Greatland Gold to extend Havieron study on “promising” drilling results

Havieron is located 45 km east of Newcrest’s Telfer gold-copper mine, and 500 km east of rail and port infrastructure at Port Hedland. (Image courtesy of Greatland Gold.)

Greatland Gold (LON: GGP) said on Thursday there was potential for further resource growth at its flagship Havieron gold-copper project in Australia, as it continues to receive promising outcomes from the drilling program led by joint venture partner, Newcrest Mining (ASX: NCM).

The latest drilling results at Havieron show new high-grade mineralized intercepts in the Northern Breccia target region, and between Eastern Breccia and the South East Crescent, Greenland Gold said.

The findings, it added, increases the possibility of linking the two zones.

The company noted that it continues work to support the development of the feasibility study for Havieron, which will now extend beyond the December 2022 quarter to allow itself more time to maximize value and de-risk the project.

Further optimization work is already underway and Greatland says this would contribute to offsetting any potential inflation impact.

Newcrest, Australia’s largest gold producer, has the right to earn up to a 70% interest in Havieron via a farm-in agreement.

The Melbourne-based giant has been aggressively searching for juniors with appealing assets to jointly develop.

In 2019, it acquired a 70% stake in Canada’s Red Chris copper and gold mine from Imperial Metals (TSX: III).

Last year, it bought all outstanding common shares of Pretium Resources it did not already own in a deal that valued the Canadian miner at $2.8 billion.

The Havieron property is located 45 km from Newcrest’s Telfer mine, which has the largest processing facility in the Paterson province and has sufficient capacity and capability to process other discoveries in this region. 

Several large gold and/or copper deposits such as Nifty, Winu and Newcrest’s own Telfer are located close-by.