Ernest Henry back on form after $160m washout

Evolution Mining's latest figures show it took a $160 million hit from the rainfall event that halted Ernest Henry production, but new drill results add to the bright outlook for extension plans there. Ernest Henry production returned to full capacity by the end of June after the extreme weather event in early March and resumption of operations on April 18. "Ernest Henry has now commenced the transition back to the high-margin strong cash-generating asset it has consistently proved itself to be," the company stated in its latest quarterly report. The Cloncurry district mine produced 64,725oz of gold and 47,348t of copper in FY23. The Evolution board has approved progression of the site's $500 million mine extension project to feasibility study phase following successful completion of the pre-feasibility study. Work in the past quarter saw the Ernest Henry ore reserve double previous estimate to 77.4 million tonnes, with contained copper of 589 thousand tonnes and contained gold of 1.1 million ounces. Related: Big future on the cards for Ernest Henry mine Evolution Mining chief executive officer and managing director Lawrie Conway noted drilling results released today which further enhance the Ernest Henry mine extension project, and are expected to drive further growth of the mineral resource. "These will be incorporated in the updated mineral resource estimate to be completed in the September quarter,” Mr Conway said. In a separate announcement, the company released the latest resource definition drilling results confirming extensions to mineralisation within the footprint incorporated in the mine extension feasibility study. Highlights include: ▪ 21.2m (13.0m estimated true width) grading 3.16g/t gold and 1.52 per cent copper (EH1276_D9) ▪ 91.6m (45.0m etw) grading 0.55g/t gold and 1.03 per cent copper (EH1276_D9) ▪ 34.8m (23.0m etw) grading 1.19g/t gold and 1.43 per cent copper (EH1226_EXT_D11B) ▪ 27.0m (20.0m etw) grading 0.79g/t gold and 1.46 per cent copper (EH1226_EXT_D11B) ▪ 58.0m (35.0m etw) grading 0.66g/t gold and 1.16 per cent copper (EH1226_EXT_D11B) Evolution said grades and widths intersected in these drillholes continued to reinforce the strong potential for mineralisation to connect between Ernie Junior area and lower lenses of the main orebody at Ernest Henry. Additionally, assays for the deepest drillhole from the Ernie Junior – main orebody ‘gap’ drilling program confirm northern extensions to mineralisation below the feasibility study footprint. Cross-section of the Ernest Henry mineralisation with latest drillhole traces shown in grey and intersections in magenta.

Ernest Henry back on form after $160m washout

Industry Queensland

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