Xanadu Mines Ltd (ASX: XAM, TSX: XAM) (Xanadu, XAM or the
Company) is pleased to announce a
30,000-metre infill diamond drill programme to
support the Pre-Feasibility Study (
PFS) is
well-underway at the Kharmagtai copper-gold project (
Figure
1). A key objective of drilling program is to upgrade the
current open-pit Mineral Resource
1 areas to at
least Indicated classification and to inform the geometallurgical
and geotechnical models needed to complete the PFS and support
delivery of a Maiden Ore Reserve estimate for Kharmagtai.
Highlights
-
Kharmagtai PFS drill programme has commenced, comprising
~30,000-metres of diamond drilling, initially with four drill rigs
to conduct step-out and infill drilling.
- Step-out & infill drill program primarily targets shallow
open pit Mineral Resource areas for upgrade to Indicated Resource
classification and to extend strike length.
-
An updated Mineral Resource Estimate incorporating the current
resource is due for completion in Q4 CY23.
-
Detailed PFS geometallurgical, geotechnical, open-pit mining and
infrastructure studies have commenced.
-
Separate Kharmagtai Exploration discovery drill program is underway
with one diamond drill rig, targeting significant exploration
upside remaining on the tenement.
-
Initially targeting for new, high-grade, shallow open pit
resources.
-
To be followed by a program aiming for deeper exploration
targets.
-
Funded by US$35 million cash at the Kharmagtai JV level, funding
the PFS drilling programme, Exploration drilling, PFS delivery and
Maiden Ore Reserve, and a decision to mine.
Xanadu’s Executive Chairman and Managing
Director, Mr Colin Moorhead, said “The Kharmagtai Joint
Venture is off to a flying start with infill and exploration
diamond drilling well underway, targeting infill, near mine
extension and discovery exploration. We have four rigs executing
~30,000-metres of diamond drilling designed to upgrade, improve and
grow the large Kharmagtai open-pit resource, supporting delivery of
our PFS and a Maiden Ore Reserve.
The PFS is scheduled for completion during H2
CY24. This study will incorporate updated deposit knowledge models
and will test our significant upside opportunities, including but
not limited to oxide processing, coarse particle flotation, bulk
ore sorting and electrical haulage. It will define key enablers
including power, water and infrastructure, and it will provide a
single go-forward business case.
Importantly Kharmagtai still has significant new
discovery potential, and we continue to explore with one diamond
drill rig testing shallow higher-grade targets and potential
high-grade resource extensions at depth as part of our on-going
exploration discovery strategy.
The Company is very pleased our strategic
partnership with Zijin Mining has started strongly. In March we
hosted our new partners for a Kharmagtai site visit and were
fortunate to be able to visit the famous Zijinshan Au-Cu Mine in
Fujian Province, where we gained a greater appreciation of Zijin’s
significant capabilities.
We look forward to providing regular updates as
Kharmagtai project work advances over the next 18 months”.
Infill and Extension Drilling
Programme
Kharmagtai currently has an Inferred and
Indicated Resource of 1.1Bt containing 3Mt Cu and 8Moz Au1.
As part of the Kharmagtai PFS, this Resource
will be upgraded to indicated classification and will enable
reporting of a JORC compliant, Maiden Ore Reserve. To achieve this,
the infill drilling programme has been designed to upgrade and
extend strike length of the shallow open pit Resource areas and
selected deeper high-grade (Figure 1). This will
include investigation of near-mine, higher-grade extensions.
Four diamond drill rigs are now in operation at
Kharmagtai with a primary strategy to target areas with potential
for future Mineral Resource to Ore Reserve conversion. A total of
~30,000 metres of infill drilling is planned to be completed
specifically targeting areas of indicated resource.
An upgraded Resource is expected to be released
in Q4 of CY23 once all assays have been received and resource
modelling has been completed. The Indicated Resource will enable
Xanadu to start economic studies and will be supplemented by
subsequent PFS study scheduled for completion during Q4 CY24.
High-grade mineralisation at Kharmagtai outcrops
at surface with potential to establish multiple open pits which
could later lead into underground development in the future, with
further exploration discovery drilling success.
Figure 1: Kharmagtai copper-gold
district showing currently defined mineral deposits and planned
resource infill drill holes.
Figure 2: Three diamond drill
rigs drilling at Stockwork Hill.
Comprehensive geometallurgical
program
Detailed geo-metallurgical studies are now
underway. This work includes sulphide flotation for the bulk of the
orebody, ore comminution, gold deportment and oxide leaching test
work. The key objective of this work is to explore opportunities to
increase recoveries, optimise crushing and grinding, and deliver
the most economic ore processing flowsheet.
