Great Western Mining says OMCO tailings 'thicker than expected'

Nevada-focussed gold, silver and copper developer Great Western Mining released results from an independent assay of tailings material at the OMCO Mine on Monday, reporting thicker tailings than had been anticipated.

The AIM-traded firm said the OMCO Mine is situated on the Olympic Gold Project in Mineral County, where it was operating under an option-to-purchase agreement.

It said 12 holes intersected elevated gold grades throughout the tailings material, reporting 67 individual assays with average grades of 1.25 grams per tonne, in a range of 0.17 grams to 3.76 grams per tonne.

The tailings, the company said, were thicker than expected.

Great Western said the 12 holes were laid out in six two-hole profiles arranged at 20 to 30 metre intervals along its north-northwest trending axis, to provide “the fullest” practical sample coverage.

Drill cuttings were sent to an independent laboratory in Nevada for fire assay, and the results had now been received.

The company said it was “very pleased” with the results, which showed a “broad distribution” of consistent gold grades at the drilled positions.

Using the new data, the firm said it could now model the shape of the underlying land surface to provide a fair estimate of the amount of material which would be available for processing.

Pre-drill calculations by the company had assumed an average tailings thickness of two metres, whereas average recorded drill depths were “well in excess” of three metres, and one hole recorded a thickness of over six metres.

That, the board said, provided confidence that the ultimate measured volume would exceed initial expectations.

“The independent assay results of this large volume of pre-mined material are far ahead of our expectations and an important milestone in establishing the basis for a commercial processing operation on a much larger scale than envisaged at Mineral Jackpot alone,” said chairman Brian Hall.

“We are carefully reviewing processing options, including contained cyanide leaching, and looking at the potential economies of creating a combined facility for the processing of OMCO tailings and the spoil material from the Mineral Jackpot claims.

“We will keep shareholders informed at every stage.”

At 1032 GMT, shares in Great Western Mining Corporation were up 0.47% at 0.11p.