RVR’s most recent quarterly in September 2022 made clear that there was a total of 18,418m of drilling to add into an update of the Liontown resource which they never managed to complete before going into administration. I can't work out if the 25 holes SHN have been working on are included in the 18,418m or not.
RVR removed the 13,000t of tailings at Liontown for processing at Thalanga producing mainly gold, 1300 ounces. The removal has made access for new mining operations at Liontown much easier according to RVR.
RVR applied for mining permits at Liontown and part of it is covered by an existing mining lease.
There is a shallow 113,000t oxide gold deposit at Liontown (mainly above the New Queen lode I think) that is not included in the JORC and RVR also confirms that the Carrington lode is also not included in the JORC.
Most of the recent RVR drilling was to increase the confidence level of resources at Liontown, moving resource from inferred to indicated at the Main Lode for a large portion of the drilling. They stated that the drilling and assays supported the resource base previously announced at the lower confidence level. It seems clear that drilling for extensions to known lodes should lead to increased resources for Sunshine Metals. RVR were into mine planning and drilled mainly to increase the confidence level of existing resources and not for extensions.
From September2022:
“Liontown drilling completed during the quarter included 14 diamond holes for a total of3,374m. Table 2: Thalanga Drilling completed in Q1 FY23 (assays pending)Location Hole Type Holes Completed Total Metres Drilled Liontown Main DD 2 487Liontown New Queen DD 3 733 Liontown Western Footwall DD 9 2,154 Total 14 3,37418,418m of drilling is to be included into an update of the Liontown MineralResource. Drill results and assays received to date largely support the currentestimation. In areas where drilling has increased estimation confidence it ispredicted that Inferred material will transfer to an Indicated classification.This will be most relevant to the Main lode section of the Resource where alarge portion of the drilling has been focused. Liontown continued to deliverstrong assays both in Main Lode (Figure 2) and the Gap (Figure 3) including; •4.95m @ 19.5% Zn eq. incl 4.99% Cu from 288.75m (LTDD22052 – Gap Lode) • 3.15m@ 11.3% Zn eq. incl 2.74% Cu from 168.0m (LTDD22195A – Gap Lode) • 4.60m @14.6% Zn eq. from 204.75m (LTDD22059 – Main Lode 3) • 4.85m @ 10.3% Zn eq. from137.45m (LTDD22058 – Main Lode 1) • 3.10m @ 11.2 % Zn eq. from 242.15m(LTDD22060 – Main Lode 3) (ASX Announcement 19 July 2022)”
From Feb 2020:
From March 2020 - This is a really interesting statement about a high-grade 612,000t copper-gold resource at Liontown with 1.6% copper, 3.5 g/t gold, 13.5 g/t silver and some zinc and lead. This is clearly included in the overall JORC figure but shows the ability to chase higher grade lenses if this ever becomes necessary due to low commodity prices. What is not mentioned by Sunshine is the shallow oxide gold-silver resource of 113,000t at 1.9g/t gold and 24g/t silver (and 0.6% copper), this resource is not included in the Liontown JORC and RVR make this statement many times. It was not included because it will need different metallurgical treatment to the sulphide lodes.
From March 2020 JORC announcement:
The shallow oxide deposit and the Carrington lode were not included in the JORC for Liontown. Liontown was being progressed as the next mine at Thalanga for RVR.From June 2020:
"The Liontown tailings have been removed from the old mine and the site is a bit easier to access for new mining operations. RVR produced 1300 ounces of gold produced from the 13,000 tonnes of Liontown tailings."
2021 – RVR applied for permits for mining at Liontown, mining in 2022/23 on existing mining lease. RVR 3-D view of Liontown ore bodies.
Note that the total production from Thalanga, according to RVR, is 5.9 million tonnes @ 1.6% copper, 2.5% lead, 7.5% zinc, 0.5g/t gold and 66g/t silver. The total resource from Liontown and Waterloo is 4.94 million tonnes @ 0.8% copper, 2.0% lead, 7.5% zinc, 1.1g/t gold and 35g/t silver.
DYOR. Not investment advice.
