Greatland Gold PLC said on Thursday there is potential for a resource estimate upgrade at its Havieron gold project joint venture.

Greatland provided an update on the Havieron gold-copper project in Paterson Province, Western Australia, which is a JV with Australian gold miner Newcrest Mining Ltd.

It noted Newcrest had not mentioned in its release on Thursday the ‘consistently excellent’ drill results at the deposit since the drilling cut-off date in February of last year.

Greatland said highlights had included the potential for an upgraded indicated mineral resource estimate in a ‘significant portion’ of the site. Drilling results support the potential for resource expansion at the site with 90,000 metres of growth drilling to be completed by the end of June. The feasibility study is in progress and is due to be delivered in the final quarter of 2022.

Newcrest noted the advancement of the exploration decline with 277 metres complete in January, but this was hit by ‘more challenging ground conditions than expected’, which geotechnical investigations indicate are likely to continue.

Greatland said it is continuing discussions with Newcrest regarding Newcrest’s option to buy another 5% interest in the JV from Greatland.

Chief Executive Officer Shaun Day commented: ‘When reflecting on the volume and quality of drilling data since the cut-off date for the PFS, the results are outstanding and continue to support the potential for a significant upgrade of the Mineral Resource. The growth drilling programme has demonstrated the potential for resource additions outside of the existing Inferred Mineral Resource limits.’

Greatland Gold’s share price was down 3.6% to 13.31 pence each in London on Thursday morning.

Shares in Newcrest closed up 1.5% at A$23.85 each in Sydney on Thursday.

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