The extensive program of sulphide floatation
test work is based on high-resolution 3D geometallurgical models
for the Kharmagtai deposits. These models define the key geological
parameters effecting metallurgical processing such as sulphide
mineralogy, grain sizes and distribution, obtained from
cutting-edge machine learning algorithms specifically designed for
the Kharmagtai mineral systems.
In conjunction with the sulphide flotation test
work, an extensive comminution test program designed to
characterise the crushing and grinding characteristics of the
Kharmagtai mineralisation, including power consumption requirements
and optimum crushing, and grinding technology.
The program of gold deportment studies is
designed to understand the location and grain size of gold within
each of the mineralisation styles at Kharmagtai, aimed at
maximising gold and silver recovery.
Oxide leaching test work is also underway for
near-surface mineralisation currently classified as pre-strip due
to poor flotation recovery. The key objective of this work is to
maximise copper and gold recoveries of the shallow oxidised
material through leaching. This work compliments the successful
glycine and cyanide leach test results reported to date2.
Aggressive growth exploration
plan
Exploration drilling is continuing at
Kharmagtai, with one diamond rig dedicated to targeting new sources
of shallow high-grade open pit potential and high priority, deeper,
high-grade sulphide targets across the Kharmagtai mining lease.
Initial stages of this exploration program will
focus on early testing of new shallow, high-grade exploration
targets, allowing any discoveries to expand the known Mineral
Resource during the PFS stage and as quickly as possible. This will
be followed by deeper drilling.
About Xanadu Mines
Xanadu is an ASX and TSX listed Exploration
company operating in Mongolia. We give investors exposure to
globally significant, large-scale copper-gold discoveries and
low-cost inventory growth. Xanadu maintains a portfolio of
exploration projects and remains one of the few junior explorers on
the ASX or TSX who jointly control a globally significant
copper-gold deposit in our flagship Kharmagtai project. For
information on Xanadu visit: www.xanadumines.com.
For further information on Xanadu, please visit:
www.xanadumines.com or contact:
Colin MoorheadExecutive Chairman & Managing DirectorE:
colin.moorhead@xanadumines.comP: +61 2 8280 7497 |
Spencer ColeChief Financial OfficerE:
spencer.cole@xanadumines.comP: +61 2 8280 7497 |
This Announcement was authorised for release by
Xanadu’s Board of Directors.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this
Announcement, including information as to the future financial or
operating performance of Xanadu and its projects may also include
statements which are ‘forward‐looking statements’ that may include,
amongst other things, statements regarding targets, estimates and
assumptions in respect of mineral reserves and mineral resources
and anticipated grades and recovery rates, production and prices,
recovery costs and results, capital expenditures and are or may be
based on assumptions and estimates related to future technical,
economic, market, political, social and other conditions. These
‘forward-looking statements’ are necessarily based upon a number of
estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by
Xanadu, are inherently subject to significant technical, business,
economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and
contingencies and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from
estimated or anticipated events or results reflected in such
forward‐looking statements.
Xanadu disclaims any intent or obligation to
update publicly or release any revisions to any forward‐looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events,
circumstances or results or otherwise after the date of this
Announcement or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events,
other than required by the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and the
Listing Rules of the Australian Securities Exchange
(ASX) and Toronto Stock Exchange
(TSX). The words ‘believe’, ‘expect’,
‘anticipate’, ‘indicate’, ‘contemplate’, ‘target’, ‘plan’,
‘intends’, ‘continue’, ‘budget’, ‘estimate’, ‘may’, ‘will’,
‘schedule’ and similar expressions identify forward‐looking
statements.
All ‘forward‐looking statements’ made in this
Announcement are qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements.
Investors are cautioned that ‘forward‐looking statements’ are not
guarantees of future performance and accordingly investors are
cautioned not to put undue reliance on ‘forward‐looking statements’
due to the inherent uncertainty therein.
For further information please visit the Xanadu
Mines’ Website at www.xanadumines.com.
___________________________________1 ASX/TSX
Announcement 08 December 2021 - Kharmagtai resource grows to 1.1
billion tonnes, containing 3Mt Cu and 8Moz Au2 ASX/TSX Announcement
1 August 2021 - Positive Metallurgical Test Results for Oxidised
Material at Kharmagtai
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/969f5963-09c1-451c-91c9-95f5be71314a
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c5e631b4-a4e5-4f5d-bdf2-b52cbfc450f0
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