Crocodile Gold has declared that the first stope slot raise was fired on the 29 February, 2012 by which ore production started in stopes in Zone A. Underground and vertical development of a total of 346 and 11 m respectively were conducted.
The commencement of boring for Ventilation Shaft No 3 was carried out as part of this development. Additionally, in Zone A region, 10000 t of development ore with 2.5 g/t Au grade was mined. The company anticipates an improved grade of ore during ramp up of the Cosmo Mine since more amount of ore is being extracted.
In addition, open pit extraction was carried out in the Rising Tide and West Howley pits during February. Due to the wet season, Rising Tide pit was not accessible and ore with low grade was obtained from Howley West pit as ore feed for the mill. The ore from the Rising Tide pit was stored for further use until the end of the monsoons. Mining in West Howley pit is aimed to be completed by April and thereafter, ore from North Point and Rising Tide pits will be obtained.
In February, the diamond drilling was continued in Union Reefs’ Crosscourse and Prospect deposits. The closely spaced in-fill holes alongside the Prospect deposit were drilled. A depth of 2810 m was drilled against the forecast of 2464 m for the month.
In March, the mineral resources of the Prospect deposit will be estimated. A study for examining the financial possibility of underground mining in Union Reefs will be started by the end of March and will be completed in the middle of April.
The company operated gold mines in Australia’s Northern Territory. Many open pits at Howley Corridor are mined by the company. In addition, the Cosmo underground mine has been developed too. Usually, the obtained ore is processed in the Union Reefs plant.