Bamborough, said.
“The results of our 2023 metallurgical test programme have demonstrated the ability to achieve higher gold recoveries across the deposits full grade range under an improved heap leach processing scenario.
“Our ongoing mining and engineering studies have leveraged off the deposit’s economies of scale and consistency to be able to consider efficient bulk tonnage mining and scheduling practices. This Mineral Resource is published within a single, simple, large ‘Whittle’ pit shell with a significantly improved stripping ratio.
“Consistent improvements in the quality of the resource, its overall size, and to the Mineral Resource classifications, through efficient drilling continue to bode well for the advancement of our business.
“Importantly, with the many inherent strengths as noted above, the Apollo Hill deposit has surpassed a critical juncture for development and we look forward to publishing our Preliminary Economic Assessment in the near future.
“As our geological understanding of the deposit continues to grow so does its potential for growth. The system is open along strike and drilling continues at the deposit, camp, and district scales with two rigs on site testing for additional mineralization.
As the Company moves towards a Pre-feasibility study, the next stage of metallurgical test work has commenced to search for additional processing and recovery refinements.”
For further information please visit: https://saturnmetals.com.au/
