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Antipa’s Minyari Dome Project is now a multi-million-ounce gold asset with a massive 250% resource increase

Antipa has hit it out of the ballpark with its much anticipated resource upgrade for its 100% owned Minyari Dome Project, which has now surpassed 2 million gold equivalent ounces.

Antipa Minerals’ (ASX:AZY) has released the eagerly awaited resource upgrade for its 100% owned Minyari Dome Project in one of WA’s top exploration hotspots, the Paterson Province.

And investors should certainly be happy with the result, with the resource growing a whopping 250% to 1.8 million ounces (Moz) of gold, with the majority of that in the higher resource confidence Indicated category.

Along with the 1.8Moz of gold resource is 64,300 tonnes of copper, 584,000 ounces of silver and 11,100 tonnes of the highly valuable EV metal cobalt. On a gold equivalent basis, the resource now stands at 2.3Moz with plenty of upside potential in the tank.

Of the total resource, which is predominately hosted in the Minyari and WACA deposits, an impressive 1Moz of gold, 41,100t of copper, 387,000oz of silver and 7,700t of cobalt is in the Indicated category.

This is important because resources in the Indicated (and Measured) categories can be converted to a Reserve – a necessary move for a company to transition from explorer to miner.

Managing director Roger Mason said the outstanding result confirmed that Antipa’s 100% owned Minyari-WACA gold-copper-silver-cobalt resource was very large-scale with significant continued growth opportunities and strong potential to support a standalone development just 35km north of Newcrest’s Telfer gold-copper-silver mine and hungry processing facility.

“To have achieved a massive 250% increase in the resource at a discovery cost of an extremely low $7.20 per gold equivalent resource ounce is a credit to the entire Antipa team,” he said.

“The strategic significance of this resource to Antipa is huge, providing us with the potential to deliver a standalone mining and processing operation located in the rapidly advancing tier-one Paterson Province, nestled between Newcrest’s Telfer mine and Rio’s Winu development project, and surrounded by our Paterson Farm-in Project with IGO.”

Antipa has begun a Scoping Study and expects to follow that up with a Pre-Feasibility Study.

Mason noted that the majority of the 1Moz indicated resource is within 300m of the surface, which provided strong potential for open pittable reserves.

“The other exciting resource highlight was the high-grade 1 million gold equivalent ounces at 3.06 g/t gold equivalent, which provides the potential for underground development opportunities.”

A discovery to rival the majors

Despite the already massive increase in resource, Antipa is confident there is still more gold to be found at depth and that Minyari Dome Project is a serious candidate to potentially rival the likes of Greatland Gold and Newcrest Mining’s (ASX:NCM) 5.5Moz gold and 218kt copper Havieron deposit.

“The current Minyari resource delivers approximately 3,000oz per vertical metre from surface,” Mason explained.

“Given Greatland Gold’s recently revised Havieron resource of 5.5Moz of gold is contained over an approximate 1,000m vertical deposit extent (equating to approximately 5,500 oz per vertical metre), and also noting that the Havieron deposit starts below approximately 430m of cover, Antipa believes that there is further substantial growth potential down plunge at Minyari.

“We think there is strong potential to continue to grow this resource through both extensional and greenfields drilling.”
Exploration so far supports this at several prospects. For a walk-up resource growth start, high-grade gold mineralisation at both the Minyari and WACA deposits, which are just 580m apart, remains open down plunge.

Meanwhile, the shallow high-grade maiden resources at the Minyari South, Sundown and WACA West prospects, which combined host 40,000oz of gold and 2,400t of copper all within 250 metres or less of Minyari and WACA, remain open in multiple directions.

To make good on its word of continuing to grow the resource, Antipa has brought in globally recognised mineral exploration experts Dr Scott Halley and Dr Steve Garwin to seriously boost the company’s discovery capability.

Antipa says Dr Halley and Dr Garwin have already identified targets at Minyari, WACA, Minyari South, Sundown and several other prospects nearby – providing strong potential for significant continued resource growth.

The company is now working to finalise its 2022 exploration and drilling programme, which will focus on further increasing resources at its 100% owned Minyari Dome Project, enhancing potential development options and addressing any Scoping Study recommendations, Mason said.

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