Korbel Gold Project Starter Pit Scoping Study
Melbourne, Feb 28, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Nova Minerals Limited (
ASX:NVA) (QM3:FRA) (NVAAF:OTCMKTS) is pleased to announce the results from its 'Starter Pit' scoping study (the Study) on the Korbel Main Deposit, within the Company's flagship Estelle Gold Trend, located in Alaska's prolific Tintina Gold Belt. Key outcomes of the Study highlight the potential for Korbel Main to support a large stand-alone, bulk tonnage open pit mining operation, with ideal ore body geometry that allows mining at a very low strip ratio.
The 9.6 Moz gold resource at Estelle is hosted within the Korbel and RPM deposits, representing two of 21 prospects over a 450m2 claim area which is quickly developing into a prospective major gold trend. The mineral resource was estimated in accordance with the JORC Code (2012) and classified as follows (ASX Announcement: 23 December 2021)
Study Deposit
- Korbel Main Deposit
o Indicated 286Mt @ 0.3 g/t Au for 3.0Mozs (cut-off 0.15 Au g/t)
o Inferred 583Mt @ 0.3 g/t Au for 5.1Mozs (cut-off 0.15 Au g/t)
Future Deposit to be Included in the PFS
- RPM North Deposit - Inferred 23Mt @ 2.0g/t Au for 1.5Mozs (cut off 0.30 Au g/t)
The Study represents a snapshot in time focused only on the Korbel Main Deposit and the Company has already identified clear opportunities for improvement with ongoing resource drilling programs targeting significant remaining upside at the Korbel Project, which remains wide open in multiple directions, as well as the inclusion of the high-grade RPM Project resources as the Company advances next step pre-feasibility level studies.
Study Highlights
- Study confirms the viability of a stand-alone gold operation at the Korbel Main Deposit with a 15 year evaluation period.
- Rapid payback period of 3 years production with years 1-3 all in sustaining costs (AISC) of USD$879/oz provide robust early project returns. Study forecasts over 200,000 oz in the first year of gold production.
- Low mine strip ratio of 0.76:1 with ore sorters delivering 1.0g/t average feed grade to mill producing within the first 3 years.
- Total gold produced 1,956,000 oz with 88% gold recovery over the evaluation period, using a conventional truck and shovel mining method and mill operation.
- Attractive financial outcomes with Pre-Tax NPV5% USD$381M and Pre-tax IRR 20.4% based on a USD$1,750/oz gold price.
- Average Cash Costs of USD$990/oz and AISC of USD$1,120/oz over the evaluation period.
- Estimated pre-production capital cost of 6Mt pa plant and site infrastructure of approximately USD$424M, inclusive of USD$57M mining fleet equipment and contingencies.
- Production rate and mine life has the potential to grow significantly with continued drilling programs aimed at increasing and proving up additional resources, as demonstrated in recent announcements for Korbel and at the high-grade RPM Gold Project, as well as further discoveries through ongoing exploration activities across the Estelle Gold Trend.
- Immediate upside opportunities to be considered in the Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS), which has already commenced, include:
o Increasing the size and confidence of resources at the RPM Gold Project, which currently hosts a maiden 1.5Moz Inferred Resource (ASX Announcement: 27 October 2021) and includes the bonanza grade intercepts of 3.5 g/t Au over 400m which included 132m @ 10.1 g/t Au (ASX Announcement: 11 October 2021). Geophysics and surface sampling has already identified several promising targets to drill test in 2022 (ASX Announcement: 19 January 2022) with multiple diamond drill rigs to be mobilized in the coming months.
o Material handling studies underway investigating the low-cost transportation of high-grade RPM ore to a Korbel central processing facility.
o Significant upside remaining as step-out and infill resource drilling continues across the wider Korbel Gold Project Area.
o Ongoing exploration across the entire Estelle Gold Trend.
Nova CEO, Mr. Christopher Gerteisen commented: "The Company is pleased to announce the strong, positive results of the Scoping Study which was focused on Korbel Main only to determine whether the resource defined at the deposit to date can support a potentially viable stand-alone starter operation. Korbel Main is a key component to the rapid development of the Estelle Gold Trend and expected to contribute a significant portion of future gold production as Nova positions itself to supply a market with a strong appetite for gold which continues to gain momentum as high inflation globally, government deficits and central banks continue with their stimulus programs. Bottom line, gold is money, always has been, always will be, and Nova is in the business to produce gold, lots of it.
Completion of the starter Scoping Study was an excellent achievement for the Company and exceeded our expectations in many regards. This now provides a solid foundation on which to build as we transition to the project development phase and move rapidly to a PFS which will capture the upside from further significant resource growth expected at both the Korbel and RPM Projects as we ramp up our 2022 resource drilling programs. This year our drill programs and test work are aimed at rapidly converting the current 6.6Mozs of Inferred Resources at both deposits into higher confidence Measured and Indicated Resources, as well as advancing the high-grade RPM deposit to be included in the next stage PFS. We believe the results of the Scoping Study are a great starting point that demonstrates the technical and economic strengths which come from having a large, bulk tonnage project in a Tier-1 location. It's all upside from here.
Key drivers for these robust returns are the geometry and nature of mineralization within these massive IRGS ore bodies, which start at surface to allow open pit mining with a very low strip ratio, particularly important in the early payback years, as well as being readily amenable to ore sorting allowing for significant upgrading of ore feed to mill. Following the starter Scoping Study, additional key areas and opportunities have already been identified that have the potential to further improve the Project's economics.
Estelle has all the hallmarks of a world-class Gold Trend with 9.6 Moz in current resource inventory only the start of things to come and multiple exciting targets outside of the Korbel and RPM Projects which offer huge potential to continue growing the overall resource inventory across the entire Trend.
We are confident that the combination of economic and technical studies, and significant resource growth, will drive further increases in shareholder value as we continue to unlock the Estelle Gold Trend and advance the PFS on our path towards production."
*To view the scoping study, please visit:
https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/577D8R85
About Nova Minerals Limited
Nova Minerals Limited (ASX:NVA) (FRA:QM3) is a Gold, Antimony and Critical Minerals exploration and development company focused on advancing the Estelle Project, comprised of 514 km2 of State of Alaska mining claims, which contains multiple mining complexes across a 35 km long mineralized corridor of over 20 advanced Gold and Antimony prospects, including two already defined multi-million ounce resources, and several drill ready Antimony prospects with massive outcropping stibnite vein systems observed at surface. The 85% owned project is located 150 km northwest of Anchorage, Alaska, USA, in the prolific Tintina Gold Belt, a province which hosts a >220 million ounce (Moz) documented gold endowment and some of the world's largest gold mines and discoveries including, Barrick's Donlin Creek Gold Project and Kinross Gold Corporation's Fort Knox Gold Mine. The belt also hosts significant Antimony deposits and was a historical North American Antimony producer.
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