Pennys Find Pre-Feasibility Study and Ore Reserve
Perth, Dec 18, 2024 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Horizon Minerals Limited (
ASX:HRZ) is pleased to announce the results of the Prefeasibility Study ("PFS" or "Study for the Company's 100% owned Pennys Find project, located in the heart of the Western Australian goldfields (Figure 1*).
HIGHLIGHTS
- Prefeasibility Study (PFS) for Pennys Find completed and shows a financially viable project highlighted by the following:
o Underground mine design and schedule producing 329.9kt at a fully diluted grade of 3.2g/t Au for 33.5koz over an approximate 23 month mine life
o Metallurgical recovery of 88.9% produces 29.8koz recovered under an assumed third party toll milling arrangement in the region
o Project generates $24.0M in free cash flow (after capital) at a gold price of A$3,600/oz
- A maiden Ore Reserve, which constitutes 99.7% of the ounces in the production target in the PFS, stands at 328.3kt at 3.2g/t Au for 33.4koz
- Pennys Find is fully permitted with all statutory approvals in place
- PFS assumes contract mining and haulage, with management and technical services provided by Horizon
- Pennys Find is one of several near-term development projects held by Horizon and will be ranked and assessed alongside the Cannon and Kalpini projects for potential processing through third party infrastructure or the wholly owned processing infrastructure to be acquired under the proposed merger with Poseidon
Commenting on the PFS and Ore Reserve, Managing Director and CEO Mr Grant Haywood said:
"We are very pleased to have the study work completed on another development ready project. The Pennys Find underground PFS shows robust cashflows from a high-grade gold asset that is fully permitted that we can develop when we are ready.
"Horizon has strong optionality within its large pipeline of projects, with mining currently underway at Boorara and Phillips Find, with Cannon and now Pennys Find studies completed allowing the potential to generate more cash in this strong gold price environment."
Pennys Find Overview
The Pennys Find Gold Project is located 50km northeast of Kalgoorlie-Boulder (Figure 1*) and is accessed via public roads.
The high-grade gold mineralisation at Pennys Find is hosted in thin quartz veins at the contact between footwall sediments including black shale and siltstone and a hangingwall basalt. The quartz veins dip about 60deg to the northeast, and collectively average 1m to 5m true width.
Open cut mining to 85m depth (242mRL) was completed by Empire Resources in 2018 with toll treatment processing at Lakewood (Kalgoorlie) and Burbanks (Coolgardie). Production from the open pit totalled more than 18,300oz at 4.47g/t Au (as announced to the ASX by Empire (ASX:ERL) on 25 July 2018)
Metallurgical test work and toll milling data has shown fresh mineralisation to be free milling with a high gravity recoverable gold component and a total gold recovery which has historically exceeded 90%. Horizon has used a metallurgical recovery of 88.9% for this study.
The Mineral Resource Estimate (JORC 2012) for Pennys Find is shown in link* below.
The Mineral Resource has three domains (Figure 2*). Domain 1 contains most of the Mineral Resource with good drilling support. Domain 2 is a subparallel lode, possibly a splay, that to date is only represented in limited drilling. Domain 3 is similarly a subparallel lode, but with minimal drilling support.
Pennys Find Prefeasibility Study
The Study was undertaken by a combination of in-house personnel and independent consultants.
Advanced Mining Production Systems (AMPS) was engaged by Horizon to carry out works for inclusion in a Mining PFS for the Pennys Find Underground project inclusive of mine optimisation and design, scheduling and economic analysis. MineGeoTech carried out a geotechnical Feasibility Study to establish the structural environment and rock mass quality of the project, and utilising this data, ground support requirements, stope stability and numerical modelling was completed. Various metallurgical studies have been undertaken by previous owners and more recently via Independent Metallurgical Operations under Horizon. Soil Water Group carried out Hydrology and Hydrogeology work and environmental study work carried out by Botanica Consulting.
