Acquisition:
2016 / 09 / 16
Agreement:
Royalty
Terms:
A$10/oz, 30 kozs must be produced before royalty is paid. Applies separately to the Howards claim and the Orion claim
The Gum Creek Gold Project covers approximately 800 sq km of the Gum Creek Greenstone Belt located in the East Murchison Province of Western Australia. Four types of gold mineralization are present in the belt including both free milling and refractory mineralization types. An updated Scoping Study completed in March 2024 evaluated open-pit production from the free milling resources only, to reduce the initial construction capital while retaining optionality of production from the refractory resources at a later date.
Historic gold production from free milling sources at Gum Creek was more than one million ounces at high metallurgical recoveries. The updated study has projected average recovered gold production of approximately 84,000 oz per year processed through a new 2.4 Mt per annum gravity/CIL plant over a 10-year life of mine.
The Howards deposit was included in the Scoping Study and is covered by Sandstorm’s royalty. The gold mineralization at Howards is typically associated with low sulphide quartz veins of 1–3 metre thickness, within a shear zone up to 50 metres wide, hosted in mafic host rocks. Coarse free gold is often present in the veins. Metallurgical test work undertaken on Howards mineralization resulted in average recoveries of 91%.
An updated Gum Creek Mineral Resource Estimate was announced in May 2023. The Howards deposit has Indicated Resources of 8.0 Mt at 0.82 g/t gold containing 213,000 oz gold and Inferred Resources are 2.1 Mt at 0.78 g/t gold containing 53,800 oz gold, as of May 15, 2023 (0.4 g/t gold cut-off grade).
Sandstorm’s royalty also covers the Orion deposit which was not considered as an ore source in the Scoping Study.
Recent Activity
October 2023
Horizon Gold has commenced a Scoping Study for the Gum Creek project. The study will examine the potential to recommence production through a processing plant located at the previously permitted Gidgee mill site using established infrastructure (e.g., haul roads, tailings dam, etc.). The study will consider 2 Mt to 3 Mt per annum processing throughputs as well as evaluate the use of renewable power options and local grid power. The study is scheduled for completion in Q1 2024.
