Gold Road has revealed promising drill results at its Gruyere gold mine in Western Australia.
Thirteen drill holes, spanning 9478m, have confirmed the Gruyere orebody extends up to 200m beneath the ore reserve final pit design.
Gold Road’s broader 60,000m drill program is targeting deeper ore zones of approximately 700m below the final pit design and infill drilling within the upper 400m section of the predicted underground resource, which confirms confidence in the indicated mineral resource category.
Highlights from the drill program include a 119m intersection of 1.1 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 834m of depth, and a 54m intersection of 1.62g/t gold from 480m.
The Gruyere gold mine is a 50:50 joint venture (JV) between Gold Fields and Gold Road.
Gold Road managing director and chief executive officer Duncan Gibbs said the area is showing great potential.
“These initial results from the drill program, supported by results from existing drillholes, provide further confidence that the orebody extends as expected and that there is good potential for profitable underground mining at Gruyere,” he said.
“The studies and drilling have the potential to prove that gold mining at Gruyere could continue well beyond 2032.”
Past drill programs show mineralisation to depths of 1150m below the surface.
With four surface diamond drill rigs currently committed to the program, increasing to five soon, positive results from the underground mine are expected to continue for the next 15 months.
Gold Road recently declined a takeover offer from Gruyere JV partner Gold Fields, which involves Gold Fields acquiring 100 per cent of Gold Road shares for $3.05 per share, valuing Gold Road at $3.3 billion.
Gold Fields’ proposal would have consolidated its ownership of Gruyere, of which it is currently manager.
Gold Fields chief executive officer Mike Fraser said the offer “represents a compelling opportunity for Gold Road shareholders to realise an attractive and certain cash price for their investment”.
However, after consideration and engagement with Gold Fields, Gold Road said the proposal “materially undervalues” the company.
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