PYBAR wins Cowal underground contract
PYBAR has been appointed to complete the underground exploration decline development and diamond drilling at Evolution Mining’s Cowal gold mine.
The underground expansion, approved back in October, would include construction of the Galway-Regal-e46 exploration decline, and further resource definition and discovery drilling of the deposit, which had a Mineral Resource of 5.9 million tonnes at 3.17 grams per tonne for 603,000 ounces of gold.
The work was anticipated to cost between $20 million and $22 million over FY19 and FY20, with a further $7 million expected to be spent on an initial 36,000m drill program.
PYBAR said it was now recruiting locals for the 12-month project, which would begin in early March.
“This contract further strengthens our position in the Eastern seaboard following the announcement of our contract at Peak Mine late last year,” PYBAR chief executive Brendan Rouse said.
“We look forward to working closely with the Evolution team to support their development requirements.”
Cowal general manager Craig Fawcett said he and his team also “looked forward to working with PYBAR to deliver the project effectively”.
“This development is an important component of achieving our objective of producing 300,000 ounces per annum at Cowal,” Mr Fawcett said.
Cowal – Evolution’s flagship mine – currently had a mine life through to 2032, with a subsequent expansion in the works to increase the plant processing rate by 31 per cent from 7.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 9.8mtpa.