Americas-focused precious metals producer Great Panther Mining (TSX: GPR) has provided an updated mineral reserve and resource estimate for its Tucano gold mine in Brazil, reflecting results of an additional 58,837 metres of drilling up to the end of July 2021.
Total proven and probable mineral reserves are now estimated to be 681,873 gold ounces, of which 371,541 ounces are open pit, representing a 24% increase in open-pit reserves since the previously reported estimate dated September 2020.
Total measured and indicated mineral resources, which are inclusive of mineral reserves, now total 1.3 million gold ounces, of which 928,000 gold ounces are open pit, a 65% increase since the 2020 resource estimate.
“We have successfully replaced 2021 mining depletion and added another 1.5 years to the open-pit mine life at Tucano,” Great Panther chairman and interim CEO Alan Hair said in a news release.
The Tucano tenement portfolio covers over 197,000 hectares over land along the Vila Nova greenstone belt, centred around the Tucano mining licence. The mine operation currently comprises eight open pits, the Urucum North underground project, a processing plant and tailings dam. Production to date has been sourced from all pits except Urucum East.
The company noted that it has completed a 19,000-metre drilling campaign on the Urucum North underground project, with engineering studies currently underway.
“Going forward, a major objective is to progress the Urucum North underground project, with development scheduled for Q4 2022, while aggressively advancing opportunities for additional resource growth and mine life extension on multiple fronts,” Hair added.
In the second half of the year, Great Panther is expected to actively pursue drilling to increase resources within the mine sequence and on near mine (20-kilometre radius) priority targets in the regional land package.
