Horizon Minerals Ltd (ASX:HRZ) is inching closer to its ambition of becoming an emerging mid-tier gold business by delivering maiden mineral resource estimates (MRE) for its Monument and Golden Ridge North prospects near Kalgoorlie in the heart of the Western Australian Goldfields.
The Perth-based explorer outlined 395,000 tonnes in the inferred category for the Monument prospect, part of the Cannon Project, grading 1.97 g/t gold for 25,000 ounces of contained metal.
For the Golden Ridge North prospect immediately adjacent to the historic Golden Ridge open pit mine, Horizon has defined 1.42 million tonnes of contained material grading 1.23 g/t gold for 57,000 ounces at a 0.8 g/t gold cut-off grade.
About 650,000 tonnes of the contained material is in the indicated category, grading 1.15 g/t gold for 24,260 ounces.
The addition of these new resources and the reduction of the Gunga West Gold Project resource following its sale to FMR Investments Pty Ltd, brings Horizon’s total MRE to 23.22 million tonnes grading 1.69 g/t gold for 1.262 million ounces.
Horizon's updated MRE.
Ore reserve next
“These projects provide Horizon with additional potential for satellite ore sources to complement the underground production at the Cannon gold project due to their proximity, enabling synergies with shared infrastructure and personnel,” Horizon chief executive officer Grant Haywood said.
“We shall immediately commence the study work to bring these maiden resources into an ore reserve and progress approvals in parallel, as we build our production profile to reach our ultimate goal of becoming an emerging mid-tier gold business for the benefit of all stakeholders.”
On the agenda
Horizon plans to build on the resource estimate for Monument by focusing on further drilling at shallower depths, which is underway, to upgrade the resource to the indicated category.
Further, a scoping study will be commissioned to assess the viability of open pit mining to leverage off synergies with the proposed Cannon underground project, which is less than 1 kilometre away.
At the Golden Ridge North, no further drilling is planned for this year although a scoping study has been initiated in conjunction with Monument to assess the economics of an open cut mining operation.
The company’s recent sampling of 380 samples from the previous open cut mining operation at the deposit has identified a small-scale treatment opportunity, with many of the samples from historic stockpiles, truck dumps and bunds returning economic grades greater than 1.0 g/t gold.
Separately, infill drilling has commenced at the Pinner prospect to update its resource and is scheduled for completion this quarter.
Horizon’s project area location, resources and surrounding infrastructure.
About the company
Horizon Minerals is a leading Australian gold exploration and development company with a strong portfolio of assets in the West Australian goldfields.
The company aims to unlock the potential of its projects through systematic exploration, resource definition and development activities.
It is focused on maximising shareholder value by strategically divesting non-core assets and advancing key projects towards production.
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