Pantoro will commence underground mining at the Scotia open pit within the Norseman gold project in Western Australia earlier than originally anticipated.
The decision was made following a review of Scotia, which found that “significant improvements” made to the project’s gold production and cost profile would be beneficial.
Following the review, Norseman’s all-in sustaining costs (AISC) are projected to be less than $1850 per gold ounce (/oz) in the 2024–25 and 2025–26 financial years, while the Scotia underground AISC is estimated to be below $1700/oz.
The revised mine plan targets an annual production of 100,000–110,000oz per annum, with upcoming resource definition drilling to focus on production upgrades in the medium term.
Underground operations at Scotia are expected to commence early in the June 2024 quarter, about four months earlier than previously planned, and current Scotia open pit works will be completed during the December 2024 quarter.
“The Scotia South open pit will continue to its original planned depth, while the Scotia Central open pit will advance to the 140mRL (metres relative level), approximately 30m above the previously planned pit floor,” Pantoro said.
“Reduction in the Scotia Central pit depth results in a material reduction in the remaining open pit stripping ratio which now stands at approximately 6.4:1. In addition, the early commencement of underground mining allows the underground workings to access the Scotia North orebody faster than the planned cutback in that area would have.
“The completion of the Scotia open pits in the final quarter of 2024 will see ore stockpiles of approximately 800,000 tonnes of medium and low-grade ore available for processing during the coming years, supplementing the underground ore production when necessary.”
Pantoro is currently tendering for underground works, with the company reporting “strong interest” from many Tier-1 underground contractors. It will make its selections by February and will award the contracts by March.
Open pit mining at Scotia will be ongoing and is expected to recommence in late 2025 at the Princess Royal and Gladstone Everlasting Mining Centres.
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