Evolution Mining has announced that its Cowal Gold Operation (Cowal) near West Wyalong in NSW has been granted regulatory approval to commence construction of the Galway-Regal-E46 (GRE46) exploration decline.
Image: Planned GRE46 exploration decline at Cowal. Photo courtesy of Evolution Mining.
The approval has been given by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DP&E).
The decline will allow Evolution to conduct further resource definition and discovery drilling following the announcement in April 2018 of a maiden GRE46 underground Mineral Resource of 5.90Mt at 3.17g/t for 603,000 ounces of gold. It will also facilitate further drilling and delineation of the recently discovered high grade Dalwhinnie Lode.
Dalwhinnie Lode high-grade drilling results previously released include1 :
▪ 3m (2.3m etw) grading 69.9g/t Au from 883m (1535DD331H)
▪ 6m (4.5m etw) grading 67.3g/t Au from 687m (E46D3219)
▪ 1m (0.8m etw) grading 38.0g/t Au from 774m (E46D3171)
Development is expected to commence early in the March 2019 quarter and will involve capital expenditure of approximately A$20 – A$22 million over FY19 and FY20. A further investment in underground drilling of A$6 – A$7 million is expected to be spent on an initial 36,000m drill program.
Commenting on the approval, Evolution’s VP Discovery and Chief Geologist, Glen Masterman, said: “This is another important step towards achieving our objective of increasing Cowal’s production rate to over 300,000 ounces per annum on a sustainable basis. As indicated by recent drilling results, we are excited about the potential to add significant underground resources of high grade material over a long strike length.”
Source: Company Press Release