Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd. completed an updated resource estimate for the Tulkubash project, part of its Chaarat gold property in Kyrgyzstan, with a feasibility study anticipated in March.
The deposit hosts measured and indicated resources containing 971,000 ounces of gold within 35.2 million tonnes grading 0.86 g/t of gold, with inferred resources estimated to contain 83,000 ounces of gold within 3.8 million tonnes grading 0.68 g/t of gold.
The open pit estimate uses a cutoff grade of 0.3 g/t of gold and incorporates data from drilling completed in 2017, according to the Jan. 31 statement.
Chaarat Gold noted that gold contained in the measured and indicated categories increased by 42% as compared to a restated 2016 estimate which was reassessed to incorporate an updated resource model.
Accordingly, the company also restated resources for the Kyzyltash deposit at the Chaarat property. Kyzyltash hosts measured and indicated resources containing 4.5 million ounces of gold within 39.5 million tonnes grading 3.70 g/t of gold, with inferred resources containing 832,000 ounces of gold within 6.6 million tonnes grading 4.05 g/t of gold.
Chaarat Gold said the new Kyzyltash estimate is based on an underground mining scenario, using a cutoff of 2.0 g/t of gold, while potential open-pittable resources were not re-estimated to understand the impact of dilution.
"These results demonstrate that we are on track with our strategy to develop the Chaarat deposit in stages: initially targeting the Tulkubash oxides; followed by the very substantial higher-grade refractory Kyzyltash resource within our mine license area," Chaarat Gold CEO Robert Benbow said.
"Our better understanding of the geometry of the ore bodies obtained as part of our resource update has further added to our confidence that the oxide resource can be significantly extended along strike."
The company, which outlined plans in late 2017 to raise up to US$20 million for the Tulkubash development, is planning further drilling in 2018 to extend mineralization.
