Caracal Gold PLC, the expanding East African gold producer with over 1,300,000oz of JORC compliant gold resources, is pleased to announce the discovery of a new high-grade zone above the current underground workings and above the areas drilled as part of the Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) on the Kilimapesa Hill deposit.
Highlights
· 360tpd of high-grade material with average grades from 3.31g/t to 4.74g/t being processed,
· A mining plan confirming 90 days of high-grade material has been prepared and is being actioned,
· Exploration to define the full potential of the high-grade zone underway.
The area is being accessed from the current open pit, and with exploration drilling on hold at present, a decision was made to bulk sample the area and process the material through the milling plant.
Mining commenced on the zone on the 9th March 2023 and 360tpd is being processed through the milling plant. Current recoveries are 75% and plant availability over 85%.
At present 6 zones have been mapped, sampled and a bulk samples processed – these zones are numbered 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B and 3A, 3B. Each of these areas has then intensively sampled and the resulting information put into a mining plan which supports throughput of high-grade ore through the milling plant for the rest of March and for the 2nd quarter of 2023 (April, May and June).
The exploration team is now extending the work on the high-grade zone to define the full extent of the strike, this will be followed by trenching and sampling and ultimately drilling with the goal of defining high grade ore for long-term processing through the milling plant and to include the ounces into the Kilimapesa Hill MRE.
A map of the Kilimapesa Hill high-grade zone is attached at the end of the RNS.
The average grades for the period from 9th March to 18th March 2023 are detailed below:
Hourly belt cuts are taken on the mill feed conveyor and the daily summary sampling sheets for samples are attached. These samples are assayed in the Kilimapesa laboratory. Sampling and analytical procedures are subject to a comprehensive quality assurance and quality control program. The QAQC program involves insertion of duplicate samples, blanks and certified reference materials in the sample stream. Gold analyses are performed by standard fire assaying protocols using a 50-gram charge with atomic absorption (AAS) finish and a gravimetric finish performed for assays greater than 10 grams per tonne.
Robbie McCrae, CEO of Caracal commented:
“The Caracal and Kilimapesa exploration teams have always believed that significant high-grade zones exist within the Kilimapesa Hill deposit. As we open and expand the open cast mining pits, to support the expansion project, we expect to find more of these zones. The potential size of this high-grade zone is encouraging, and is further confirmation and validation of our understanding of the Kilimapesa Hill deposit and our development strategy. We have had a plan to expand the MRE on the Kilimapesa Hill deposit. The plan includes additional drilling along strike and at depth. The identification and extent of this high-grade zone now adds a 3rd leg to the drilling strategy. The exploration team can’t wait to begin drilling. The strategy also includes the optimization and expansion of the current milling plant alongside the development of a 65,000tpm heap leach facility and these will get us to the 24,000oz per annum target.
In the past we used to process up to 1000tpd in order to achieve our target production of a 1000oz per month. Now, with the increased grade and reduced throughput of 360tpd, our current production monthly is estimated to be 790oz from the milling plant and 160oz per month from the heap leach pilot plant. These estimates will most likely improve as we have scope to increase tonnage, optimise recovery in the milling plant and the heap leach is expected to continue to improve. Caracal and Kilimapesa are bound to be in a strong operational and financial position as we progress the funding required for the Kilimapesa expansion project in the 2nd quarter of 2023.”
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For further information visit www.caracalgold.com or contact the following:
Caracal Gold plc
Robbie McCrae
