Anglesey Mining plc reported a revised mineral resource estimate (MRE) with the inclusion of the first measured resource for Parys Mountain.
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The company’s revised estimates for the White Rock and Engine zones are based on 10 additional drill holes completed in 2022 and a detailed review of previous geological interpretations.
Measured resources include 1.3Mt in the highest confidence category of resource, providing a “very strong base” for the next round of mine optimisation work.
The revised figures exclude drill holes containing “ore-grade” hits and the potential extension from many other zones identified.
MORFA DU
Anglesey Mining is exploring for copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver in zones including White Rock and Engine now known together as the Morfa Du zone.
The combined MRE for Morfa Du is reported at 5.72 million tonnes at 0.4% Cu, 2.30% Zn, 1.24% Pb, 28/t Ag and 0.3g/t Au, or 2.0% copper equivalent (CuEq) / 5.6% zinc equivalent (ZnEq).
Morfa Du has 5.3Mt (93%) with 23% in the measured and 70% in the indicated categories, and contains 213,000t of combined Zn-Pb-Cu, 4.8Moz Ag and 48koz Au.
The overall MRE for Parys Mountain, including the Northern Copper zone which has yet to be revised, is 16.1Mt at 1.0% Cu, 1.3% Zn, 0.7% Pb, 15g/t Ag and 0.2g/t Au (1.9% CuEq or 5.3% ZnEq), containing 486,000t of combined Zn-Pb-Cu, 7.9Moz silver and 86koz gold.
The previous global MRE for Parys Mountain, reported in January 2021, was 16.9Mt at 1.0% Cu, 1.5% Zn, 0.8% Pb, 17g/t Ag and 0.2g/t Au (2.0% CuEq or 5.6% ZnEq).
Anglesey will use the revised MRE as the foundation for the pre-feasibility study, which will incorporate an optimised mine design layout and results from recently started metallurgical testwork.
Future steps also include revising the MRE for the large Northern Copper zone as well as the Garth Daniel and Deep Engine zones over the course of 2023.
The company added there was “substantial upside” to the existing resource base of 9.4Mt.
Chief executive Jo Battershill said that the first inclusion of tonnes in the measured category demonstrated the increased level of confidence the team had in the project.
“The grade-tonnage curve gives us a high-level of confidence that a robust economic development is achievable at Parys Mountain, especially given metallurgical testwork has demonstrated the ore could be successfully up-graded through pre-concentration methods that reject up to 40% of the mined volumes.”
He added that the “outstanding exploration potential” of the project provided an additional benefit.
“Numerous zones have been identified where mineralisation could potentially extend beyond the resource boundary.
“Many drillholes contain ‘ore-grade’ hits that have not been included in the estimate.
“One of these is the shaft pilot hole with intersections including 5.8m at 2.6% Cu and 3.0m at 3.0% Cu commencing around 20m below the current base of the Morris Shaft.
“We believe that once mining commences at Parys Mountain the probability of finding more ore zones is very high, as with all volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits.”