The Cavanacaw deposit can be characterised as of Palaeozoic orogenic type. Orogenic gold deposits
are typified by quartz-carbonate-sulphide dominant vein systems associated with deformed metamorphic terranes of all ages. Mineralisation displays strong structural controls at a variety of scales. Deposits are most commonly located on second- or third-order structures in the vicinity of largescale compressional or transpressional structures formed at convergent margins (Groves et al. 2003).

The Cavanacaw gold deposit is one of several orogenic structurally controlled, mesothermal gold bearing quartz and quartz-sulphide vein systems located in the Caledonian basement rocks that underlie the area north of the Iapetus suture in the British Isles.

Gold mineralisation is known in the Cavanacaw vein swarm and in two showings in the Cornavarrow Burn some 5 kilometres to the west. Numerous other mainly geochemical targets for undiscovered gold mineralisation exist throughout the licence area which is largely covered by glacial till and, in the higher areas, by hill peat.

The Kearney structure, as revealed by trenching, is a very complex zone of quartz-sulphide mineralisation and associated alteration, along which there has clearly been pre- to post-mineralisation movement, resulting in an irregular lattice-work of mineralised veins.

Quartz veins may swell from stringers to a width of over a metre, over a distance of several metres. The veins are commonly fringed by varying widths of clay gouge. Wallrock alteration in the form of sericitisation and bleaching may extend several metres into quartz-feldspar schist host rocks, epending on the degree of fracturing.

The more limited drilling and trenching on the other structures showed them to be broadly similar in terms of overall mineralogy and grade of mineralisation.

The mineralised veins that have been identified in the sequence strike either north-south or northwestsoutheast and are steeply dipping. Mineralisation within the structures consists of quartz veins up to a metre wide with disseminated to massive auriferous sulphides, predominantly pyrite and galena with accessory arsenopyrite and chalcopyrite. Mineralisation may occur in the quartz veins, in clay gouge zones and in an envelope of sericitised schists, but is invariably indicated by a typical blue-grey or black colouration.

Gold values are closely correlated with sulphide content such that the tenor of mineralisation can be estimated visually in drill core and during open pit mining. Visible gold has not been reported in core and the low nugget effect is consistent with this and with the assumed presence of gold in very fine particle sizes, although no mineralogical studies have been carried out to confirm this.

Silver values are closely correlated with gold, averaging between 1.0 and 2.5 parts of silver to 1 part of gold. Silver values probably occur mainly in association with galena, but also alloyed with gold. No mineralogical studies have been carried out to confirm this or to determine if silver is present in a separate mineral species.

The economic veins of the deposit will be extracted using a combination of Sublevel Longhole Stoping and Shrinkage Stoping mining methods. Paste backfill will be utilized to maximize extraction whilst increasing stability and will reduce the surface footprint required for tailings disposal.

Both methods of ore extraction are to be used depending on the geometry of the ore veins. The stopes once mined, will be back filled using development waste rock or a cemented paste comprising of tailings that have been stockpiled from past mining activity. Both stoping methods willbe modernised to minimise traditional safety risks whilst maximising production.

The processing facility is fed with ore from the underground mine. Ore is deposited by ore conveyors into a storage shed that feeds directly to the processing facility. Ore in the storage shed has been previously crushed by the underground jaw crusher will be approximately 50mm.

Ore size is further reduced by a cone crusher to below 10mm. The crushed ore is screened and any oversize (+10mm) gets returned to the cone crusher whilst the undersize (-10mm to +1mm) is conveyed to the ore bins. Fines below 1mm will be pumped to a thickening tank and will later enter the regrind ball mill.

Ore is conveyed from two ore bins under a magnet to remove any foreign objects. This conveyor is fitted with a belt weightometer which calculates mill throughput which is used in the reconciliation process. Ore is then transferred to a feed bin which allows for constant flow of material into the primary ball mill.

The primary ball mill grinds the material to 75% passing 180um and 40% passing 75um. Additional water is supplied into the primary ball mill from the thickening tank.

The grind material is pumped to a cyclone where the overflow is pumped to the primary condition tank and the underflow feeds a gravity concentrator to remove free gold and coarser sulphide particles. The gravity concentrator sends concentrate to the holding tank whilst the overflow feeds into a screw classifier. The screw classifier is used to regulate water within the plant and the overflow and excess water from the screw classifier is sent to a thickener.

Underflow from the screw classifier is fed into the secondary ball mill for regrinding. The secondary ball mill and the thickening tank both discharge into a second cyclone that sends overflow to the first conditioning tank and underflow back into the secondary ball mill.

Copper Sulphate is added in the first conditioning tank to prepare the material for the float cells. The material is pumped into a second conditioning tank in which xanthates are added to further assist the froth flotation process.

The material is gravity fed into rougher banks below the second conditioning tank. Three inline banks, each containing 8 rougher cells, are used to float the sulphide material which is collected in the troughs and delivered to a two cleaner banks.

Remaining concentrate from the rougher banks is pumped through two scavenger banks, each containing 6 cells. Concentrate that is not collected in the scavenger banks passes into a final gravity separator before being lost to tails. The scavenged material is returned to the cleaner bank whilst the gravity recovered concentrate is pumped to the concentrate holding tank.

Concentrate from the cleaner banks, containing four cells, is pumped directly to the concentrate holding tank. A smaller scavenger tank is located at the end of the cleaner bank and is used to retrieve any remaining material and return it to the initial cleaner bank. Excess water is pumped back to the thickening tank.

Concentrate is to be filtered from the holding tank using two parallel filter presses which discharge the final concentrate into the bagging area below.

Concentrate is to be removed by the two gravity concentrators and the froth flotation circuit and allconcentrate material is delivered to the concentrate holding tank. This is filtered and the resulting final concentrate is bagged for shipping to the smelter.