Horizon Minerals has increased the mineral resource estimate at its recently acquired and well-advanced Cannon gold project, located a short trucking distance from the company’s flagship Boorara gold project on the south east fringes of Kalgoorlie. The JORC compliant mineral resource review was conducted independently and upgraded the current estimate by over 8,000 ounces gold to 32,070 ounces grading an impressive 4.29 grams per tonne gold.
The Cannon gold mine is located 30 kilometres east of the prolific Kalgoorlie-Boulder region and 10km east of Horizon’s 100 per cent owned Boorara mill. Cannon is one of three nearby gold projects recently acquired from privateer Aurenne Group Holdings for an all cash $5 million consideration.
An open pit operated at the Cannon gold mine until 2017 producing 55,000 ounces of gold at 2.98 g/t gold with an outstanding 91 per cent gold recovery rate. The tenure housing the mine sits on a current mining lease.
Mineral resource and ore reserve estimates are based on accessing the gold deposit through a portal within the existing open pit using underground decline access to the ore body. 89 per cent of the ounces estimated at Cannon sit within the indicated resource category and have been calculated with a lower cut-off grade of 1.0 g/t.
The deposit remains open along strike and down plunge with drilling planned to target both extremities on the Cannon shear zone. Drilling will be undertaken both from surface and underground drilling locations.
A maiden ore reserve for the Cannon project is expected in the current December quarter 2021.
Horizon now has a total mineral resource across its projects of 20.73 million tonnes grading 1.72 g/t gold for 1,148,800 ounces, with 77 per cent sitting in the measured and indicated categories.
Cannon is now one of six core open pit and underground satellite gold projects that are expected to compliment the Boorara gold project to deliver a minimum five-year initial mine plan. The satellite projects are intended to add mill feed to justify running a stand-alone, centralised processing facility at the Boorara mine site.
Horizon Minerals Managing Director, Jon Price said: “The project has the potential to provide high grade ore early in the production profile with significant growth potential down plunge and along the Cannon shear zone and we look forward to completing the underground mining studies and updated Ore Reserve in the current December Quarter.”
“Target generation for resource growth and new discoveries along the Cannon shear zone and within the Glandore and Cowarna project areas is also well advanced with surface drilling planned for the March Quarter 2022 with depth extensions to be tested from underground during the mining cycle.”
Gold followers have long known the untapped potential sitting to the east of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Horizon looks to have amassed a serious chunk of it. Well-developed projects like the Cannon gold project are likely to bolster Horizons already burgeoning portfolio within a stone’s throw of its 100 per cent owned Boorara mill.
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By Matt Birney
