Red River Resources’ restart of operations at the Hillgrove gold project in New South Wales is on track, with first gold production expected this year.
Stage one of the restart will see Red River Resources produce gold ore from the waste products at the Bakers Creek stockpile, which will commence in December.
Red River is focussing on reprocessing 225,000 tonnes of gold at 2.5 grams per tonne from the stockpile.
The underground mining operations, or stage two, is forecast to begin mid to late 2021 in Metz Mining Centre, where Red River is aiming for an operational life of five plus years, producing between 30,000 and 50,000 ounces of gold per annum.
Managing director Mel Palancian said that production at Hillgrove will transform the company into a diversified, multi-asset gold producer.
“Having acquired the Hillgrove project in August 2019, we have been methodical in our approach to restarting gold production to ensure we understand our opportunities and how best to leverage them,” Palancian said.
“Starting operations by producing gold doré from waste at the Bakers Creek stockpile provides us with a low-cost restart plan.
“Then we will follow with stage two, which is to restart underground operations form existing development next year.”
Red River Resources will also continue exploration activities at Hillgrove for not just gold but critical metals, including antimony and tungsten.
The Hillgrove project, which is about 30 kilometres from Armidale in the New England High Country has produced more than 730,000 ounces of gold, 50,000 tonnes of antimony and tungsten as a by-product in the past.
It was placed on care and maintenance in 2016 due to low antimony prices and was acquired by Red River Resources last year.