Millennium Minerals builds case for gold resource expansion at Little Wonder and Otways

Millennium Minerals (ASX: MOY) continues to discover gold at the 1.25 million gold ounce Nullagine project, with today being no exception.

Reverse circulation drilling at the Otways and Little Wonder deposits has delivered some near surface gold.

Highlights from Little Wonder include 5 metres at 12.0 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 24 metres, 11 metres at 2.86g/t gold from 35 metres, which is supported by the broader 21 metres at 1.37g/t gold from 34 metres.

The best results from Otways included broad intercepts of 26 metres at 1.09g/t gold from 18 metres, and 23 metres at 1.11g/t gold from 4 metres, with the higher grade 4 metres at 4.53g/t gold from 40 metres.

The significance of the gold hits are that they occur immediately beneath the current pit designs at the projects, which therefore provides the potential to enlarge pit designs prior to planned gold production in 2012.

Mineral Resource modelling is currently underway incorporating current and earlier drill results at the two deposits, along with the other deposits of Golden Eagle, Shearers, All Nations and Bartons.

The outcome is an ore Reserve is forecast for delivery before the end of 2011.


The next step - additional drilling

A further 3,000 metres of reverse circulation drilling has now been planned at both deposits, with a focus at Little Wonder where the new Northwest Resources (ASX: NWR) Camel Creek joint venture, (announced last month), offers substantial upside in adjacent zones of the mineralisation.

Under the joint venture agreement between the companies which both have developing gold projects in the eastern Pilbara region of Western Australia, gold production and joint venture operating costs will be shared 50:50.

Maiden reserve estimates for the initial joint venture deposits are expected in the June quarter of 2012, while joint venture mining is anticipated to commence in early 2015.

Millennium will manage the joint venture, and all ore mined as part of the joint venture will pass through Millennium’s 1.5 million tonne per annum Golden Eagle treatment plant, which is currently under construction.

Joint venture ore sourced from the Northwest deposits, located about 6 kilometres from the Golden Eagle plant, will be blended with ore from Millennium’s Golden Eagle deposit.

The Golden Eagle deposit is a significant part of the 1.25 million gold ounce Nullagine project, hosting around 70% of the gold resource, or 750,000 gold ounces.

Originally published at: http://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/companies/news/21553/millennium-minerals-builds-case-for-gold-resource-expansion-at-little-wonder-and-otways-21553.html