RNC Minerals聽(TSE:RNX) that it has substantially increased the mineral resource on the Western Flanks zone of the Beta Hunt gold mine in Western Australia.
According to the company鈥檚 latest resource update, the measured and indicated resource at Western Flanks jumped nearly five times to 710,000 ounces, while the inferred resource also nearly tripled to 250,000 ounces.
RNC鈥檚 shares gained more than 8% at Thursday鈥檚 open to a three-month high of C$0.70.
Today鈥檚 results confirm Beta Hunt鈥檚 exploration potential, President and CEO Mark Selby says. He adds that the 710,000-ounce increase in measured and indicated resource coming from just over one kilometre of strike length represents 鈥渙nly a fraction鈥� of Beta Hunt鈥檚 overall potential.
The company plans to provide an updated technical report and reserve estimate for Beta Hunt in the near future so that full-scale production can resume in Q3 2019.
The Beta Hunt mine, located 600 km from Perth in Kambalda, Western Australia, is a deposit with the very rare feature of hosting both nickel and gold resources in adjacent discrete mineralized zones. Two bonanza gold discoveries have already been made by RNC over the past year.
The company notes that the high-grade gold found at last year are not represented in the Western Flanks resource model due to the extreme nuggety nature of the mineralization. 鈥淭hese occurrences are best considered as a potential periodic significant bonus to mine production,鈥� the company says in a statement.