Over the past month, 22,100 tonnes of material were extracted from the test pit.
The test pit provided a bulk mineralized material sample for further definitive test work, allowing the company to advance the test-work stage of the feasibility study and finalize a processing option.
Pit operations commenced a month ago, with initial pre-stripping of barren surface soil and material to allow commencement of selective mineralized sample extraction.
A Vermeer continuous mining machine cut and mined the calcrete hosted mineralized and waste material, which was then removed with ancillary loading and trucking equipment.
A selective grade control system was demonstrated by gamma mapping of the pit floor using a vehicle mounted focused gamma probe.
This mapped the mineralised material and waste prior to cutting, which then was selectively removed after a cut of approximately 25cm to 30cm.
The pit proceeded under a mining proposal and a project management plan approved by the Western Australian Department of Mines and Petroleum.
