Joint venture gets moving on Tick Hill gold plans

The Tick Hill gold site, 120km south-east of Mount Isa, is set to come to life again under a freshly inked joint venture agreement. AuKing Mining and Orion Resources have signed a joint venture term sheet with mine owner Tick Hill Mining. This aims to establish a processing operation at Tick Hill based on existing tailings stockpiles and may extend to a restart of mining at the historical open pit. The Tick Hill JV is looking at using suitable plant relocated from Lorena to create gold-loaded carbon material followed by gold dore production at the existing Lorena elution circuit and gold room facilities near Cloncurry. A feasibility study with inputs from AuKing, Orion and THM will commence immediately. Related: New chapter for Cloncurry district gold assets AuKing is working in partnership with Orion on plans to re-establish mining and processing operations at a parcel of former Tombola Gold assets being acquired in the Cloncurry area. These include the Lorena carbon-in-leach gold processing plant and the Mount Freda and Golden Mile package of exploration and mining tenements. AuKing managing director Paul Williams said that the new Tick Hill joint venture was an important step in establishing a clear pathway to early gold production at the Lorena processing plant. Mount Isa/Cloncurry regional map, showing the location of Tick Hill mine and the Lorena processing plant. "As one of the historically highest-grade gold mines in Australia, the opportunity to work in joint venture with the current Tick Hill owners is very compelling for Orion," he said. "The intended establishment of early cashflows from this joint venture provides Orion with the ability to establish its credentials with the Cloncurry Gold Project and allows for the development of other projects in the portfolio (such as Mount Freda) to be funded for the future.” Former Tick Hill owner Carnaby Resources announced details of a pre-feasibility study and a maiden ore reserve back in 2020. This confirmed a technically and economically viable mining and toll treatment project. The 2020 study applied a gold price of $2300/oz - less than half the current gold price, which stands around $4900/oz. The new proposal should also benefit from basing some processing at Tick Hill rather than relying on a toll treatment option involving added haulage costs. Aerial view of the tailings stockpile at Tick Hill. AuKing recently engaged an independent consultant to comb through the key 2020 PFS findings. The preliminary economic assessment concluded that the proposed tailings retreatment was technically and financially viable and the project should proceed to a final feasibility study, AuKing said. The 2020 PFS noted the tailings have a high gold grade and testwork has shown higher recoveries can be achieved by finely grinding and reprocessing this material. The PEA also highlighted the potential that mining of the Tick Hill open pit to remove the crown pillar left behind by previous mining could significantly add to the overall economics. It is estimated that the tailings reprocessing feasibility study will take about three to four months to complete. You may also like: https://industryqld.com.au/stars-aligning-for-a-dedicated-tailings-processing-industry/

Joint venture gets moving on Tick Hill gold plans

Industry Queensland

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