Red River Resources Ltd (ASX:RVR) has revealed a maiden ore reserve of 1.5 million tonnes at 12% zinc equivalent for its Thalanga Far West deposit in Central Queensland.
Far West is the second deposit planned to be mined at Red River’s Thalanga Zinc Operation, with the company commencing underground mining at the West 45 deposit in September.
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Mel Palancian, managing director, commented: “Delivering a maiden ore reserve of 1.5 million tonnes at 12% zinc equivalent for Far West is an outstanding result, with the potential for further mine life extensions at depth where Far West is still open.
“This result gives greater certainty regarding the future operational life of our Thalanga operations.
“It represents the first stage in increasing utilisation of the Thalanga Mill and extending the overall operational life of Thalanga.
“With exploration across our landholding in the Mt Windsor Belt in Queensland continuing in tandem to our mining operations, we hope to make new discoveries that can add further life to Thalanga.”
Far West history and resource upgrade highlights
Far West is an extension of the Thalanga deposit which was mined from 1990 to 1998.
The latest Infill and resource extension drilling at Far West has delivered a material increase in the geological knowledge and confidence in the area.
The Far West resource has increased to 1.7 million tonnes at 15.5% zinc equivalent, with the measured and indicated resource increasing from 0.8 million tonnes to 1.5 million tonnes (100% increase).
This includes a 137% increase in contained metal (measured and indicated) from 101,000 tonnes zinc equivalent to 240,000 tonnes zinc equivalent.
Next steps
Red River has completed mine design and scheduling work at Far West, targeting ore production in 2H CY2018.
Early stage development activities and permitting have commenced in preparation for mining.
Red River is focused on maximising returns from the Thalanga Zinc Operation by increasing plant throughput and extending mine life by further exploring the deposits within the mine plan.
The company is well funded with a cash balance of $15.6 million as at 30 September 2016.