The maiden ore reserve followed on from a mineral resource estimate of 3-million tonnes, at 3 g/t gold for 287 000 oz.

Troy MD Ken Nilsson said on Monday that the Smarts Underground project had proven its worth and was capable of delivering strong financial returns and value for shareholders.

“Most importantly, it provides Troy with an ore source for an initial period of approximately 2.5 years, during which time, the company will have the ability to identify new sources of ore, both at the Smarts Underground and elsewhere from our substantial, highly-prospective ground position at Karouni.

“While the maiden ore reserve contained ounces is not as large a number as I would have hoped, there is considerable scope to increase it,” said Nilsson.

The preliminary economic assessment for the initial 2.5-year mine life has estimated life-of-mine revenues of some $137-million and net cashflows of $47-million.

Mining costs for the Smarts Underground have been estimated at $65-million, with processing costs estimated at $25-million.

“I am reasonably confident that, once underground, the high-grade zones that we will identify and mine will result in production pointing to the higher head grades we have previously reported. Once underground, I believe that exploration and infill drilling will identify additional economic mineralisation at depth,” said Nilsson.

“Incorporating the new geotechnical data into the ore reserve calculation may also add ounces as we are already aware that mineralisation is present between the upper and lower zones such that they are not discrete zones as currently presented.”

Troy has received development approval for the Smarts Underground mine from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, subject to the ongoing submission and review of all plans and reports for each phase of the mine development.

The miner is now working on various reports required, including capital cost requirements, finalising the geotechnical report, as well as the proposed mine development schedule.

Subject to the receipt of a final geotechnical report, as well as funds to meet the capital requirement, Troy is ready to commit to proceed with the development of the underground operation, the miner said.