PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner Evolution Mining has been given approval by the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) to start construction of the Galway-Regal-E46 (GRE46) exploration decline at its Cowal operation.
Evolution will spend between A$20-million and A$22-million over 2019 and 2020 on the development of the decline, which will allow the company to conduct further resource definition and discovery drilling.
The decision followed the announcement of a maiden GRE46 underground mineral resource of 5.9-million tonnes, at 3.17 g/t gold for 603 000 oz, in April this year.
Evolution said on Friday that in addition to the capital spend on the decline development, the company would also invest between A$6-million and A$7-million on an initial 36 000 m drill programme.
“This is another important step towards achieving our objective of increasing Cowal’s production rate to over 300 000 oz/y 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,” said Evolution VP for discovery and chief geologist Glen Masterman.
Evolution recently received approval from the DPE to increase the processing rate at the Cowal plant by 31%, from 7.5-million tonnes a year to 9.8-million tonnes a year.
Evolution is expected to spend between A$40-million and A$45-milion on the plant expansion, with feasibility studies currently being finalised.