Nice update, although hard to know how things are going until the quarterly after next IMHO:
WPG Resources Ltd (ASX:WPG) is pleased to advise that the first stope firing in Challenger Deeps was undertaken overnight.
This milestone marks the transition from mining in the upper areas of the mine which has been dominated by remnant mining to mining of virgin areas below the 215 shear.
This area has been the focus of mine development activities over the last few months and this will continue over the coming months and beyond as the 115 level is further developed and as new mine development is extended to the lower 95 level.
Initial production will focus on the M2 structures to be followed by the M1 lodes as development progresses. These lodes have been successfully mined above the shear at high grades over the 15 year mine life at Challenger. Drilling undertaken as part of stope design is indicating that these lodes will continue to perform in Challenger Deeps.
As development and the increase in the stoping tonnes delivered from Challenger Deeps continue, there has also been excellent high grade ore delivered from Tarcoola to the Challenger mill. This high grade ore has been successfully processed after blending with Challenger ore. Recent ore parcels mined and delivered to Challenger have graded up to 12 g/t gold in the higher grade zones.
WPG’s CEO, Wayne Rossiter, said “Accessing Challenger Deeps was a key objective when WPG bought the mine almost two years ago, and we are very happy to have reached this target and at the same time seeing the excellent performance of Tarcoola.”
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