AMN - SOUTH AFRICA: Stonewall adds third rig at Theta Hill

Stonewall Resources has a third drilling rig operating at the Theta Hill area of its TGME Gold Project in South Africa as it seeks to add more gold to the 5.15 million ounce resource. The reverse circulation rig has been brought back to progress resource drilling on the DG4 area of Theta Hill.

It has been modified to improve on previous drilling performance in a bid to rapidly progress development of a resource in this area.

Improvements build on lessons learned from the last round of RC drilling.

The project’s global resource totals 34.7 million tonnes grading 4.62 g/t gold of which 24% is in the measured and indicated categories.

Managing director Rob Thomson said: “Given the challenging drilling conditions experienced on Theta Hill it is encouraging to see the ongoing close relationship between the onsite staff and contractors as they work to resolving problems and improving efficiencies.”

After recently upgrading the resource from open pit and underground deposits at the historical TGME project, Stonewall is focused on delineating further resources at the DG4 and Theta North areas.

Stonewall is developing the fully permitted TGME project in a world-renowned gold mining region 370 kilometres northeast of Johannesburg.

This process includes refurbishing an existing CIL plant as well as nearby mines and prospects with the intention of resuming gold production.

Stonewall has access to more than 43 historical mines and prospect areas that can be accessed and explored, with over 6.7 million ounces of historical production recorded.

Current mine refurbishment is focused on Rietfontein, which is being dewatered to enable access for underground drilling for resource estimation purposes.

The dewatering is taking place below four level via gravity decant to allow for access via this footwall drive where better conditions are expected.

This will allow drill rig access into deeper parts of the mine for metallurgical sampling and will help determine potential locations for underground resource drilling.

The water level is now 1-1.5 metres below the hanging wall of 4 level adit.

TGME is near the towns of Pilgrim’s Rest and Sabie in Mpumalanga Province. Pilgrim’s Rest is considered to be the site of the first official gold rush in South Africa in 1873.

At one point more than 1,500 panners descended on Pilgrim’s Rest before the hard-rock reefs were discovered, leading to underground exploitation.

As such, the area hosts the annual South African Gold Panning Championships, which marks its 21st anniversary this year.

Stonewall is sponsoring the event which attracts hundreds of competitors and spectators.

The 2018 event will be held in October on Stonewall’s mining leases at TGME and more than 700 are expected to compete.

http://stonewallresources.com/