Sturec Gold Mine, Slovakia
Key Announcement
- 100% owned Kremnica Mining Licence covers 9km2
- Low cost and safe EU jurisdiction of Slovakia
- JORC (2012) Resource of 21.2Mt @ 1.50 g/t Au and 11.6 g/t Ag, containing 1.026Moz of gold and 7.94Moz of silver on an open cut scenario with a further 388kt @ 3.45 g/t Au and 21.6 g/t Ag containing 43koz of gold and 270koz of silver on an underground basis – 76% Measured + Indicated Mineral Resource
- Historically produced over 1.5Moz of gold and 6.7Moz of silver worth more than US$2 billion at recent metal prices
- Opportunity to apply simple and low impact underground mining techniques and gravity separation and flotation processing to a historically significant gold deposit
- Significant exploration upside exists along strike of the main Sturec defined resource as well as down dip / plunge of the existing ore body
Low risk / high impact value catalysts
- Resource upgrade late 2021
- Scoping study – late 2021 / early 2022
Project Location
Exploration efforts are targeting a southern step out of the previous resource envelope along the high grade plunging zone with the purpose of growing the underground resources.
Recent exploration success
- UGA-04: 90m @ 3.88 g/t Au and 13.9 g/t Ag
- UGA-05: 32m @ 4.62 g/t Au and 17.5 g/t Ag
- UGA-06: 70m @ 3.43 g/t Au and 14.7 g/t Ag
- UGA-07: 112m @ 0.87 g/t Au and 7.7 g/t Ag
- UGA-12: 35m @ 3.73 g.t Au and 11.6 g/t Ag
Recent exploration success
Recent exploration success
Attractive metallurgy
- Excellent gold recovery on transitional (semi-oxidised) and sulphide (fresh) ore from the Andrej Adit within the Sturec Gold Mine using gravity separation and flotation
- Gravity gold recoveries range from 52% to 74% increasing to up to 88% after flotation and increasing to up to 98% if flotation tailings are also leached
- Strong gold recovery profile of sulphide ore supports potential for simple gravity separation and flotation processing strategy
- Potential to significantly reduce CAPEX and allow Sturec to produce a gold concentrate for export out of Slovakia where it could be processed further using conventional processing for sulphide concentrates or sold
Resource table
Resources Estimate above 0.40 g/t Au cut-off and within an optimised open pit shell
| Resource Category | Tonnes (kt) | Density (t/m3) | Au (g/t) | Ag (g/t) | AuEq1 (g/t)) | Au (koz) | Ag (koz) | AuEq1 (koz) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measured | 3,000 | 2.17 | 1.69 | 13.5 | 1.79 | 161 | 1291 | 171 |
| Indicated | 11,200 | 2.24 | 1.79 | 14.9 | 1.90 | 643 | 5373 | 685 |
| Measured + Indicated | 14,200 | 2.23 | 1.77 | 14.6 | 1.87 | 804 | 6664 | 856 |
| Inferred | 7,000 | 2.33 | 0.97 | 5.6 | 1.01 | 222 | 1280 | 230 |
| TOTAL | 21,200 | 2.26 | 1.50m | 11.6 | 1.59 | 1026 | 7944 | 1086 |
Resources Estimate above 2.85 g/t Au cut-off: outside optimised open pit shell
| Resource Category | Tonnes (kt) | Density (t/m3) | Au (g/t) | Ag (g/t) | AuEq1 (g/t)) | Au (koz) | Ag (koz) | AuEq1 (koz) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measured | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Indicated | 114 | 2.28 | 3.39 | 25.6 | 3.57 | 12 | 94 | 13 |
| Measured + Indicated | 114 | 2.28 | 3.39 | 25.6 | 3.57 | 12 | 94 | 13 |
| Inferred | 274 | 2.34 | 3.47 | 19.9 | 3.61 | 31 | 176 | 32 |
| TOTAL | 388 | 2.34 | 3.45 | 21.6 | 3.60 | 49 | 270 | 45 |
AuEq g/t = ((Au g/t grade*Met. Rec.*Au price/g) + (Ag g/t grade*Met. Rec.*Ag price/g)) / (Met. Rec.*Au price/g)
Long term Forecast Gold and Silver Price USD/oz (source: World Bank, JP Morgan): $1,500 and $20 respectively.
Gold And silver recovery from the 2014 Thiosulphate metallurgical test work: 90.5% and 48.9% respectively.
It is the Company’s opinion that both gold and silver have a reasonable potential to be recovered and sold from the Sturec ore using Thiosulphate Leaching/Electrowinning as per the recoveries indicated.