Gold: Beacon hits production target just four months after first gold pour

There will be smiles all around at Beacon Minerals (ASX:BCN) after it reported that January gold production at its Jaurdi project was up 20 per cent over output in December 2019.

Investors are certainly happy with shares in the company climbing 9.4 per cent to 3.6c this morning.

The production of 2,125oz of gold also places Jaurdi output squarely within the 1,900oz to 2,200oz per month range that the company is targeting.

Since its maiden gold pour in September 2019, Beacon has generated $13.48m in cash receipts from the sale of 6,153.76oz at an average realised sale price of $2,190.69 per ounce.

“It’s a testament to the team that we continue to deliver this continued production growth against the backdrop of an excellent gold price environment,” managing director Graham McGarry said.

“Along with our production focus, we will continue to look at ways to grow the resource inventory through exploration and strategic acquisitions and will keep the market informed as these matters develop.”

Meanwhile Zenith Minerals’ (ASX:ZNC) drilling at the Split Rocks project in Western Australia’s Forrestania greenstone belt has indicated that the gold mineralised structure at the Dulcie target remains open along strike.

This includes a top hit of 1m at 5.68 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from a depth of 99m.

Drilling to date has only tested 100m of strike and future drilling will focus on along strike potential with a particular focus to the south of the Dulcie gold zone.

The company added that it has identified a further 12 targets that warrant testing and is now planning a larger scale program of aircore drilling to test them.

Zenith signed a two-year option in March 2019 to explore for bedrock gold – that is gold at least 6m beneath the surface – and lithium mineralisation on the tenements covering the existing Dulcie heap leach gold project.

It can exercise the option by granting the vendors a 2 per cent net smelter royalty on any future bedrock gold production from the area.

In other ASX gold news today:

Oakdale Resources (ASX:OAR) is turning its attention to the Lambarson Canyon in Nevada after drilling at the Tonopah North project returned results that were deemed to be uneconomic.

The company says Lambarson Canyon has previous successful exploration results that warrant follow up and that it is planning a core drilling program for the second quarter of 2020.