Pantoro Ltd (ASX:PNR, OTC:PNTOF) has made further progress on its strategy to unlock the full potential of its 100%-owned Norseman Gold Project in Western Australia with rehabilitation of the Bullen decline advancing well.
This work, which began in the second half of December with a short break over the Christmas period, is progressing well with about 250 metres completed to date.
Excellent ground conditions
Pantoro said the ground conditions had been observed to be excellent with minimal work required outside of installing new mesh and rockbolts and re-establishing services in line with the latest industry standards.
Bullen underground work is being carried out by RedPath Australia, leveraging strong synergies with the existing Scotia underground mining contract where RedPath provides a comprehensive full-service solution in partnership with Pantoro.
Full mesh ground support close to the Bullen Portal.
The pace of the work schedule at Bullen is expected to facilitate the started of underground drilling in the Mainfield during March 2025.
Exploration potential
“The Mainfield at Norseman has historically accounted for over half of the six million ounces produced from the Norseman Gold Project,” Pantoro’s managing director Paul Cmrlec said.
“These mines are shallow by today’s standards and host high-grade zones of mineralisation confirmed by historical small-scale development in largely un-mined zones of the orebody.
“Pantoro sees exceptional exploration potential in the underexplored system and we look forward to realising the opportunities over the coming year.”
Ongoing support works showing excellent ground conditions.
About Norseman Project
The Norsemen Project is in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia, about 725 kilometres east of Perth and 200 kilometres south of Kalgoorlie.
It is at the southern end of the highly productive Norseman-Wiluna greenstone belt and is one of the highest-grade goldfields within the Yilgarn Craton.
Since its entry to the project in 2019, Pantoro has completed more than 300,000 metres of RC and diamond drilling, defined ore reserves of 958,000 ounces, completed construction of a 1.2 million tonnes per annum gold processing plant and recommenced production across open pit and underground operations.
The current total mineral resource is 4.8 million ounces and many of the resources defined remain open along strike and at depth. In most cases, the resources have only been tested to shallow depths.
In addition, there are numerous anomalies and mineralisation occurrences yet to be tested adequately to be included in mineral resources, with several highly prospective targets identified.
The tenure includes about 70 lineal kilometres of the Norseman-Wiluna greenstone belt covering around 800 square kilometres.
Historically, the Norseman Gold Project areas have produced more than 5.5 million ounces of gold since operations began in 1935.
Growth strategy
Pantoro’s growth strategy is centred on expanding its underground mining operations and scaling production at Norseman, initially from 100,000 ounces per annum, to more than 200,000 ounces annually.
With an active drilling program and significant untapped potential, Pantoro is poised for substantial growth in the coming years.