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Michael Busbridge
Kaiser Reef has completed drilling at its Union Hill site within the company’s Maldon Gold project in Victoria, where is it looking to turn old gold waste dumps into cash. Trial processing of 3567 tonnes of dump material averaged 1.6 grams per tonne (g/t) gold with the company achieving a recovery rate of 90 per cent.
The reconciled grade from drilling of the dump compares favourably with previous channel sampling at the old Union Hill site throughout the year which initially averaged out at 0.6g/t gold. Trial processing in October of 2628 tonnes improved the average grade to 0.86g/t gold which has improved again since. An upgrade to the overall average mill feed now appears imminent.
Located 1.5 kilometres north of the old Union Hill pit, a second waste dump known as Nuggetty looks set to be the next cab of the rank for testing once permitting is granted. It contains over 16,000 cubic metres of waste material and was subject to a 321-rock sampling survey completed earlier in the year that returned assays averaging 1.8g/t gold.
The company is looking to confirm economic grades and tonnages of the free digging material that will allow it to continue operating the nearby and underutilised 200,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) Porcupine Flat processing plant profitably. If the waste dump can be converted into a low-grade stockpile, it should allow Kaiser to continue working on multiple fronts including continued drilling of the Union Hill pit and underground resources as well as testing the many local and regional exploration targets it has on its books.
‘Successful drilling results from the Union Hill waste dump could potentially convert it to a substantial low-grade stockpile.’
Kaiser Reef managing director Brad Valiukas
Kaiser’s Union Hill open pit is currently on care and maintenance with a resource of 186,000 ounces of gold grading 4.4g/t. It was first mined prior to 1926 when it produced 491,000 gold ounces. It was mined again between 1988 and 1992, producing approximately 50,000 ounces of the yellow metal from about one million tonnes of remnant ore.
Recent diamond drilling within the pit intersected several standout hits including 5.8m grading 5.37g/t gold from 39m, 6.9m running at 6.05g/t gold from 30m and 8.6m going 4.99g/t gold from 18.4m. The drilling successfully demonstrated grade continuity, delineated mineralisation in unmined portions of the pit and confirmed the presence of high-grade spur veins.
Kaiser Reef managing director Brad Valiukas said:“Successful drilling results from the Union Hill waste dump could potentially convert it to a substantial low-grade stockpile. Between Union Hill and Nuggetty, we have an estimated 450,000m3 of potential material. Success will allow Kaiser to continue operating the 200ktpa Porcupine Flat processing plant profitably, while we explore the project overall and work towards a potential restart of mining”.
If reconciled waste dump grades can continue to keep surprising on the upside for Kaiser at Union Hill, the company could be on a short road to cash flow and an inexpensive pathway to cheap unconsolidated ounces. With its Nuggety dump next in line for the same treatment and gold prices continuing to hold well above $6000 an ounce, there may be an even greater cash prize awaiting Kaiser Reef to fund the hunt for larger prizes still waiting to be uncovered
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