St Barbara recently released a market announcement on the ASX regarding the progress of its drilling programs at the Simberi mine in New Ireland province.
The announcement highlights the following:
- St Barbara targeting an upgrade at Simberi of 1 Moz from Inferred Mineral Resource to Indicated Mineral Resource
- 12 resource definition diamond holes completed so far for 2,348 metres.
- Assay results received for the first two diamond holes support the interpreted ore zones between the main Pigiput and Sorowar pits.
- Completed 14-hole metallurgical diamond drill program for 1,856 metres.
- Assay results returned for the first 10 holes and the first sample material was dispatched by air freight
“We are pleased to announce that excellent progress has been made with the Simberi metallurgical sample drilling and resource definition programs. Drilling has been progressing slightly ahead of internal schedules, while receipt of the assay results has been slower than anticipated,” said the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Operating Officer (CEO) of St Barbara Andrew Strelein.
The resource definition drilling campaign will support the work being carried out to convert a target of 1 Moz of the Inferred Mineral Resource to Indicated Mineral Resource. The results will be incorporated into an Updated Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimate at the end of FY24.
“We are very excited to now be able to focus both diamond rigs on the completion of the resource definition drilling program. We are targeting the conversion of 1 Moz of Inferred Mineral Resource to Indicated Mineral Resource."
"The completion of the metallurgical drilling is an important milestone for the 2023/24 campaign. The first batch of sample material was dispatched this week to the selected laboratory in Canada,” confirmed Andrew Strelein.
The resource definition drilling is targeting an upgrade at Simberi of 1 million ounces from Inferred Mineral Resource to Indicated Mineral Resource. This 1-million-ounce target is not new “ore”, but rather is an upgrade (or increase in the level of certainty) of the mineralisation. It allows an increased amount of ore to be included in the study work on the Sulphide expansion project.
"To date we have completed 12 of the 24 resource definition drill holes, with assay results received for the first two holes supporting the interpreted ore zones between the largest open pits, Pigiput and Sorowar pits," said Andrew.
St Barbara also completed the 14-hole metallurgical drill program, with the sample material being sent to Canada for test work on different aspects of the ore required for the Sulphide expansion project.
The focus over the next few months will be on the completion of the remaining resource definition drill holes, followed by the deep exploration holes.
