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Vertex moves to accelerate ramp-up at Reward gold mine

• Vertex launches operations review to optimise Reward gold mine
• Junior miner seeking to ramp up to nameplate capacity with full commissioning targeted for September 2026
• First stope planned to be mined this quarter as decline rehabilitation nears completion

Special Report: Vertex Minerals has launched a full operational review as it seeks to optimise its high-grade Reward gold mine in New South Wales ahead of planned first stoping this quarter.

Under the guidance of new operations director Jim Simpson, the firm has taken a revised look at its strategy, and will consider a range of activities to make the most out of the unique orebody, including potentially moving from 10 hour per day mining to full-scale 24/t underground operations.

The aim is to get the project to the 110,000tpa mining and processing nameplate outlined in its pre-feasibility study.

Other areas the review will examine include increasing development metres, reducing the size of development drives to reduce dilution rock movement, a ground control review, increasing the number of work areas, process plant debottlenecking and mill recoveries.

Vertex Minerals (ASX:VTX) will also assess an upgrade to its gravity gold recoveries via the addition of another concentrator and fine tuning its ore sorter.

The statement shows Vertex is taking initiative to fine tune operations at Reward ahead of the start of major operations, having operated its gravity processing plant initially on lower grade stockpiles.

Ground conditions in the mine have been found to be worse than expected after dewatering, with Vertex reopening the underground workings for the first time since they were flooded 14 years ago.

But rehabilitation is now nearing completion – Decline 3 is complete, with ongoing work in Declines 2 and 1 – with full face development mining on ore and first production expected this quarter.

The mine is in a 14-month commissioning phase and full commissioning is targeted for the September quarter this year.

Full bore

The aspects being assessed in the operational review include a number of short term and long-term initiatives to move Reward to its nameplate capacity of 110,000tpa.

Simpson, the executive director of operations for Vertex, said while the mine has high grade and simple metallurgy, it’s thin veined, high-grade mineralisation requires specific mining techniques and tight control on dilution.

“We are currently reviewing the existing geological model to develop a robust mine plan for the life of mine,” he said.

“My immediate focus is advancing the mine into commercial production to ensure we achieve the production targets set out in the PFS.

“But I am equally focused on the longer-term expansion opportunities. The mine has incredible potential to scale up from the PFS and existing plans. The upside is that we have only drilled a small percentage of the historic Hill End mineralised zone.”

A number of initiatives have already been implemented.

A permit has been lodged to enable 24-7 mining, a move that could significantly increase productivity, with permitted firing times changed to the end of shift, which will free up 25% of additional mining time.

Development heading widths will be reduced by 30% to improve development and stope grades, with additional fleet including a second underground mine truck and second frontline remote loader to be drafted in.

High-grade stopes in the upper levels of the mine will be mined by airleggers as the miner sharpens its focus on grade, while operational time at the project’s processing plant will be increased from nine hours to 11 hours via engineered start up and shutdown procedures.

Longer-term, the company will look to have longer operational hours permitted also for the plant, where a third gravity gold concentrator/knelson circuit will be added to improve recoveries.

Part of the Hill End gold project, Reward contains 419,000t of ore at an extraordinarily high grade of 16.72g/t gold for 225,200oz, part of a broader resource of 483,000oz at 3.6g/t.

Source: Stockhead