Classic picks up mobile gold plant for early production

ASX-listed gold explorer Classic Minerals has taken the plunge in a bid to generate some early cash flows from its Kat Gap project about 120km south-east of Southern Cross in WA, buying a mobile gravity gold concentration plant to be used for the on-site processing of ore.

Following the recent high-grade discovery at Kat Gap incorporating a 1m drill hit going 10 ounces of gold per tonne, the Perth-based company has now made the project, which lies about 50km south-east of its Forrestania gold project, the main focus of its exploration.

Classic, who last week announced a share purchase plan offer for eligible shareholders to raise up to $4 million, says it is on track to commission the Gekko plant and start processing at Kat Gap within about three months depending on the COVID-19 situation, with production set to follow soon after once mining and statutory approvals are received.

The gold hopeful said it has also commenced negotiations to toll treat initial parcels of ore with a view to churning out an immediate revenue stream as the plant is configured to suit Kat Gap ore.

According to the company, a benefit of the Gekko plant is the mobility associated with its modular construction, which allows the plant to be positioned adjacent to the orebody, helping minimise the haulage and processing costs. The plant that Classic has purchased has a 30 tonne per hour processing capacity and is scalable to a “Gekko Python” plant with a capacity of 250 tph.

Earlier this month, Classic reported a spectacular RC drill result from Kat Gap, which already hosts an inferred resource of 975,722 tonnes grading a solid 2.96 grams per tonne for 92,856 ounces of contained gold.

The headline number from the last campaign was 4m going 76.72 g/t gold from 79m including 1m at a whopping 304 g/t gold or about 10 ounces of gold per tonne.

The company plans to devote a lot of subsequent drilling energy to Kat Gap to infill the deposit that it says will assist in open pit optimisation studies prior to future mining operations.

The Kat Gap tenements are located about 50km south-east of Classic’s Forrestania gold project that covers the “Ladies” deposits known as Lady Magdalene and Lady Ada, which together with Kat Gap make up the company’s global mineral resource position of 8.24 million tonnes at 1.52 g/t for 403,906 ounces of contained gold.

Classic now has the next three months – while waiting for the Gekko plant to be delivered – to fire up the drill bit in order to delineate more Kat Gap resources for early treatment through the plant. With its modular design and scalability, the plant gives the company the flexibility to increase ore throughput should Kat Gap turn out more encouraging results from follow-up exploration work.

The acquisition of a mobile plant at Kat Gap is a positive move for Classic and any early gold that can be eked out without spending tens of millions on a full sized fixed plant will come in very handy for the company as it seeks to drill out Kat Gap.

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