Red River upgrades resource ahead of restarting gold production

Red River on track to restart gold production before the end of 2020
Gold prices are consolidating after last week’s fall
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As gold continues to consolidate after last week’s dive below the $US1,900 ($2,684) an ounce mark, Australian juniors are still defining their inventories of the precious metal with Red River Resources (ASX:RVR) topping up its Hillgrove resource.

The company, which is currently on track to restarting production at the New South Wales project before the end of this year, updated resources at Hillgrove to 5 million tonnes (Mt) grading 4.3 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 1.5 per cent antimony, or a contained resource of 692,000oz of gold and 75,000 tonnes of antimony.

This is up from the previous resource of 4.75Mt at 4.4g/t gold and 1.6 per cent antimony, or 668,000oz of contained gold and 74,000t of antimony, that was released just a little more than a month ago.

Red River plans to restart gold production using the Bakers Creek stockpile before restarting underground operations next year with a focus on the Syndicate Lode, Blacklode and Sunlight resources, all of which are accessible from the existing development.

High-grade gold-antimony-tungsten mineralisation was discovered at Hillgrove in 1857 and modern mining operations commenced in 1969.

Since then it has produced more than 730,000oz gold and 50,000t of antinomy until the project was placed on care and maintenance at the end of 2014 due to low commodity prices.

Red River Resources (ASX:RVR) share price chart

High-grade gold hits

Alto Metals’ (ASX:AME) recently completed reverse circulation drilling program at the new Orion Lode of its Sandstone gold project in WA has returned more shallow high-grade gold hits.

Notable results from the infill program are 7m at 7.9g/t gold from 53m within a broader 29m intersection grading 3.5g/t gold from 39m, and 2m at 8.8g/t gold from 85m within a 13m zone at 3.3g/t gold from 83m.

The Orion Lode, which is considered to be a repeat lode of the Lord Nelson deposit, has now been defined over a strike of 300m and remains open.

Drilling beneath the Lord Nelson pit has extended high-grade mineralisation down dip and down plunge with notable results of 4m at 12.3g/t gold from a depth of 245m and 2m at 11.6g/t gold from 210m.

Alto plans to kick off an initial 5,000m of a 30,000m program this week to test multiple drill-ready targets for repeat lodes.

Alto Metals (ASX:AME) share price chart

Wide gold intercepts

Meanwhile, Genesis Minerals (ASX:GMD) has intersected shallow, wide intercepts of gold mineralisation from initial drilling at the Clark deposit that is immediately adjacent to the Admiral deposit on its newly acquired Kookynie tenements in WA.

Notable results are 26m at 2.41g/t gold from 24m, 31m at 1.52g/t gold from 36m and 11m at 2.94g/t gold from 112m.

The last intercept includes a higher grade zone of 2m at 14g/t gold that is about 50m down-dip from the current resource boundary at Clark.

Genesis’ Admiral, Clark and Butterfly deposits within its Ulysses project currently have a combined resource of 246,000oz of gold.

The company’s current 25,000m Greater Ulysses drilling program will continue over the remainder of 2020 and feed into resource estimates that will underpin the expanded feasibility study on the development of a standalone gold operation at Ulysses.