The big leagues: Magnetic increases gold resources by 107pc to +1.24Moz

Magnetic Resources updates resource estimate for Laverton gold project to 22.7Mt at 1.69g/t gold totalling 1.24Moz
The update follows drilling at the Lady Julie North 4 and Lady Julie Central deposits
Company says cutoff grade suitable for large-scale open pit production
Drilling ongoing with more resource growth on the horizon

Special Report: Laverton explorer Magnetic Resources has easily surpassed its +1Moz goal, updating the resource estimate for its Laverton project to 22.7Mt at 1.69g/t gold for 1.24Moz.

The company is on the hunt for big gold deposits on its 179km2 footprint in the heart of WA’s Laverton district, an established gold mining province with world-class deposits like Wallaby, Sunrise Dam, and Granny Smith.

The resource update includes the Hawks Nest 9 (HN9), Lady Julie Central (LJC), Lady Julie North 4 (LJN4), Mount Jumbo and Homeward Bound South deposits and represents an increase of 107% of the total ounces since the last update back in February.

LJN4 is a key focus for the Laverton project, as it hosts the kind of strong, thick breccia zones that are prevalent in Anglo Ashanti’s world class Sunrise Dam deposit, which has both parallel to near-surface shear zones and vertical mineralisation going downwards into several of their individual deposits.

The update follows extensive infill and down-dip drilling mainly at LJN4 and some at LJC, with a cutoff grade that could be appropriate for a large-scale open pit operation, the company says.

LJN4 contained gold up 317%

LJC now hosts a resource of 1.33Mt at 1.68g/t gold for 72,200oz, 59% of which falls in the indicated category.

LJN4 has a resource of 13.1 Mt at 2.02 g/t for 852,600oz with 52% in the indicated category –predominantly the near surface material where good drill coverage exists – making it the largest resource in the project area.

“[The Lady Julie North 4 Resource] has multiple stacked lodes with a number of thick intersections that have not been closed off at depth,” Magnetic Resources (ASX:MAU) MD George Sakalidis said.

“The initial deeper drilling started on the 25 January 2023 and has expanded in subsequent months to a 95-hole RC program for 16,356m.

“Drilling is continuing, with holes in excess of 400m depth, which is expected to increase the current resource at LJN4 of 13.1Mt at 2.02g/t for 852,000oz at a 0.5g/t cut off.”

The main deposits – HN9, LJC, LJN4, Mount Jumbo and Homeward Bound South – are all in an area with well-endowed regional infrastructure including three processing plants within 35kms.

The company says this provides scope for toll processing, but given the scale of the resource upgrade, consideration is now also being given to a dedicated processing plant.

Further resource growth on the horizon

Exploration is continuing for similar deposits to LJN4 along the extensive 12km Chatterbox shear and MAU is confident that ongoing extension drilling could result in further resource increases at the project.

“This LJN4 deposit sits within a regional structure called the Chatterbox Shear Zone that extends over a 12km length within the Magnetic tenements,” Sakalidis said.

“This shear extends southwards of LJN4 and has had initial AC and RC drilling completed and some anomalous intersections that will be followed up with some shallow RC drilling for the purpose of finding further gold deposits.

“Drilling in the last 6 months included diamond drill holes for geotechnical evaluation of proposed pits, and for hydrology analysis.

“Project environmental, heritage and technical background studies are close to completion – optimisation and pit design has commenced on LJC and the expanded LJN4 – the aim is to prepare and submit a Mining Proposal in early 2024.

“Other strategic opportunities are also being investigated.”

This article was developed in collaboration with Magnetic 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.