All remaining study work was undertaken and overseen by Horizon and is based on the following key parameters:
- Gold price of A$3,600/oz
- Underground mining and road haulage conducted by contractors with management and technical oversight by Horizon
- Ore processing through a standard Carbon in Leach (CIL) third party processing plant in the Kalgoorlie region, within 100km of Pennys Find
- There is no material financing required for capital development of the project at this stage as the Company is mining its Boorara and Phillips Find open pit projects, and it is anticipated that current cash and cashflows from those projects shall fund this development The key Study outcomes for the project are included in Table 2* below: The estimated Ore Reserve, which constitutes 99.7% of the production target, has been prepared by Competent Persons in accordance with JORC Code 2012.
Horizon conducted the Study as of 17 December 2024. The Study, prepared with an accuracy of +/-15%, considered all relevant mining modifying factors, allowing an Ore Reserve to be estimated in accordance with the JORC Code. Classification of the estimate is shown in Table 3*.
All Inferred Resources were excluded from the stope optimisation process and in the financial modelling and the estimation of Ore Reserves. The Pennys Find Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources are inclusive of those Mineral Resources modified to produce the Pennys Find PFS that can be economically mined by underground methods. The Ore Reserves make up 99.7% of the production ounces in the PFS.
The information presented in this announcement is based on, and fairly represents, information and supporting documentation prepared by Mr Grant Haywood. Mr Haywood continues to be the Competent Person for the 18 December 2024 Pennys Find Ore Reserve estimate, and supervised and reviewed preparation of the estimate with assistance from specialists in each area of the estimate. Mr Haywood is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and is employed by Horizon. He has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation, type of deposit under consideration, and in underground mining activities, to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the JORC Code. Mr Haywood consents to the inclusion of this information in the form and context in which it appears.
The Probable Ore Reserve estimate is based on Mineral Resources classified as Indicated, after consideration of all mining, metallurgical, social, environmental, statutory and financial aspects of the project.
Financial analysis undertaken in December 2024 shows that, at 17 December 2024, the future revenues to be derived and costs incurred to access those revenues produce a viable project using the assumptions presented in this estimate.
A sensitivity analysis was conducted as part of the assessment for the reserve, the results are displayed in Figure 3*.
Operational activities shall be undertaken by a mining contractor with technical and managerial oversight provided by Horizon. Mining will be underground with access via a portal within the pit to develop a decline to the base of the mine, with lateral ore drives developed from the decline. The mining method will be a bottom-up method using longhole stoping via a modified Avoca method with Cemented Rockfill (CRF). Ore and waste shall be loaded out by conventional diesel-powered LoadHaul-Dump (LHD) loaders and low profile trucks. Development will be undertaken with Jumbo Drills and stoping with Longhole drills.
Following pre-production activities, which includes dewatering the existing open pit for a period of five months, the portal shall be established in the south-eastern quadrant of the open pit.
Development will occur over a period of 13 months, with ore development commencing in month three and stoping operations commencing in month five.
*To view tables and figures, please visit:
https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/O3D917BF
About Horizon Minerals Limited
Horizon Minerals Limited (ASX:HRZ) is a gold exploration and mining company focussed on the Kalgoorlie and Menzies areas of Western Australia which are host to some of Australia's richest gold deposits. The Company is developing a mining pipeline of projects to generate cash and self-fund aggressive exploration, mine developments and further acquisitions. The Teal gold mine has been recently completed.
Horizon is aiming to significantly grow its JORC-Compliant Mineral Resources, complete definitive feasibility studies on core high grade open cut and underground projects and build a sustainable development pipeline.
Horizon has a number of joint ventures in place across multiple commodities and regions of Australia providing exposure to Vanadium, Copper, PGE's, Gold and Nickel/Cobalt. Our quality joint venture partners are earning in to our project areas by spending over $20 million over 5 years enabling focus on the gold business while maintaining upside leverage.
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