In Focus
*** Board Room Radio Webcast - 17th June 2010 - MCO on Board Room Radio
*** MCOOB EXERCISE YIELDS MCO A RECORD $12.3 MILLION IN NEW EQUITY CAPITAL ***
** FLOW DIAGRAM FOR NEW GRAVITY MILLING OPERATIONS ON SITE AT MORNING STAR **
Flow Diagram of Onsite Gravity Milling (60.85 Kb)
1. TECHNICAL REVIEW OF MORNING STAR MINE AND PRELIMINARY PRODUCTION PLAN
A new technical team led by mining engineer Peter Hepburn-Brown and mine geologist Greg Curnow was appointed by the Board in Q2 2009 with its goal to bring the Morning Star mine back into production and create a gold production hub at the Woods Point mine site with several regional ore sources. A technical review has been undertaken by the new team assisted by Dr Jackson and other management and the new production and exploration plans with be announced in stages over 2009-10. The current Stage Three of the Woods Point Gold Project can be overviewed as follows:
Stage 3 of the Woods Point Gold Project: (2010) - Recommencing Gold Production
A new section of the website will shortly be added to detail our new mining plans and project timelines. The company expects to produce gold in H2 2010 and forwards. This is the first gold production in around 50 years for the Morning Star mine and Woods Point. The overall plan is to re-enter existing stopes in shallow, dewatered, partially developed areas of the mine, where channel sampling over 2007-09 proved high grade ore still exists in scaleable tonnages. The company intends to mill its own gold via an on site gravity gold plant which is being constructed by Gekko Systems of Ballarat Victoria. Planning and feasibility, leading to regulatory approval is ongoing with the plant expected to be commissioned early in the 2nd Half of 2010. It is scaleable and designed to process 10 tonnes of ore per hour. MCO expects ~93% of it's gold to be gravity recovered at ~250um crush.
The images below are a brief selection of cross-sectional graphics to overview some areas the company is seeking to commence ore extraction. The first is a X-Section of the whole Morning Star Dyke depicting the reef zones of current interest and activity. The second depicts stope assays in the Dickenson-Shamrock Zone (~120-160m below surface) where preliminary ore extraction efforts will be focused. The last image is a X-Section of the Burns and Whitelaws Zone (~220m U/G) showing colour-coded stope assays. Plenty of red dots.
2. NEW PRO-RATA 1:1 RIGHTS ISSUE OF OPTIONS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED - Click this link for news:
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3. Preliminary JORC Resources Statement - CLICK THIS LINK: RESOURCE OF 910,000 OZS GOLD (JORC CODE 2004)
4. Bulk Samples Taken for Metallurgical Study - Pre-feasibility study on Plant undertaken Q1 2008
An initial program of three 100–150Kg composite samples to test Morning Star mine ore-grade material for ROM metallurgical recovery and grade factoring was processed in the 3rd Quarter 2007.The bulk samples collected were representative of medium to high-grade laminated quartz vein ore and stock-work/breccia vein ore commonly found in the mine. The metallurgical testing has enabled Morning Star to better analyze the type, size and nature of gold distribution, along with the identification of suitable methods for recovery and anticipated gold recovery rates.
The results of the Bulk Metallurgical Tests have been outstanding.
1. Gravity gold recovery was extremely encouraging (between 78% and 93% depending on the crush coarseness).
2. At a coarse 250microns crush, Morning Star found that the bulk samples returned up to 88% gravity gold recoveries through the first crush with up to 98% total recoveries after a short period of leaching (8 hours) and greater than 99% recoveries after 24 hours.
3. Head Grades from the samples were strong as expected. The grades obtained in the three bulk samples were between 17 grams per tonne and 35 grams per tonne. Samples were blended with lower grade material made up of sediments and dyke to give a more representative 'mining grade' sample analysis.
One of the key aspects of the results to date, is that in any future planned mining operations, Morning Star feels confident that a mill and plant set to crush ore at 250microns rate would significantly reduce Capital and Operational Expenditures for the company and enable it to operate well under industry average gold production costs per tonne.
So encouragingly for MCO, not only are there rich remnant reefs as proven to date via the Channel and Reconnaissance sampling program, but gravity gold returns are very high, giving rise to a ability to produce gold cost effectively and environmentally sensitively too.
Composite balance representative ROM material from the Q4 2007 Bulk Sampling has been sent to Gekko Systems in Ballarat for pre-feasibility studies on underground gravity plant for location at the Morning Star mine. A graphical depiction of initial results is below:
5. ABC Documentary on 1939 'Black Friday' Bushfires:
Click here for the ABC Doco on the 1939 bushfires that destroyed Woods Point.
6. View Expressed on the Gold Price by Pierre Lassonde at Diggers and Dealers 2007
Mr Lassonde's Viewpoint Aug 07 (0.87 Mb)
