Tungsten Mining has released an indicated and inferred mineral resource estimate for gold at the Mt Mulgine project in Western Australia, bolstering the company’s integrated gold-tungsten development strategy in the Murchison Region.
The indicated and inferred mineral resource estimate (MRE) was defined at the project’s Camp, Black Dog and Bobby McGee prospects, with the total MRE sitting at 1.9 million tonnes at 1.10 g/t Au for 67,500 ounces.
Tungsten Mining chairman Gary Lyons said that record gold and tungsten prices highlight the significant opportunity at Mount Mulgine.
“These economic tailwinds not only strengthen our integrated gold-tungsten strategy of evaluating the project’s near-term gold revenue potential but also positions us well to capture long-term value from the favourable dynamics of the global tungsten market,” he said.
Tungsten said that the updated MRE will be used to inform and support conceptual pit optimisations and engineering studies aimed at unlocking near-term gold revenue in order to help fund the larger-scale tungsten development.
Located roughly 350 kilometres north-northeast of Perth, the Mt Mulgine project has seen historic drilling of 2551 reverse cycling (RC) and diamond holes since the 1960s, with past gold production of 880,206 tonnes for 47,254 ounces Au mined by Minjar Gold in 2014-2015.
Looking closer at each prospect, Camp holds the largest MRE total with 1500 Kt at 1.00 g/t Au, followed by Black Dog with a total of 30 Kt at 1.42 g/t Au and Bobby McGee with a total of 150 g/t at 1.36 g/t Au.
Initial metallurgical test works completed by Tungsten on fresh and oxide samples demonstrated potential for high gold recoveries using conventional gravity and carbon-in-leach (CIL) processing.
While these results are preliminary, recovery was also supported by data from Minar Gold, which processed ore from the three prospects through a conventional CIL plant, achieving recoveries between 80 to 92 per cent during operation.
While gold remains open along strike and at depth, with suggestions to an exploration upside, tungsten potential remains significant, with its MRE sitting at 259 Mt at 0.11 per cent WO3.
The company will look to leverage this resource to become a “major level player” in the global tungsten market through the development of low-cost tungsten concentrate production, with support from gold operations to enhance the project’s economics.
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