Aurelia Metals Limited has implemented new refinements to its Federation Mine Feasibility Study (FS) to mitigate cost escalation and boost the project’s valuation.
According to the company, improvements were made across mine planning, ore flows for processing, and capital scope refinement and definition.
Fundamental changes to the mine plan include an optimised development design to reduce overall life-of-mine development metres, despite additional early development metres resulting from the change in decline gradient, and an additional sill pillar to create another stoping block to sustain the ore production ramp-up and improve the production tail.
Aurelia added that it could leverage the assets and infrastructure within its nearby Hera operation, which was recently placed on care and maintenance.
Improvements also helped offset the impact of industry-wide capital cost inflation since the FS started in October 2022.
Other improvements include optimising the mine design to reduce total development metres and shallower decline gradients to improve trucking efficiency and provide better orebody strike coverage and infill drilling platforms.
Aurelia said the deposit remains open in different directions, noting that it has the potential for further resource extension and conversion from planned underground and surface drilling.
“This is a pleasing result given the significant inflationary pressure being experienced by the minerals industry and is a testament to Aurelia’s ability to leverage our extensive asset base in the Cobar Basin, which is in close proximity to Federation,” Aurelia interim CEO Andrew Graham said.
He added that the company’s funding process would support the remobilisation of Redpath to Federation, with the development of the decline expected to restart towards the end of the quarter.
The company said the Federation Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) would be updated with assay results received from the ongoing processing of drill core from the surface infill program completed in 2022 and will be included in the company’s annual Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve Statement in the first quarter of fiscal 2024.
