Viago deposit ‘in a league of its own’
Josh Chiat
Monday, 22 October 2018 7:13PM
The old open pit at Bellevue, where the explorer of the same name has turned up one of Australia's highest grade underground discoveries in years. Picture: Bellevue Gold Bellevue Gold managing director Steve Parsons has declared its Viago deposit at the Bellevue gold mine near Leinster in the northern Goldfields is in “a league of its own”.
Previously described as a company maker, a maiden inferred resource statement has set up the Viago Lode at the defunct Bellevue as what the explorer believes is the second-highest grade underground gold resource in Australia.
Falling short only of the 60g per tonne Swan lode at Kirkland Lake Gold’s Fosterville mine in Victoria, the ore body contains 800,000t at 22g/t for 550,000 ounces of gold.
It takes Bellevue’s total treasure chest to 1.04Moz at a grade of 12.3g/t, about a year since drilling began at the former Barrick project for the first time in two decades.
Mr Parsons said the mine’s previous owners never drilled below historic workings at Bellevue, which itself poured 800,000oz at 15g/t before it was shut in 1998, where the Viago Lode was uncovered four months ago.
“The Viago Lode, which is pretty much half of the resource at 22g/t gold, it really is in a league of its own in the jurisdiction,” he said.
“There’s half a million ounces of gold (at Viago) but it’s still open to the east and west so we expect the resource to grow rapidly. The amazing thing is no one has actually drilled below the Bellevue gold mine itself, and so literally Viago sits just below the old Bellevue mine.
“It’s around 130m away from it underground, so one of the options we’re looking at in future studies is to dewater the old workings.”
Mr Parsons, who built Gryphon Minerals and its 3Moz Banfora project in Burkina Faso before its takeover by Canada’s Teranga Gold, said Bellevue’s plan was to continue drilling and chase more ounces before it entered mining studies.
“To get 1Moz within 12 months of drilling the first hole into the project is a good start,” he said.
“We’re hoping to get a very large portion of that converted into mineable economic ounces.
“Where we stand it’s very much about adding more ounces and we want to see this turn into one of the best deposits in Australia.”
Bellevue shares charged 14.7 per cent, or 5¢, by the close of the market yesterday.
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