Granny Venn pours first gold in 23 years

Approximately 17,000 tonnes of ore have been processed from Granny Venn’s toll campaign to date, which has exceeded metallurgical performance expectations.

The unreconciled weighted head grade of the mill feed is calculated at 2.59 grams per tonne, up from the forecasted 2.14 grams per tonne.

Following nine days of milling at the Lakewood gold mill, Resources & Energy Group emerged with 22.84 kilograms of gold dore, comprising 7.96kg from the gravity circuit and 14.88kg from the carbon-in-leach (CIL) circuit.

Umpire samples of production have been taken, and the gold dore is now being dispatched to the Perth Mint for determination of assay for out‐turn certification.

Resources & Energy Group director Richard Poole said first gold pour represented a capstone moment for the emerging miner.

“The company is delighted to report this outcome. It represents a pivotal moment in the company’s growth as it transitions from exploration to production,” he said.

“Since acquiring ground in the East Menzies goldfield, the company has moved rapidly to identify and commercialise resources, whilst maintaining a vigorous exploration strategy which has delivered some outstanding results for gold at Gigante Grande (deposit), and for nickel at Springfield (deposit).”

Poole commended the work of BM Mining, the company managing mining operations at Granny Venn.

Resources & Energy Group entered into a profit-sharing deal with BM Mining in March which saw the mining services company spend an estimated $3 million in working capital to get Granny Venn going again.

No upfront expense was spared by Resources & Energy Group at the time.

Resources & Energy Group recommenced gold mining at Granny Venn in August, where no mining activity had taken place for 23 years prior.