PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Diversified miner South32 has reported a Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resource of 55-million tonnes, grading 2.31% zinc, 9.08% manganese and 78 g/t silver for the Clark deposit, at its Hermosa project, in Arizona.
Some 33-million tonnes of the resource is classified as indicated with a further 22-million tonnes classified as inferred.
“The declaration of a mineral resource estimate for the Clark deposit marks another important milestone for the Hermosa project, following our initial mineral resource estimate for the Taylor deposit in June 2019,” said South32 CEO Graham Kerr.
A prefeasibility study for the development of the Taylor deposit is due for completion in the September quarter of this year, while a scoping study to advance the understanding of the processing and end-market opportunities for the Clark deposit is also under way.
“When completed, the Taylor deposit prefeasibility study is expected to further de-risk our investment by demonstrating its ability to deliver strong shareholder returns over many decades. The Clark deposit provides an additional option to realise longer term value from within the broader land package.
“With ongoing exploration programmes testing possible extensions to the Taylor deposit, and newly identified prospects in the regional land package, we expect this work to reaffirm our view that Hermosa is one of the most exciting base metals project in the industry.”
South32 acquired Hermosa as part of the $1.3-billion acquisition of TSX-listed Arizona Mining, in 2018.