The Buffalo Reef and Selinsing gold deposits are thought to be mesothermal lode gold deposits, with auriferous quartz-pyrite- arsenopyrite±stibnite veining, with associated hydrothermal alteration. The two deposits are structurally controlled and thought to be part of the same structural trend, with the Buffalo Reef deposit occurring along strike and to the north of the Selinsing deposit.

Selinsing.
The Selinsing gold deposit is hosted by a 20 m to 100 m thick shear zone that dips 55° to 75° towards mine grid east (082° true grid). This zone or “envelope” of sheared rocks has been variably mineralised and intruded by gold- bearing quartz veins and stockworks. The quartz veins are likely to have been emplaced along fault surfaces, which are thought to be reverse thrusts caused by compression from the east. Strike-slip movement is not thought to be significant; however, a north-westerly trending structure, which post-dates the gold mineralisation, has been identified and may have a strike-slip component. The host rocks for the Selinsing shear zone consist of a series of finely interbedded argillites and very fine-grained arenites, along with sequences of quartz-rich, variably silicified sediments of likely tuffaceous origin, which are referred to as “felsic tuff” and a few thin beds of quartzite conglomerate. These host rocks are collectively known as “the mine sequence series”.

The true thickness of the mine sequence is not well understood. One interpretation is that the mine sequence has a true thickness of about 200 m; however, the footwall contact is not well defined, and it is difficult to distinguish between the mine sequences in the field due to the fine-grained nature of the host rocks. A second interpretation is that within the shear zone, repetition of these units by shearing creates a structural thickening of the sequence.

The hangingwall rocks at Selinsing are a distinctive sequence of predominantly competent, wellbedded, dark-coloured limestones. Towards the base of the limestones is a narrow unit of black, well-bedded carbonaceous shales, which may be calcareous in places. The contact of these hangingwall units with the mine sequence below is thought to be a tectonic or faulted contact due to the unconformable nature of the bedding on either side of the contact. The contact itself is characterised by large water-filled clay-lined cavities. The footwall contact of the mine sequence is poorly understood as the base of the mine sequence has not been extensively explored. However, the footwall rocks consist of the same type of grey-black limestone as found in the hangingwall and it is thought that the footwall rocks are the same as the hangingwall, repeated due to faulting. This would mean that the less competent mine sequence rocks were more deformed by shearing due to rheological contrasts between the limestones and the argillites and arenites. The hangingwall limestones have locallydeveloped folding resulting from easterly compression.

Gold and sulphide mineralisation are associated with these rock types as well as intensive replacement by quartz and calcite gangue minerals.

The gold mineralisation at Selinsing is hosted within a shear zone that strikes at 350° and dips 60–70° to the east, with the higher-grade mineralised shoots within the main mineralised shear plunging to the southeast. The main shear zone is hosted within a sequence of felsic tuff and very fine clastic argillite with calcareous material and limestone in the hangingwall. High grade mineralisation is often associated with quartz stockworks and quartz-carbonate veins within highly deformed sedimentary rocks. Pressure and temperature studies on fluid inclusions in quartz from veins suggest that the mineralisation formed at a temperature in the order of 200–350°C and at a depth of between 2 km and 5 km.

The gold at Selinsing is generally in the form of fine-grained gold particles (<20 µm) commonly associated with pyrite and arsenopyrite and rarely with chalcopyrite. Visible (mm-scale) gold, although not common, occurs in quartz veins within the shear zone. The higher-grade quartz veins can be over a metre in true thickness and have been traced up to 300 m along strike and 200 m down dip. Lower grade gold mineralisation occurs as finely disseminated gold within intensely deformed envelopes around the quartz veins within the shear zone. Disseminated pyritisation also occurs within the deformed country rock within the shear zone, with the presence of euhedral arsenopyrite as a good indicator of elevated gold grades.

Buffalo Reef.
The Buffalo Reef deposit occurs approximately 1 km to the east of the Raub-Bentong suture. The area is dominated by argillite and limestone of Permian age to the east, with conglomerates and sandstones of Devonian age to the west. Low grade regional metamorphism up to Greenschist facies (locally up to Amphibolite facies) occurs throughout the area. The sediments have subsequently been intruded by granitic bodies of approximately Jurassic age. These intrusive bodies occur to the east of Buffalo Reef and generally form elevation highs.

The dominant structural feature present is a 200 m wide, north-south striking shear zone, with an apparent sinistral sense of displacement, which parallels the tectonic Raub-Bentong suture to the west. The shear zone is composed of graphitic shale with minor interbedded fine-grained sandstone and tuffaceous rock. Bedding within the sediments typically dips 65–75° to the east and strikes towards a bearing of 330–360°.

Gold mineralisation at Buffalo Reef is structurally controlled and associated with Permian sediments within a 200 m wide shear zone that parallels the north-south trending Raub-Bentong suture. Mineralisation occurs over a total strike length of approximately 2.6 km. Rocks within the Buffalo Reef shear zone have typically undergone silica-sericite-pyrite alteration to varying degrees.

