ASX-listed Troy Resources has edged closer to bringing the 288,000-ounce Smarts underground gold deposit into production at its 100 per cent-owned Karouni project in Guyana. The company has been granted approvals from the Guyana Geology & Mines Commission, or “GGMC”, to enable it to advance work on Smarts as it finalises a series of technical reports on the proposed development.
Troy acquired Kourani in 2013 and since July 2017 has produced more than 150,000 ounces of gold from the Smarts and Hicks open pits.
The 288,000-ounce underground resource below the Smarts open pit has an average grade of 3.3 grams per tonne gold and is expected to become the primary source of feed for Troy’s Kourani mill.
The company has been returning strong drill hits as it looks to table a maiden ore reserve for the deposit. Intercepts include a bonanza grade 11m hit going 131.93 g/t from 223m and 19m at 9.15 g/t gold from 173m.
Another hole returned three eye-catching intervals of 3m at 17.35 g/t from 176m, 5m at 14.14 g/t from 232m and 3m at 9.92 g/t gold from 240m.
Troy is in the final stages of concluding a pre-feasibility study for what will be the first underground mine in Guyana.
Management says it has been working closely with the GGMC and other government departments to help frame a set of mining regulations for underground hard-rock mining in the country.
Troy Resources’ Managing Director Ken Nilsson said:“Troy is delighted to have received the first ever approval for an underground mine development in Guyana. The ongoing support of the GGMC is greatly appreciated.”
The company is progressing a series of reports for the proposed operation that will need to be submitted to the GGMC for review, including the pre-feasibility study.
A two-stage development is proposed for the underground mine that will initially see a relatively short 800m drive to the first ore zone containing about 30,000 ounces of gold. Gold sales from the exercise will fund further development.
A geotechnical report for the first stage of the mining operation is being prepared, in addition to mine development schedules and capital cost estimates.
All reports will be provided to the GGMC once finalised.
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By Matt Birney
