Ausgold has announced an upgraded mineral resource estimate for its flagship Katanning gold project in WA.
The mineral resource has now been set at 89 million tonnes at 1.06 grams per tonne for 3.04 million ounces.
“This is a tremendous result which cements the Katanning gold project as one of the most significant new multi-million ounce open pit gold development projects in Australia,” Ausgold managing director Matthew Greentree said.
“The further significant increase in contained ounces reflects the success of our targeted drilling programs in the past year and also delivers a substantial increase in measured and indicated resources to underpin the upcoming definitive feasibility study.”
Regional targeting conducted at the site has identified several prospective gold mineralisation areas.
“The Katanning gold project is now moving rapidly towards development, and we are looking forward to delivering a number of significant milestones in the coming months as we further de-risk the project with the completion of the feasibility study and move ahead with permitting, financing and pre-development activities,” Greentree said.
The project is located 275km south east of Perth. Ausgold completed a scoping study of the site in May of this year.
“Following the results of the 2022 PFS (pre-feasibility study), this scoping study clearly indicates increased scale from the PFS level mine plan producing 163,000 more ounces than the PFS over life of mine,” Greentree said at the time.
“More importantly in the first six years, higher gold grades deliver an extra 174,000 ounces from what was determined in the PFS.”