Doray Minerals Limited, an Australian-based high-grade gold producer with substantial upside, has announced the achievement of two important milestones at its high-grade Andy Well Gold Project in the northern Murchison region of Western Australia.
According to the media release by Doray, the Andy Well Gold Project recently passed 365 days without a Lost Time Injury (LTI) and has not had a mining or production-related LTI since the commencement of construction in November 2012.
The company also announced that it has produced its 100,000th ounce of gold, which comes approximately fourteen months after the commencement of production in August 2013.
Doray Managing Director, Allan Kelly, said the safety milestone was especially significant because it demonstrated the company’s commitment to placing the safety of its employees and contractors above everything else given the underground nature of the Andy Well Project.
“I want to thank our employees, contractors and consultants for their efforts in helping us achieve these two significant milestones and look forward to the Andy Well Project continuing to safely and profitably produce many more ounces in the future,” he said.
Doray also conducted optimisation of the underground mining methods employed at Andy Well, which resulted in further improvements in head grade and All-in Sustaining Costs (AISC) for the month of October.
“Placing a cemented rockfill sill between each level to prevent walls unravelling during stoping has resulted in reduced dilution of the high-grade ore while the Project consistently meets targets for gold extracted from ore-drive development,” the company stated in the media release.
“As a result, the Project has to date achieved the forecast total amount of gold extracted per horizontal sub-level of the Wilber Lode despite the stoping dilution incurred. The average head grade increased from 8.3g/t in September to 9.6g/t in October and the All-in Sustaining Cost (AISC) saw further improvements in October. “
In addition, the company advised that realignment of a portion of the Great Northern Highway – adjacent to Andy Well – has recently commenced at an estimated cost of A$2.7 million.
Doray said the realignment will allow for the mining of the stage 2 open pit in the second half of the 2015 financial year and is expected to positively impact average cash costs for the financial year.
Grade control drilling of this pit has revealed a greater volume of high-grade ore than allowed in the bankable feasibility study (BFS) and has been incorporated into the final pit design.
Doray has also undertaken a programme of six diamond drill holes targeting significant depth extensions to the Wilber Lode at Andy Well.
The company said that five of the six drilled holes were successful in intersecting the Wilber Lode quartz vein, with three of the five holes holding coarse gold visible in the core.
The remaining two holes intersected the target structure but had minimal quartz veining present.
Doray’s Managing Director Allan Kelly said the results were considered very significant and indicated the potential for further extensions to the current mine life at Andy Well.
“The recent drilling indicates further continuation at depth of the Wilber Lode orebody and confirms both the presence of the Wilber Lode and the existence of high-grade gold mineralisation at a significant depth below the current mine plan,” Mr Kelly said.
“Given that each 100 meter step out at depth equates roughly to another year of potential production from Wilber, these results bode well for the future of the project.”
