Bellevue Gold Limited has issued an updated resource model and production forecast following its grade control drilling activities at the Bellevue Gold Mine.
Bellevue reported seeing positive results as forecasts indicated significant high-grade results across all underground production areas.
Drilling completed to date by the diamond drilling rigs has returned significant mineralisation in line with the resource model and has allowed further refinements due to the development and stope design.
Grade control drilling activities are ongoing at the Marceline mining area, with two underground diamond drill rigs operating on double shifts, with each rig averaging 65 m per shift.
Each production area will be infilled to a maximum spacing of 20 m by 10 m prior to mining.
The Company is also using a third underground diamond rig to target resource conversion and growth in the Deacon area, with results expected to be reported in the second half of 2023.
Bellevue added that surface mining activities are underway at Vanguard, including the cutback targeting early ore for toll treating ahead of plant commissioning.
Access to the remaining production areas reached from the Paris portal is also well advanced, with ore driving expected to commence at all underground mine areas within the next two quarters.
According to Bellevue, access to multiple mining fronts and the completion of extensive grade control drilling ahead of capital development are important aspects of its de-risking strategy, as having several mining fronts allows for significant flexibility in the mine schedule and provides redundancy in delivering ore tonnes to the mill.
Bellevue Managing Director Darren Stralow said the results are important because they show the extremely robust nature of the resource model and the strength of the production forecasts.
“On site, we are continuing to hit our targets, with the underground development and construction activities on time and on budget,” he added.
