Challenger Gold Mine Celebrates Its One Millionth Ounce
Media Release
Kingsgate’s Challenger gold mine in South Australia has celebrated the pouring of its one millionth ounce of gold, some 12 years after it commenced production in October 2002.
An onsite function was held this week to mark this significant milestone at the mine which is situated in the remote central west of South Australia.
The mine, formerly owned by Dominion Mining, was acquired by Kingsgate in 2011 following a merger between the two companies. On hand to congratulate the on-site team which is lead by General Manger Stephen Jeffers was Kingsgate director Peter Alexander, of Perth. As a geologist and a former director of Dominion he has been associated with Challenger for more than 19 years.
One of the special guests was exploration geologist Dave Edgecombe of Adelaide who discovered the gold deposit in 1995. The first 250,000 ounces were produced in just under four years and the mine reached the first half a million ounce milestone in 2008. An interesting anecdote is that the mine was named after Dave’s kelpie dog named Challenger.
The mine commenced operation targeting production of just 105,000 ounces over 18 months from open pit mining. During this period delineation of the underground resources commenced and the mine moved underground in February 2004 and is still operating today. To achieve the million ounces 5.994 million tonnes of ore has been mined from both the underground and open pit.
Appointment of CFO and Company Secretary
Kingsgate Consolidated Limited (ASX: KCN) is pleased to announce the following appointments after a restructure of the Company’s finance and administration functions.
Chief Financial Officer
Mr Ross Coyle has been appointed to the permanent position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
Ross was appointed Interim CFO following the departure of the previous incumbent and has accepted the Board’s offer to take on the role on a permanent basis. Ross joined Kingsgate in March 2011 as General Manager Finance & Administration and was also appointed Company Secretary in September 2011. He is a Fellow of CPA Australia (FCPA) and has over 31 years’ experience in finance and accounting within the resource industry, including 15 years as Finance Director of Dominion Mining Limited.
Company Secretary
Mr Paul Mason has been appointed as Company Secretary, replacing Mr Ross Coyle who resigned as Company Secretary following his appointment as CFO.
Paul is currently Group Accounting Manager for Kingsgate and will continue in this role following his appointment as Company Secretary. He commenced with the Group in February 2012 and is a Chartered Accountant and an Associate Member of the Governance Institute of Australia. Paul was formerly Financial Controller and Joint Company Secretary for Catalpa Resources Ltd.
Kingsgate Executive Chairman, Ross Smyth-Kirk, said “It is pleasing that we have been able to fill the positions with internal candidates and continues to highlight the highly experienced and well credentialed calibre of the executives within the Group.”
Ross Smyth-Kirk
Executive Chairman
Kingsgate Consolidated Limited
September 2014 Quarterly Report
Kingsgate had a solid September quarter with gold production of 53,557 ounces at total cash cost of US$906/ounce. Chatree production was in line with expectations at 33,648 ounces and a good performance from Challenger with 19,909 ounces produced.
Gold sales for the quarter of 49,200 ounces were lower than production due to the timing of gold shipments and out-turn received from the refineries. The average gold price received was US$1,278/ounce and the Group All-in Sustaining Cash Cost based on gold sold was US$1,102/ounce.
- Good Group operating performance with quarterly gold production of 53,557 ounces at total cash cost of US$906/oz.
- Chatree produced 33,648 ounces of gold at US$751/oz and Challenger produced 19,909 ounces of gold at US$1,167/oz for the quarter.
- Spectacular drilling results from Nueva Esperanza, Chile, with one of the best intersections ever recorded by Kingsgate:
- 170 metres @ 2.79g/t gold & 82g/t silver (4.16g/t AuEq60) from 58 metres, in hole ECHR-25, including
- 36 metres @ 8.63g/t gold & 177g/t silver (11.57g/t AuEq60) from 168 metres.
- 170 metres @ 2.79g/t gold & 82g/t silver (4.16g/t AuEq60) from 58 metres, in hole ECHR-25, including
- Following the release of an updated Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve Statement, Group Mineral Resources at 30 June 2014 are now estimated at 10.34Moz gold equivalent^ (4.73Moz gold and 250Moz silver) and Group Ore Reserves estimated at 2.72Moz gold equivalent^ (1.69Moz gold and 69.7Moz silver).
