Venus chases mining licence for 30,000-ounce WA gold deposit
Mon Dec 16 2024
With uber-high gold prices, Venus Metals has signalled it is in a rush to produce the yellow metal by lodging a mining lease application for its Bellchambers deposit, part of its Sandstone gold project 23km south of Sandstone in Western Australia.
The company already has a JORC- compliant resource of 722,000 tonnes grading 1.31 grams per tonne (g/t) for 30,500 ounces of gold at the historic prospect.
Notably, 22,100 ounces are classified under the indicated resource category, giving Venus a headstart as it gears up for further exploration at site and with a future eye on developing up the asset as a producer.
The deposit lies about 70km by road from the Youanmi gold project, where Rox Resources is pushing forward with its production plans.
Venus hopes to expedite its development plans to capitalise on the high gold price, currently trading at US$2657 (A$4161) per ounce, having held initial talks with Rox which has expressed an interest in negotiating a mine gate sale agreement.
The agreement would align with Venus’ efforts to grow its gold inventory in the region without unnecessarily blowing out the capital cost of a development.
It says the Bellchambers deposit is open at depth and along strike, with plans in train to pull together an extensive exploration program for early next year.
Its exploration efforts will focus on additional drilling, pit optimisation studies and metallurgical testing to ensure high gold recoveries, with the main goal of turning Bellchambers into an open pit gold mining operation.
To help Venus with the ongoing geological work at site, the company has enlisted the services of well-regarded geologist Simon Coxhell.
Coxhell has decades of experience in gold exploration and development, including a tenure as managing director of Echo Resources prior to its acquisition by Northern Star Resources and his appointment would appear to be a positive nod to Bellchambers’ potential.
The proposed mining lease spans 415 hectares and encompasses the Bellchambers deposit and adjacent areas with a high potential for gold resource expansion. This includes the Range View prospect, 1.1km northeast, where previous drilling results have revealed promising grades, such as 11m at 4.69 g/t gold.
Gold production at Bellchambers dates back to 1908, with historical figures showing 3688 ounces extracted at an impressive average grade of 21g/t gold.
As Venus pushes on with exploration, studies and approvals, it appears to be sending out smoke signals that it intends to become a gold producer sooner rather than later.
With the gold price showing no sign of slowing its rocketing upward trajectory, even a relatively small but high-grade resource, such as Bellchambers, is worth multiple million of dollars.
If Venus is able win the trifecta of quickly growing the resource, closing out a mining licence and locking down a farmgate sale with Rox Resources, 2025 could become a very big year for the company.
Source: https://thewest.com.au/