Chalice changes tack at Gonneville
Chalice Mining has begun steps towards a selective mining campaign at its Gonneville nickel-copper-platinum group element (PGE) project in Western Australia.
Recent modelling work has focused on re-interpreting high-grade sulphide zones within the resource at a much more granular level, which the company said will maximise production in the face of weakened prices.
“The remodelled high-grade sulphide resource marks the first step in the reset of the development strategy for the Gonneville project,” Chalice managing director and chief executive officer Alex Dorsch said.
“The high-grade model provides improved high-grade definition to underpin the design of a more selective, smaller scale starter project.”
As part of the updated mineral resource estimate, high-grade palladium, nickel and copper zones have been modelled separately to better define the mineralogical domains.
Previous resource models assumed bulk open-pit mining approaches only with significantly larger block sizes.
An additional 56 drill holes have also been incorporated, both to increase confidence in the resource as well as extend it down-dip to a depth of around 1100m.
“Importantly, a smaller scale starter project design allows for future expansion into a larger scale bulk mining operation, according to prevailing economic conditions at the time,” Dorsch said.
“Selective mining initially preserves the optionality of a future expansion, as mined material will be stockpiled for future processing.
“This staged development approach reduces risk, allows efficient deployment of capital and maximises optionality.”
Source: https://www.australianmining.com.au/chalice-changes-tack-on-gonneville/