Spectacular Gold and Silver Assay Results at Nueva Esperanza, Chile
Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd (ASX: KCN) is pleased to announce the initial results from the current RC drilling program at its Nueva Esperanza project in Chile. The new drilling has intersected exceptional gold and silver mineralisation to the west of the existing Chimberos Pit, outside the current resource boundary.
The following intersection in drillhole ECHR-25 is one of the best intersections ever recorded by Kingsgate in any of its operations and projects with:
- 170m @ 2.79g/t gold & 82g/t silver (4.16g/t AuEq60) from 58m, including 36m @ 8.63g/t gold & 177g/t silver (11.57g/t AuEq60) from 168m.
The hole, drilled to follow-up ECHR-19, intersected a broad zone of intensely silicified breccia which, together with the results from ECHR-19, suggests the potential for a high grade feeder structure as shown in Figure 1. Individual one-metre intervals for the bonanza zone in ECHR-25, which are shown in Table 2, indicate the intensity of mineralisation. Further significant results currently available include:
- 35m @ 3.40g/t gold & 33g/t silver (3.95g/t AuEq60) from 204m including 6m @ 15.36g/t gold and 52g/t silver (16.23g/t AuEq60) from 218m in ECHR-19;
- 19m @ 4.16g/t gold & 77g/t silver (5.45g/t AuEq60) from 195m in ECHR-18;
- 17m @ 2.63g/t gold & 70g/t silver (3.80g/t AuEq60) from 153m in ECHR-19;
- 23m @ 0.18g/t gold & 274g/t silver (4.75g/t AuEq60) from 71m in ECHR-21; and,
- 32m @ 1.97g/t gold & 75g/t silver (3.22g/t AuEq60) from 173m in ECHR-29.
Thirteen out of the nineteen holes drilled so far in the current program have returned significant gold, silver and silver with gold intersections as tabled in this release.
The mineralisation identified from this drill program extends for approximately 300 metres to the west of the current Chimberos Pit, is located outside the current resource boundary and remains open at depth and along strike. Further drilling to follow up these intersections is underway and a second drill rig has been diverted to this campaign. A ground geophysical orientation survey is also underway in order to determine the most appropriate technique for identifying these targets elsewhere within the Nueva Esperanza lease area.
The geological significance of these results is still being assessed within the context of the mineralisation in the Chimberos Pit and nearby satellite prospects.
Kingsgate’s Executive Chairman, Mr. Ross Smyth-Kirk said, “These are spectacular results from this drilling program and we are satisfied that our confidence in the potential for significant growth at Nueva Esperanza is starting to be realised.”
“It is clear that the gold potential of Nueva Esperanza is growing and could significantly improve the project’s already robust economics, and;
“Kingsgate is committed to exploring this emerging and highly prospective property with the recent drilling results pointing to a potential project “game changer”.
Ross Smyth-Kirk
Executive Chairman
Kingsgate Consolidated Limited
To view the full version of this release, including details of the drilling results, please download the PDF by clicking the icon above.
2014 Notice of Annual General Meeting, Proxy Form and Annual Report
ASX confirms the release of Kingsgate’s
2014 Annual Report, Notice of Meeting and Proxy Form
Sent: Wednesday, 22 October 2014 4:30 PM
Subject: Confirmation of Release – KCN – Notice of Annual General Meeting/Proxy Form & Annual Report
ASX confirms the release to the market of Doc ID: 1376087 as follows:
- Release Time: 22-OCT-2014 16:30:02
- ASX Code: KCN
- Announcement Title: Notice of Annual General Meeting/Proxy Form & Annual Report
Click on the PDF link to view the three documents as a PDF.
Kingsgate 2014 Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves
17 October 2014
Kingsgate Consolidated Limited (ASX: KCN) wishes to advise that it has completed an annual update to its Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves for the period ending 30 June 2014. The update takes in to account mining depletion and current economic and operational assumptions. Reflecting the importance of silver and other economic by-products to Kingsgate, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves are quoted on both a gold and silver only basis and a gold equivalent (AuEq) basis.
