- 01Tolukuma MRE up 81% to 909koz Au, 3.9Moz Ag.
- 024.31Mt at 6.57 g/t Au; 3 g/t cut-off.
- 0344-vein model; 10 veins in MRE.
- 04Restart planned next year; 8km vein system.
Tolu Minerals (ASX: TOK) has announced an 81% increase to the mineral resource estimate of the Tolukuma gold mine in Papua New Guinea, which was placed on care and maintenance by its former owner in 2015.
Delivered after four months of full run-rate drilling, the new total sits at 4.31 million tonnes grading 6.57 grams per tonne gold for 909,000 ounces gold and 3.9 million ounces silver (28.2g/t silver) at a 3g/t gold cut-off, including a maiden Indicated resource of 850,000t at 7.33g/t gold for 199,000oz.
Compared with the original estimate reported in 2023 at the same cut-off grade, the project’s contained gold has increased by 81%, tonnes by approximately 169% and contained silver by approximately 104%.
The average gold grade however has reduced from 9.6g/t, reflecting the inclusion of a substantially larger volume of mineralised material within the broader interpreted structural corridor rather than a single narrow vein.
New Geological Model
Tolu has also announced a complete rebuild of the Tolukuma geological model that recognises 44 mineralised veins and splays, 10 of which are in the updated MRE.
When combined with an Inferred MRE at the Saki deposit of 2Mt at 2g/t gold for 128,000oz, Tolu’s reported gold inventory now sits at 1.04Moz.
The project’s vein system extends for at least 8 kilometres of strike with only 1.2km mined and a substantial portion of the vein intersections from Tolu’s drilling to date yet to be included in the MRE.
Many of these intersections will be reported in a detailed exploration update next month, together with strong results received from drilling activities that continued after the MRE data cut-off date of 30 June using seven surface and underground rigs.
Reigniting Tolukuma Project
Managing director Dr Chris Muller said the updated MRE marked a major milestone in the company’s plan to reignite Tolukuma as a significant high-grade gold producer.
“For the first time, the market can see the full shape of this opportunity—a rebuilt geological model that is proving predictive and a mining lease where only 1.2km of an 8km system has ever been mined,” he said.
“The updated estimate gives us a much stronger foundation as we prepare to bring Tolukuma back into production early next year.”
Tolu is also systematically defining the central mine zone and the northern and southern expansion zones along 8km of known strike with a major 75,000m near-mine drilling campaign at Tolukuma.
The work is being done to support Tolu’s plan to return the mine to gold production in the new year using existing fully permitted infrastructure.
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