Following the completion of its 2018 resource expansion drilling program, Fiore Gold (TSXV: F) announced today that it has updated the resource estimate for its Pan open pit mine in White Pine County, Nevada.
The updated resource estimate includes Measured and Indicated (M+I) resources of 27.6 million tonnes grading 0.49 g/t containing 432,000 ounces of gold and Inferred Resources of 7.6 million tonnes grading 0.45 g/t containing 110,000 ounces of gold.
Fiore reported that the updated resource estimate has resulted in almost complete replacement of approximately 19 months of mining depletion in the M+I category, and the addition of approximately 38,000 gold ounces in the Inferred category.
"Our goal for the 2018 Pan mine drilling program was to build the resource base as a first step in extending the mine life of our flagship asset. Having accomplished the first part of this goal, we have begun work on an updated life of mine plan and schedule based on the updated resource estimate. The updated mine plan, which is expected in early 2019, will focus on exploiting the updated resources to extend the current mine life while reducing the strip ratio, particularly in the latter half of FY/2019," Tim Warman, Fiore's CEO, said in a media statement.
Warman added that the 2018 drilling program also highlighted several areas in the vicinity of the Pan North Pit where mineralization remains open with the potential to further increase the near-mine resource base with additional drilling. "Numerous additional targets remain to be tested along strike from the existing Pan deposit," he said.
The Pan mine is a Carlin-style, open-pit, heap-leach mine in east-central Nevada, approximately 28 kilometres southeast of the town of Eureka, on the Battle-Mountain - Eureka gold trend.
By the end of the year, the mine's total production is expected to be around 35-40,000 ounces of gold.