Group Mineral Resources
Group Mineral Resources (inclusive of Ore Reserves) were estimated at 4.73 million ounces of gold and 250.0 million ounces of silver (300.7Mt at 0.49g/t Au and 25.9g/t Ag). This equates to a reduction of 0.29 million ounces (~6%) for gold and an increase of 4.0 million ounces (~2%) for silver compared to the 30 June 2013 estimate.
On a gold equivalent basis, Group Mineral Resources were estimated at 10.34 million ounces gold equivalent (300.7Mt at 1.07g/t AuEq) representing a decrease of 0.30 million ounces gold equivalent (~3%) compared to the 30 June 2013 estimate. Approximately 70% of the decrease relates to mining depletion at Chatree and Challenger, the other 30% relates to a reduction from Challenger mostly due to the removal of non-Challenger West resources.
Group Ore Reserves
Group Ore Reserves are estimated at 1.69 million ounces of gold and 69.7 million ounces of silver (72.3Mt at 0.73g/t Au and 30.0g/t Ag). This represents a decrease of 0.23 million ounces (~12%) of gold and an increase of 52.7 million ounces (~410%) of silver compared to the 30 June 2013 estimate. The substantial increase in silver is due to the addition of Ore Reserves from the Nueva Esperanza Project in Chile. The decrease in gold mostly relates to mining depletion from Chatree and Challenger (~92%) with the remainder due to updated pit designs using lower metal prices. The decrease was partially offset by the addition of gold reserves from Nueva Esperanza.
On a gold equivalent basis, Group Ore Reserves are estimated at 2.72 million ounces gold equivalent (72.3Mt at 1.17g/t AuEq). This represents an increase of 0.64 million ounces (~31%) gold equivalent compared to the 30 June 2013 estimate. This increase is principally due to the addition of gold equivalent Ore Reserves from Nueva Esperanza from the conversion of 52.7 million ounces of silver.
Chatree Gold Mine, Thailand
Chatree Mineral Resources are estimated at 3.84 million ounces of gold (181.3Mt at 0.66g/t Au and 6.46g/t Ag) compared to 4.03 million ounces of gold in April 2013. This decrease is in line with mining depletion for the period.
Chatree Ore Reserves are estimated at 1.40 million ounces gold (54.4Mt at 0.80g/t Au and 9.25g/t Ag) compared to 1.82 million ounces gold in 2013, mainly due to mining depletion and pit reoptimisation at lower gold and silver prices.
Challenger Gold Mine, South Australia
Challenger Mineral Resources are now estimated at 0.64 million ounces of gold (2.5Mt at 7.80g/t Au). This compares to 0.74 million ounces of gold in June 2013 and represents a decrease in line with mining depletion for the period and the removal of non-Challenger West resources, partly offset by an increase in the Mineral Resource at Challenger West.
The Ore Reserve estimate for Challenger increased by 0.06 million ounces (~60%) to 0.16 million ounces gold (0.84Mt at 5.77g/t Au) compared to 0.10 million ounces gold in 2013. The increase is principally a result of additional conversion to reserves at Challenger West.
Nueva Esperanza Project, Chile
The Nueva Esperanza Mineral Resource estimate has not changed from 30 June 2013. Mineral Resources are estimated at 1.56 million ounces of gold equivalent (28.9Mt at 1.67g/t AuEq60).
Ore Reserves were estimated for the first time at Nueva Esperanza as part of a feasibility study that was announced on ASX on 17 March 2014. Ore Reserves are estimated at 1.04 million ounces gold equivalent (17.1Mt at1.89g/t AuEq60).
Bowdens Silver, Lead & Zinc Project, New South Wales
The Bowdens Mineral Resource estimate has not changed from that previously reported (ASX announcement, 18 October 2013) of 88.0Mt at 47.4g/t Ag, 0.29g/t Pb and 0.39g/t Zn for a combined 182 million ounces silver equivalent (AgEq).
The Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimates have been reported according to the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the JORC Code, 2012).
Tim Benfield
Acting CEO
Kingsgate Consolidated Limited