Red River upgrades gold resource, on track to start Hillgrove production in Q4

Red River Resources (ASX:RVR) has increased contained gold resources at its Hillgrove project in New South Wales by 46 per cent to 668,000oz as it moves to restart production before the end of this year.

This comes after the company updated resources for the Blacklight and Sunlight lode to 2.65 million tonnes grading 4.5 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 1.1 per cent antimony.

Additionally, Hillgrove still has a substantial JORC 2004 resource that Red River is systematically converting to an industry standard JORC 2012 compliant resource.

The company acquired Hillgrove in August 2019 from a private vendor that had put the project on care and maintenance at the end of 2014 due to low commodity prices.

It intends to restart gold production from the Bakers Creek stockpile before resuming underground operations in 2021.

Modern mining operations started in 1969 and Hillgrove has produced more than 730,000oz of gold and over 50,000 tonnes of antimony along with tungsten as a by-product.

Red River Resources (ASX:RVR) share price chart

3D Resources (ASX:DDD) has also increased resources at its Adelong Goldfield in NSW, by 42 per cent to 180,600oz.

This follows the delivery of a maiden resource for the Caledonian, Donkey Hill and Currajong East deposits.

3D says all deposits remain open at depth and most along strike, which offers the potential for exploration to further expand resources.

The company notes that further historical data is under review and that modelling work has provided a clearer view to target extensions and further resource upgrades.

3D Resources (ASX:DDD) share price chart

Potential for more gold production

New modelling incorporating the results of a recent drilling program has increased the size of the Sherwood high-grade zone at Laneway Resources’ (ASX:LNY) Agate Creek project in Queensland.

Whittle optimisation has identified a high-grade shell containing 45,000 tonnes of material grading 6.7g/t gold, almost twice as large as the company expected before drilling.

Laneway is preparing to mine Agate Creek this quarter with ore to be transported and processed under a toll treatment agreement at a third-party plant.

Additionally, the potential for high-grade mining beyond the current campaign has been identified, with optimisation generating a much larger open pit shell containing 120,000t grading 5.7g/t gold.

However, mining this larger pit shell will require amendments to the current environmental authority.