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Australia

Karlawinda Mine

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Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Gold
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
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SnapshotThe Karlawinda Gold Project (KGP) is an operating gold project which includes the Bibra deposit and numerous outstanding exploration targets including Forfar, Muirfield and Jims West. The project covers a total area of approximately 2,052km2.

Construction of the KGP commenced in December 2019 and was completed in the June 2021 quarter with the successful commissioning of the processing plant culminating in first gold poured at the end of June 2021. Steady state operations were achieved by the end of the September 2021 quarter.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Capricorn Metals Ltd. 100 % Indirect
The Karlawinda gold project is 100% held by Greenmount Resources Pty Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Capricorn.

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Deposit type

  • Metamorphic hosted

Summary:

The Project area is underlain by a largely unexplored and only recently recognised belt of Archaean-aged greenstone rocks that were discovered in 2005. This belt of predominantly volcanic and sedimentary rocks is located on the southern margin of the Sylvania Dome, a major structure where Archaean predominantly granitic basement rocks thought to be part of the Pilbara Craton, are exposed at surface within surrounding younger Proterozoic aged sedimentary basins.

Typically, at the Karlawinda Gold Project (KGP) the bedrock geology is obscured by a thin cover of sandy soil up to 2m thick. The Bibra deposit is part of a large-scale Archaean gold mineralising system with mineralisation hosted within a package of deformed meta-sediments and meta-volcanic rocks and is developed on four main parallel, shallow dipping structures. Close to surface in the weathered rock, oxide gold mineralisation has been developed over the structures from surface to a depth of approximately 60m.

The KGP is an operating gold project which includes the Bibra deposit and numerous outstanding exploration targets including Forfar, Muirfield and Jims West. The project covers a total area of approximately 2,052km2.

Bibra Deposit Geology
At Bibra, mineralisation is shoot-controlled along a series of dominant low-angle, north-east trending mineralised faults that combine to make up a very large-scale mineralised system. The system is hosted in a sequence of Archaean greenstones metamorphosed to amphibolite facies. The greenstones comprise a mafic volcanic sequence with interbedded sedimentary and
volcanoclastic units.

The deposit has been defined by drilling over a 1.8km strike length and is drilled to 800m downdip where it is still mineralised and open down-dip. The mineralised shoots are present in drilling as broad zones up to 50m wide and are continuous down plunge. It is thought the shoots are developed in dilation zones along the main structures. A large laterite and oxide weathering zone is developed over the primary geology and this is mineralised in the near surface, up-dip position of the main shoots of primary mineralisation. A thin veneer of transported sandy soil covers the deposit and is typically less than 3m thick, the transition/fresh rock boundary is about 60m below surface.

Geological logging suggests alteration consisting of biotite, carbonate and magnetite mineralisation forms a halo surrounding the intense silica, pyrite and gold mineralisation. The metamorphic overprint of the mineralisation may have altered some of the primary alteration and mineralisation to the present day mineral species.

Confidence in the geological interpretation is high. The stratigraphy is consistent and can be correlated between holes and along strike. Geological logging and structural measurements from drillholes have been used to construct the geological resource model. Sections were interpreted, digitised and a three dimensional (3D) wireframe model constructed.

Bibra is part of a large-scale Archaean aged gold mineralised system. The geology at Bibra predominantly comprises a sequence of alternating Archaean amphibolites and quartz-feldspar-chlorite- garnet schists with the majority of mineralisation hosted in silicified and magnetite altered, mylonitised “psmammites”. Gold mineralisation has developed on at least two parallel, 40m thick, shallow dipping sandstone units, which dip to the west-north-west at 22°. Laterite mineralisation has developed over the structures close to surface. Outside of the main mineralisation some smaller discrete lodes occur in the hanging wall. Mineralisation continues south of the main pit area into the Southern Corridor where mineralisation is hosted in volcanoclastic sandstones with broad lower grade mineralisation with zones of high grade mineralisation. The primary mineralisation is marked by 3-10% sulphides, subhedral magnetite grains, quartz veins/veinlets, and gold. Gold mineralisation is strata-form with lineations identified as controlling higher-grade shoots.

The main laterite zone extends 1250m along strike and 1150m across. It ranges from 2m to 15m in vertical thickness.

The primary mineralisation extends below the laterite zone for a further vertical depth of 345m.

The transition/fresh rock boundary is about 60m below surface. The primary mineralisation has 4 main sub-parallel zones and several smaller zones. Overall, these zones extend for 1800m along strike (N-S) and 1800m across.

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Comminution

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Processing

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Production

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All production numbers are expressed as metal in doré. ^ Guidance / Forecast.

Operational metrics

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Production Costs

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