The gold occurs within moderately to steeply east-dipping veins and fracture zones, which range in thickness from 1 m up to 15 m in thickness (average thickness is approximately 10 m in the main mineralised veins), although local flexures in the veins can host mineralisation up to 25 m in thickness. Veins, which are boudinaged in some areas, are generally composed of massive quartz with 1–5% (by volume) sulphide minerals, namely pyrite and arsenopyrite, along with varying amounts of stibnite. The stibnite generally occurs in association with elevated gold grades; however, the presence of gold does not necessarily indicate high stibnite levels (i.e. the stibnite tends to be associated with gold, rather than the gold being associated with stibnite).

The Selinsing operation consists of:
• Selinsing Gold Mine
• Buffalo Reef Project
• Exploration leases and blocks.

The mining method is conventional open pit drill and blast, load and haul on a 2.5 m mining flitch with a 10 m high blasting bench, reflective of semi-selective mining. The maximum excavator bucket size of 2.3 m3 is matched to this selectivity.

Open pit mining at both Selinsing and Buffalo Reef has historically been carried out by a local contractor Minetech Construction Sdn Bhd (Minetech). who has been involved in the operation since Monument acquired the operation.

The contract is current, and Minetech is responsible for the mining of ore and waste including:
• Drill and blast activities
• Load and haul activities
• Rehabilitation activities.

Manning of the mining fleet will be the responsibility of Minetech, but a team of professional mining personnel will service the mine in terms of:
*Mine planning and scheduling
*Grade control and reconciliation
*Contractor management
*Mining related mine management.

The Selinsing Gold Mine Project (SGM) will continue to mine and process oxide material as well as process stockpile and Old Tailings material until the Selinsing Gold Sulphide Project (SGSP) production commences, when extraction of the available gold sulphide economic Mineral Resource at the SGM will commence. All remaining CIL only treatable stockpiles and Old Tailings will then be treated at the end of mine life.

Mining will involve extensions of the current oxide only open pit mining areas to extract the deeper gold sulphide refractory ore zones. Sulphide ore is then hauled to the existing run of mine (ROM) and stockpile areas for treatment.

Snowden (Dec 2016) mentioned the load and haul fleet was selected to achieve close to 8,000–
10,000 t/d movement. This was achieved with fleet of 28 x 30-t (7 bcm) and 2 x 80-t (20 bcm) capacity trucks and afore mentioned excavator fleet.

Some concern is evident with capacities far greater than 8,000–10,000 t/day movement are required for the SGSP. Alternatives required included increasing fleet size and operating on night shift.

In order to achieve a target of 955 kt/a of ore, as well as up to an additional 9 Mt/a of waste, Snowden (Dec 2016) proposed the following fleet requirements:
- Drilling, based on LOM ore release:
- Selinsing pits: From one to two drills
- Buffalo Reef pits: From one to three drills
- Individual units move from Selinsing to Buffalo Reef as required.
- Loading, based on LOM ore release:
- Selinsing pits: From one to three excavators
- Buffalo Reef pits: From one to three excavators
- Individual units move from Selinsing to Buffalo Reef as required.
- Hauling, based on LOM ore release:
- Selinsing and Buffalo Reef pits: From six to 18 x 30-t trucks.

The existing comminution circuit comprises primary, secondary and tertiary crushing, with two stages of ball milling operating in closed circuit with current throughput of approximately 3,000 t/d. The existing crushing, grinding and classification plant will remain basically unchanged from its present state apart from some necessary upgrades to conveyors and screens. Capacity will remain basically unchanged.

Based on the mill feed size F80 of 8.0 mm, a milling rate in the range of 88–118 tonnes per hour (t/hr) can be expected when processing these materials while still maintaining the target grind P80 of 75 µm.

For the design feed blend of 84% Buffalo Reef and 16% Selinsing, a milling rate of 106 t/hr was estimated at the target grind size P80 of 75 µm; this milling rate is lower than the 119 t/hr target. If the target 119 t/hr was maintained a coarser product size of around P80 of 94 µm would result. Should a coarser than desired flotation concentrates sizing be produced, space has been allocated for a concentrate regrind mill to be installed between the concentrate thickener and the BIOX® surge tank.

In order to progress the Selinsing Gold Mine (SGM) operation in Malaysia from an oxide through to sulphide ore processing, the Selinsing Gold Sulphide Processing Project (SGSP) has been initiated.

The Selinsing operation has now limited supply of gold-bearing material that can be processed by the current oxide plant. Currently, the plant processes oxide ore, tailings and leachable sulphide ore.
Progressing to a stage of sulphide ore process capability in a timely manner is now of the utmost
concern.
The Feasibility Study for the Selinsing Gold Sulphide Project was released in February 2019 and describes adding flotation and BIOX® processes to the current Selinsing Gold Processing Plant to treat sulphide ore.

The existing 3,000 t/d Selinsing Gold Plant is currently treating oxide gold ore. The process includes primary, secondary and tertiary crushing followed by ball milling, gravity concentration and CIL. Future plant feed will contain a sulphide ........