Forrestania revives WA wheatbelt mine with 223,000oz gold boost

Forrestania Resources has quickly put its stamp on the recently acquired Tampia gold project in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt region, tabling a maiden JORC-compliant mineral resource of 4.6 million tonnes grading 1.5 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for 223,300 ounces of the precious metal.

The estimate, which employed a 0.5g/t gold cut-off grade, marks a significant first step for Forrestania after acquiring the project from established gold producer Ramelius Resources in September. It immediately bolsters the company’s stated strategy of building a hub-and-spoke operation centred on its newly acquired Westonia Hub, which includes the Edna May gold processing facility.

The resource is split between an indicated 2.5 million tonnes at 1.47g/t gold for 118,500 ounces and 2.1 million tonnes at 1.56g/t gold for 104,800 ounces in the inferred category.

The Tampia project is no stranger to production. Between 2021 and 2023, Ramelius mined an estimated 3 million tonnes from the open pit at a solid grade of 2.1g/t gold to produce around 201,100 ounces. That ore was trucked around 140 kilometres from Tampia to the very same Edna May plant that now sits in Forrestania’s stable.

The project is shaping up as a key plank in Forrestania’s ambitious two-hub production strategy. The company is building a classic hub-and-spoke gold machine, corralling satellite deposits around two processing workhorses – the 2.9-million-tonne-per-annum Edna May plant and the 3.2Mtpa Lake Johnston facility – with both earmarked to fire up in early 2027.

Before Ramelius broke ground at Tampia, the project held a resource of 8.2 million tonnes at 1.7g/t gold for 460,000 ounces, highlighting the surprising scale of the original mineralised system. Forrestania’s maiden resource for Tampia effectively defines gold remaining beneath and around the existing open pit.

Forrestania Resources chairman David Geraghty said: “This maiden estimate highlights a significant addition to the Forrestania Mineral Resources inventory, providing additional Mineral Resource ounces within trucking distance of the Edna May processing facility. With Tampia located within our newly acquired Westonia Hub, we believe this Mineral Resource will play an important role in Forrestania’s strategy of establishing long-term gold production.”

The Tampia project is 75km south of Merredin. Geologically, it lies within the Lake Grace Terrane, part of the ancient almost three-billion-year-old Yilgarn Craton which dominates the southwestern quarter of WA.

Gold mineralisation is hosted in a mafic gneiss unit and occurs as shallow-dipping lode zones between 2m and 20m thick, which are considered amenable to conventional open-pit mining. In simple terms, mafic gneiss refers to a usually ancient, banded, coarse-grained metamorphic rock rich in dark, iron- and magnesium-bearing minerals.

Forrestania’s mineralisation model was based on a massive historical drilling database of almost 4500 holes for more than 180,000m of drilling by a succession of owners including BHP, Explaurum and Ramelius.

Critically, metallurgical testwork conducted by previous owner Explaurum suggests the ore is free-milling and delivers impressive recoveries. Oxide material demonstrated a gold recovery of more than 96 per cent, while fresh rock returned an average recovery of 91.4 per cent through a conventional carbon-in-leach circuit.

The maiden resource at Tampia adds to Forrestania’s already significant two-million-ounce plus global inventory. The tally also includes a 285,700-ounce resource at its Lady Ada and Lady Magdalene deposits in the Forrestania Greenstone Belt, the northern tip of which lies an estimated 100km south of the WA town of Southern Cross.

Those deposits have a history of high-grade, nuggety gold, with the old Blue Haze pit at Lady Ada previously producing 27,154 ounces at a stellar average grade of 8.81g/t gold.

With a new resource now in hand, backed by a proven mining history at Tampia and a massive database, Forrestania has slotted another significant piece into its WA gold production mosaic.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au

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