The study projects annual gold production of approximately 130,000oz, with an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of around A$1,917/oz ($1,238). Credit: RHJPhtotos/Shutterstock.

Barton Gold Holdings has commenced reverse circulation (RC) growth drilling at its Tunkillia gold project in South Australia, following an updated 1.5-million-ounce (moz) gold (Au) JORC MRE and an initial scoping study.

The study highlighted a potential annual production of approximately 130,000oz Au, with an AISC of around A$1,917/oz.

The project has a 40% equity internal rate of return (Equity IRR) and a 1.9-year payback period, driven by a higher-grade ‘starter pit’ producing around 180,000oz of gold during the first 18 months.

Barton MD Alexander Scanlon said: “Tunkillia has demonstrated its potential as a competitive large-scale gold producer based upon conservative assumptions relating to comminution design, power consumption, the development schedule and procurement.

“We are now reviewing optimisation of these assumptions in parallel with selective drilling to reduce processing costs, expand the MRE block model, grow the optimised pit, extend project life and improve the project’s economics. We look forward to sharing further updates as we advance Tunkillia toward feasibility studies.”

The review of the March 2024 MRE block model, in conjunction with the July 2024 initial scoping study, has identified two key ‘near mine’ opportunities for the expansion of the open-pit design and mine life.

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These include areas just below the optimised open pit, where drilling intersected mineralisation currently excluded from the MRE block model due to an insufficient number of data points, and areas adjacent to the MRE block model and the optimised open pit, where known mineralisation may similarly be excluded.

An optimisation review is currently targeting key cost drivers, with the RC drilling focusing on extensions on lodes parallel to, and depth extensions of, the July 2024 optimised pit design.

These areas, where gold mineralisation has been intersected in prior drilling but not yet included in the MRE block model, are key targets for the current drilling campaign.

Barton Gold aims to produce 150,000oz of gold annually. It has approximately 1.6moz Au JORC mineral resources, multiple advanced exploration projects and brownfield mines.

The Tarcoola gold project, a brownfield open-pit mine within trucking distance of Barton’s processing plant, remains an under-explored asset with untapped scale potential.