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(Sharecast News) - Greatland Gold announced a significant increase in its mineral resource estimate for the Havieron gold-copper project in Western Australia's Paterson province on Thursday.
The AIM-traded firm reported impressive growth in estimated mineral resources, including ore reserves, now totalling 8.4 million ounces of gold equivalent.
That comprised seven million ounces of gold and 275,000 metric tons of copper, marking a substantial 29% increase in total gold equivalent content and a 28% boost in total gold content compared to the 2022 mineral resource estimate.
One notable development was the confirmation of continuous mineralisation between the Eastern Breccia and the primary Havieron Breccia domains, highlighted by the discovery of a new high-grade 'Link Zone'.
Greatland said its drilling efforts targeting the lower portion of the mineral system yielded impressive results, enhancing the ounce per vertical metre (OPVM) profile in alignment with the upper deposit levels.
The updated mineral resource estimate averaged 7,900 gold equivalent OPVM over the top 1,000 metres vertically.
Additionally, the updated estimate included a 32% increase in contained gold equivalent metal within the higher confidence indicated mineral resource estimate category.
The expanded category could now be included in the updated ore reserve estimate, forming part of the upcoming feasibility study.
Greatland said the updated mineral resource estimate incorporated data from 93,000 metres of additional drilling conducted since the December 2021 drilling cut-off date for its March 2022 estimate.
The findings suggest continued progress and potential for Havieron as a prominent gold-copper project in the Paterson province.
"We are delighted by the continued growth in the Havieron mineral resource estimate," said managing director Shaun Day.
"The updated mineral resource estimate now averages over 7,900 ounces per vertical metre gold equivalent over 1,000 metres vertically, which is testament to the quality of the Havieron ore body.
"The high grade South East Crescent Zone mineral resource is now defined over 1,200 vertical metres - another 200 metres deeper than in the March 2022 update - and remains open at depth."
Day said it was "particularly pleasing" to delineate additional ounces in the lower third of the current extents of the mineralised system, with around 70% of the increase identified in the extensions to that part of the ore body.
"Another promising aspect of this update is the definition of the Link Zone, between the Eastern Breccia and main Havieron Breccia; whilst previously interpreted as separate domains, we have now confirmed mineralisation is continuous, and the breccias are now defined as a singular continuous Breccia domain.
"This update further demonstrates the quality and scale of Havieron and the compelling investment proposition for Greatland.
"We are excited to see the impact of the significant growth in the Indicated category on the updated ore reserve estimate that will underpin the feasibility study which is ongoing and expected to be completed in 2024."
At 1332 GMT, shares in Greatland Gold were down 1.34% at 8.85p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
