RNC expands Beta Hunt with resource update

Infill and exploration drilling in the Western Flanks Zone of the Beta Hunt gold mine in Western Australia has boosted measured and indicated resources fivefold and inferred resources threefold, RNC Minerals (TSX: RNX) reports.

The updated resource for the Western Flanks Zone incorporated 16,876 metres of new infill and exploration drilling in 144 holes since the previous resource estimate in December 2017, and comes from just over 1 km of strike length on a single shear complex in Western Flanks.

Measured and indicated resources for the Western Flanks Zone now stand at 7.45 million tonnes grading 3 grams gold per tonne for 710,000 contained oz. gold — a 390% increase — and inferred resources tally 2.48 million tonnes averaging 3.1 grams gold for 250,000 contained oz. gold. The resource uses a cut-off grade of 1.6 grams gold.

The definition drill program extended the resource 400 metres north and 50 metres down dip, intersecting greater thicknesses of mineralization in many areas, the company says. Mineralization has been defined across a 1.2 km strike length and to a depth of 150 to 250 metres below the basalt contact.

“The really exciting part of the Western Flanks resource update is that the large increase to a nearly 1 million oz. measured and indicated resource was from just a small portion of the Western Flanks shear zone — only about 1 km of strike length is included in the resource,” Mark Selby, RNC Minerals’ president and CEO, said in an interview in early July. “Western Flanks is wide open at depth and to the north — we are only 150 to 250 metres down in what we believe could extend a multiple of that distance.”

The resource increased at a discovery cost of less than $5 per ounce.

Beta Hunt mine foreman-Warren Edwards shows a gold specimen. Credit: RNC Minerals.

“While the Western Flanks resource was an incredible, low-cost resource addition, it is just the beginning of what we think we have at Beta Hunt,” Selby continued. “And, of course, we always have the potential for more high-grade, coarse gold discoveries as we develop the mine plan, especially in the areas where the shear zone interacts with the property-wide sediment layer — the same type of structures that hosted the well-known Father’s Day Vein discovery, and several small discoveries.”

The remaining 5,000 metres of the exploration and step-out drill program will test three shears that occur over a potential strike length of more than 4 km, and where gold mineralization has been outlined by historic drilling. The 5,000-metre program will drill significant step-outs “to start to show the potential of this asset,” Selby said.

In addition, RNC Minerals will update the resource for its A zone in August, he said, and the company is drilling the other two shears: East Alpha and Fletcher.

“The resource potential at Beta Hunt is massive,” he noted. “The historic nickel drilling — which was targeting nickel lenses sitting on top of our gold shears — outlines the top 5 to 10 metres of what we believe are four shears across an overall strike length of 4 km that is open in all directions.”

The Western Flanks structure is open to the north and at depth, with good grade and thicknesses of mineralization at the resource margins. The deepest and northernmost hole in the drill campaign returned 6.3 grams gold over 14 metres in drill hole 83.

The company announced on July 18 that Selby had resigned from the company for personal reasons and its executive chairman, Paul Andre Huet, was appointed interim CEO.

On July 30, RNC Minerals reported that stope production at Beta Hunt continues to ramp up and said it expects production rates will maintain 40,000 to 45,000 tonnes per month during the third quarter. It also noted that the integration of its recently acquired Higginsville gold operations (HGO) had trimmed processing costs at Beta Hunt by 25%. The company processed 21,000 tonnes of previously stocked ore through the HGO mill, eliminating third-party tolling fees of A$45 per dry metric tonne, and resulting in additional revenue of A$0.9 million.

RNC Minerals traded at 52¢ per share at press time, in a 52-week range of 7¢ to $1.18. The company has 552 million common shares for a $287-million market capitalization.