Aeris Annual Report 2022
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EXPLORATION<br />
Since <strong>Aeris</strong> took ownership of Cracow at the beginning<br />
of July 2020, one of the key focuses has been mine<br />
life extension. The Company spent A$12.1 million on<br />
exploration activities in the financial year, on both<br />
greenfield and brownfield targets, particularly on<br />
the Golden Plateau deposit in the Eastern Vein Field.<br />
Roses Pride Exploration Project<br />
The Roses Pride high grade deposit represents the northern<br />
most ore deposit mined at Cracow since modern<br />
mining commenced in 2004. Underground activities at<br />
Roses Pride previously accessed and mined the deposit<br />
to 200m below surface.<br />
Intermittent surface drill programs have been completed<br />
in the past, seeking to define up-plunge, near surface<br />
extensions to the Roses Pride mineralised system.<br />
In the previous financial year, Cracow undertook a<br />
RC drill program testing mineralisation up to 400m along<br />
strike (north) from previous mine development. The drill<br />
program led to an updated Mineral Resource estimate.<br />
Golden Plateau Exploration Project<br />
The Golden Plateau deposit is located 1 kilometre north<br />
from the Cracow processing plant and was first mined in<br />
the 1930’s and mining continued sporadically until the<br />
mid-1990’s. Historical mining was a combination of open<br />
pit and underground mining and was reported to total<br />
approximately 850,000 ounces.<br />
Past owners have completed a considerable amount<br />
of drilling across the Golden Plateau mineralised footprint.<br />
From the existing drill data and historical information<br />
available, there remains significant potential to define<br />
mineralisation for conversion to a Mineral Resource.<br />
Throughout the financial year a drilling program was<br />
undertaken, designed to test extensions to mined shoots<br />
(down plunge and along strike), test gold grades within<br />
areas of the underground development where no mining<br />
appears to have been undertaken and to validate<br />
the current void model.<br />
Historical mining focused on selectively mining<br />
high-grade gold shoots within broader low-grade<br />
east-west trending quartz lodes. Drilling completed<br />
during the financial year has shown that the formation<br />
of high-grade shoots is controlled by north-south trending,<br />
steeply dipping structures. These structures also host<br />
quartz veins and high-grade mineralisation away from<br />
the historic mining footprint (approximately 200 metres<br />
with current drilling), resulting in a significant increase in<br />
the prospectivity of the Golden Plateau deposit.<br />
A resource definition drilling at Golden Plateau has<br />
commenced and is targeting 5 priority lodes in proximity<br />
to previously mined high-grade shoots. At the completion<br />
of the resource definition drill program the data will be<br />
used to generate a maiden Mineral Resource estimate<br />
for the Golden Plateau deposit, expected during first half<br />
of FY2023.<br />
Resource<br />
definition drilling<br />
at Golden Plateau<br />
has commenced<br />
and is targeting<br />
5 priority lodes.<br />
ADVANCING AERIS<br />
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