Metal Bank’s wholly owned subsidiary WesternX has lodged a mining lease (ML) application for the Kingsley gold deposit, part of the Livingstone Project in Western Australia (WA).
The Kingsley deposit is held under a joint venture (JV) between WesternX, which owns 75%, and Trillbar Resources with the remaining 25%.
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The application covers an area centred on the Kingsley deposit, which has a Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) 2012 mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 1.68 million tonnes (mt) at 1.35 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, equating to 73,000oz of gold classified as an inferred resource.
According to previous metallurgical test work, an average gold recovery rate of 93.8% has been reported.
The deposit forms a key component of the broader Livingstone Gold Project, which features a global JORC 2012 MRE of 2.81mt at 1.36g/t gold, for a total of 122,500oz across three nearby deposits. Of this, around 70% is inferred and 30% is indicated.
Mineralisation at Kingsley is generally shallow, occurring mostly within oxidised and transitional zones, and stretches over approximately 900m.
The deposit remains open to the north and south and is present from the surface to at least 120m below ground.
The proposed extraction method for Kingsley is a conventional open-cut operation involving drilling, blasting, loading and hauling.
In addition to Kingsley, the Livingstone project includes the Homestead and Winja deposits, and an exploration target at Kingsley East, located to the east of the current Kingsley resource estimate.
The exploration target at Kingsley East is conceptual in nature, estimated at between 290,000 and 400,000t at 1.8–2g/t gold, for approximately 16,800–25,700oz.
However, further exploration would be required to confirm a mineral resource in this area.
Previous drill results within the Livingstone project area include intersections such as 4m at 6.26g/t gold at Livingstone North.
Metal Bank CEO Tim Gilbert said: “The Kingsley Mining Lease application is another important step in Metal Bank’s pathway to becoming a near-term gold producer. We recently applied for MLs over the Homestead and Winja deposits at Livingstone and the Seven Leaders deposit at Whiteheads.
“At Homestead, the mine plan is well advanced, and our immediate focus is on progressing studies to support grant of the ML. We expect to commence diamond drilling shortly to gather both geotechnical data and samples for recovery test work.”
