Spartan’s resource upgrade will underpin the maiden underground ore reserve. Pic: Getty Images
Spartan’s victory march as Never Never reveals itself as one of WA’s largest high-grade gold finds
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- Spartan Resources upgrades Dalgaranga resources within 2km of plant by 47% to 16.1Mt at 4.79g/t gold, or 2.48Moz contained gold
- Never Never resource up 56% to ~1.49Moz at 8.07g/t gold from 952,900oz at 5.74g/t gold
- Update will underpin maiden underground ore reserve that is due for delivery in the second half of 2024
Special Report: The Dalgaranga project’s rebirth into a high-grade gold development has been emphatically reinforced by Spartan Resources, which has confirmed its Never Never discovery as one of the best underground gold prospects in years in WA’s gold industry.
The flagship Never Never deposit has charged past the magic million ounce mark and remarkably improved its grade from under 6g/t to over 8g/t, while the company has also unveiled a maiden resource of 1.78Mt grading 7.65g/t gold, or 438,100oz of contained gold, at the new Pepper discovery.
As much as 76% of the Never Never resource is now in the high confidence indicated category, drilled to a density close enough to be included in future mine plans.
Never Never’s winning run has seen Spartan Resources (ASX:SPR) upgrade the deposit from 5.16Mt at 5.74g/t gold, or 952,900oz, to 5.72Mt at 8.07g/t gold for ~1.49Moz of contained gold.
Of this, about 1.14Moz reports into the indicated category.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise given strong final infill drill results of 10.14m at 11.26g/t gold including 0.77m at 126.45g/t gold and 9.07m at 17.81g/t gold from the most recent round of drilling.
Meanwhile, the company’s continued success at drilling the nearby Pepper discovery, which returned hits such as 25.42m at 16.66g/t gold and a top grade of 92.19g/t gold, has clearly paid off with the definition of a maiden resource.This along with resources at the Gilbey’s Complex and Plymouth/Sly Fox, takes resources on granted mining leases and within 2km of the existing 2.5Mtpa Dalgaranga processing plant up to 16.1Mt at 4.79g/t gold, or 2.48Moz of contained gold, a substantial figure for SPR to base its development plans on.
More broadly, the company now has a global resource of 3.3Moz after including the Yalgoo, Glenburgh and Egerton projects.
Underground riches abound
The resource upgrade has also clearly outlined where the riches at Dalgaranga in WA’s Muchison region can be found, with the company noting a combined underground resource of ~1.88Moz.
It added that ounces per vertical metre for the high-grade underground resource increased by 24% to 2284oz, adding that between a depth of 450m to 650m below surface, the value for both Never Never and Pepper increases to 3796oz.
Underground resources at the Four Pillars and West Winds gold prospects as well as the nearby Sly Fox and Plymouth gold deposits have also been tagged at a total of 558,900oz at an average grade of 2.01g/t.
SPR has clearly recognised the importance of the underground resource at the project, having just handed Barminco with the contract to develop an exploration drill drive and improve drilling density and efficiency at depth.
That will run parallel and adjacent to a single, 800m-long, semi-continuously mineralised north-south stratigraphic horizon that the Never Never, Pepper, Four Pillars and West Winds deposits are all conveniently located on.
This drive will provide the company with underground drill platforms to more effectively infill and extend these deposits while facilitating the exploration for further high-grade shoots.
It will also provide critical underground infrastructure as SPR, giving it a head start on underground mining development ahead of feasibility studies and a future investment decision.
Update a “pivotal moment” for SPR
Managing director Simon Lawson described the landmark resource update as a “pivotal moment” in the company’s journey, noting that the Spartan team had “taken the pieces of a struggling low-grade, open-pit gold miner and rebuilt it as a highly successful high-grade exploration, discovery and development machine!”.
“Importantly, we have created a highly investable gold mining and development company which has established a reputation for consistently delivering value to our shareholders since our recapitalisation in February 2023,” he added.
“Since its discovery in mid-2022, the high-grade Never Never gold deposit has consistently delivered some of the most eye-catching drill intercepts seen in the Australian gold sector in many years.
“This MRE update firmly cements its position as an exceptional high-grade deposit, comprising an underground resource of 1.44Moz at 9.00g/t gold. This is an incredible outcome only 2 years from discovery and the direct result of a consistent high-grade drill focus, a highly effective drill strategy and the team’s extensive experience interpreting, modelling and estimating high-grade gold resources.”
Lawson says a maiden underground ore reserve is due in the second half of this year. But more discovery and resource extension drilling continues to be on the cards.
“The recent discovery of the high-grade Pepper gold deposit, outlined only a few months ago and situated adjacent to the Never Never gold deposit, is testament to the incredible exploration mindset of the Spartan team and contributes a maiden high-grade underground inferred mineral resource of 0.43Moz at 7.66g/t gold,” he said.
“Given this new high-grade discovery is in such close-proximity to the development associated with any Never Never underground access scenario, Pepper is the drill team’s Priority-1 in-fill and extensional drill target right throughout the second half of 2024.
“We will focus on closing in the drill spacing and testing extensions to the Pepper Gold Deposit from surface right up to the underground exploration drill drive giving us an underground drill platform to continue this work.”
He highlighted that the resource update delivered a massive 90% increase in grade and 45% increase in ounces for Dalgaranga.
This article was developed in collaboration with Spartan Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
