Westgold has announced strong drilling results in the Bluebird gold mine in WA.
New high-grade intercepts have been received from several key zones in the Meekatharra mine, a development Westgold has labelled ‘a game-changer.’
Drilling was conducted in an untested zone of high-grade mineralisation, which sat outside of the current mine plan. Though drill platforms to test this new target do not currently exist in the mine, it has been possible to re-enter an existing underground hole and opportunistically drill several new holes from other proximate locations.
The first of these holes to be returned, 22BLDD261A, has returned favourable results, including:
- 4.75m at 12.06 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 301.25m
- 15m at 5.90g/t gold from 337m
- 46m at 2.72g/t gold from 440m.
Westgold also reports the expansion of Bluebird is on track, with drillhole 22BLD277 delivering 10.15m at 25.50g/t gold from 138.85m.
According to the company, the repeated drilling success is providing increased confidence that the zone targeted by the drills offers the potential for material additions to the current life of mine.
“Our current FY23 expansion of the Bluebird underground mine to approximately 600,000 (tonnes per annum) from the currently defined resource is on track,” Westgold managing director Wayne Bramwell said.
“Westgold now has the operational discipline, team and equipment to simultaneously expand Bluebird and systemically test the broader Bluebird Deeps – South Junction system, with a much larger-scale mine than currently planned, key to enhancing the long-term profitability of our Murchison operations.”
The results bode well for the company, which in achieved its second successive quarterly production record in the December quarter. According to the quarterly report, the company mined 111,250 tonnes at 3.5g/t gold, representing at 23 per cent tonnage increase and a nine per cent grade life between quarters.
Westgold maintains that this upward trajectory in output will continue, with Bluebird on track towards 50,000 tonnes per months during the second half of 2023.