Venus Metals and joint venture partner, Rox Resources, continue to serve up bumper hits at their Youanmi gold project in WA’s Murchison goldfields, with the latest drilling at the Link prospect striking 22m at 6.31 grams per tonne gold from 355m which houses an impressive 11.2m running at 10.37 g/t.
Other notable intercepts include 5.1m averaging 7.15 g/t gold from 292.9m and 4.3m coming in at 9.67 g/t from 294.7m. The latest results come from a further five RC holes and eight diamond holes targeting resource infill at the JV’s high-priority Link prospect.
Rox management says the high-grade intercepts confirm the current interpreted mineralised lodes at Link, where mineralisation remains open down-plunge to the north-west and up-plunge to the south-east.
Interestingly, Rox notes extensional drilling at the prospect is delivering “better-than-expected” results, suggesting the mineral resource estimate could also be in line for a boost.
The JV duo is approaching the home straight of a 24,000m drilling blitz aimed at increasing the current JORC-compliant inferred mineral resource estimate to the higher “indicated” category for inclusion in an upcoming prefeasibility study.
Following the acquisition of the project in April, 2019 and multiple extensive exploration campaigns throughout 2020 and 2021, the partners have etched out just under 30 million tonnes grading 3.57 g/t for an impressive 3.2 million ounces of contained gold.
A preliminary scoping study released in October last year forecasted production of 71,000 gold ounces per year for about 569,000 gold ounces over an eight-year mine life and at an average head grade of 5 g/t gold.
The JV partners outlined a capital cost for a 480,000-tonne per annum processing plant and other site infrastructure at about $99 million, with working capital and other costs estimated at $34 million.
The study shows a cumulative EBITDA of about $577 million over the project’s predicted lifespan, with a net present value of $303 million and an internal rate of return clocking in at an impressive 45 per cent. The companies also expect a payback of about three years once the project hits its production target, based on an average gold price of $2450 per ounce.
The gold price is currently hovering at about $3000 per ounce.
With the lion’s share of drilling peppering the high-priority Link and Kathleen prospects now complete, the JV’s drill rig has homed in on a suite of bonanza hits at the Youanmi South prospect. Recent drilling at the evolving prospect returned a 3m intercept coming in at a staggering 138.7 g/t gold contained in a wider 28m segment grading more than an ounce per tonne at 34.81g/t gold from 204m.
Rox says the expanded drilling program at Youanmi South is aimed at delineating the potentially significant new mineralised structure.
Youanmi lies on a 36km strike length at its namesake Youanmi greenstone belt and is within touching distance of the Ramelius-owned Mount Magnet gold mine. The historical Youanmi mine produced 667,000 ounces of gold at 5.47 g/t from multiple open pits and underground mines until its closure in the late 1990s.
Last month, Venus and Rox fused their union by agreeing to consolidate their ownership interests in the greater Youanmi gold project. Under the agreement, Venus will receive 110 million shares in Rox. In return, Rox will pick up Venus’ gold interests in each of the two companies’ Youanmi JVs, including 45 per cent in the Youanmi and Currans Find JVs and 50 per cent of the Venus Metals JV. Importantly, Rox is acquiring the remaining 30 per cent of the OYG JV that includes all mineral interests at the site.
The steady news flow is clearly resonating with investors, pushing Venus’ share price up from a low of 12 cents earlier this year to today’s high of 20 cents.
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