REZ hits extensive high-grade gold below Granny Venn pit

REZ has exceeded expectations with the latest high-grade gold hits from grade control drilling at its Granny Venn mine, part of the East Menzies project in Western Australia.

Resources & Energy Group’s (ASX:REZ) plan to restart mining at the Granny Venn pit received a shot in the arm today with better-than-expected grade control drilling results.

High‐grade and extensive intervals of gold mineralisation have been intersected

below the pit floor.

The drilling program delivered top hits of 9m at 3.73 grams per tonne (g/t) from 17m, including 1m at 12.6g/t from 25m; 10m at 5.12g/t from 13m, including 2m at 14.5g/t; 22m at 3.02g/t from 2m, including 7m at 5.56g/t from 17m; and 12m at 3.69g/t from 11m, including 1m at 15.35g/t from 19m.

Granny Venn borehole location plan. Pic: Supplied.

Executive director Richard Poole said the grade control drilling results were higher than modelled and exceeded expectations.

“These exceptional results from grade control drilling at Granny Venn show the potential for a bigger resource and also opens up possible underground development opportunities,” he said.

The results indicate that gaps in the earlier resource modelling most likely represents ore not picked up in the original drilling completed in 1997 by Money Mining.

The presence of unexpected higher‐grade ore and ore between the original drilling lines was noted in the pit completion report for Granny Venn in 1998, which after reconciliation resulted in a 46 per cent increase in the actual resource compared to model.

In‐pit drilling operations focused on a potential cut‐back to exploit an interpreted extension to the main Granny Venn ore body in the northern end of the pit.

The confirmation of grade and continuity of the resource is also a positive for investigating opportunities for underground development.

REZ says modelling of historic drilling suggests the presence of a high‐grade shoot system in the north, which has not been delineated from surface drilling.

REZ plans to undertake further work to investigate this given the strong grades delivered from the most recent drilling.

Fast tracking production at East Menzies

REZ is on track to restart mining at the Granny Venn open pit mine at the East Menzies gold project within the next quarter after inking a lucrative profit-sharing deal that requires no upfront spend by the company.

The company signed an agreement in March that will see BM Mining spend an estimated $3m in working capital to get the Granny Venn site mining and processing gold.

The profit-sharing agreement will exploit the economically recoverable remnant resources at East Menzies.

REZ has now lodged a mining proposal and clearing permit application to enable the restart of operations. Talks with regional gold mills are also well advanced.

The East Menzies goldfield project spans +100sqkm of a significant orogenic lode gold province that hosts several major gold mines and deposits.