Australian producer Pantoro Gold will be commencing development of its third producing underground mine at its wholly owned Norseman project in Western Australia in early FY27.
Company officials said development will be moving toward the high-grade O’Briens Reef, and that will start after completion of dewatering and rehabilitation of the site’s Bullen Decline. It is expected to produce first ore in the December 2026 quarter.
Development of the Crown South ore zone at the operation is expected to begin in the March quarter of 2027, with both ore zones open in all directions and drilling ongoing to test extensions.
A fifth underground drill rig is to arrive at Norseman next month and will be deployed to accelerate exploration across the Mainfield.
Norseman said development of the third underground mine is in line with its strategy to establish at least two additional underground mining areas during the upcoming fiscal year to drive production growth.
“Work in the Mainfield has progressed extremely well during the past year with significant rehabilitation, new development and extensive underground diamond drilling completed. Drilling results have confirmed the presence of multiple high-grade mineralised zones and support development of our first new producing area within the prolific Norseman Mainfield,” said managing director Paul Cmrlec.
“Importantly, ongoing drilling continues to demonstrate the significant scale of the Mainfield, providing confidence that O’Briens will be the first of several new underground mining areas to be developed in the coming years. It is extremely pleasing that the timeline to establish additional underground mines at Norseman remains aligned with the growth strategy initiated in September 2024.”
Pantoro Gold has ore reserves of 859,000 ounces. It completed construction of a new 1.2 million tonnes per annum gold processing plant in 2022 and is undertaking production mining activities across its open-pit and underground operations. The current total mineral resource is 4.6 million ounces.
Source: pantoro.com.au