Open Pit Mining Operations Geology The FY2024 marked significant milestones in commissioning, production, ongoing exploration, and grade control drilling. The mine initiated its first blast on June 28, 2023, and subsequently conducted 43 additional blasts, each involving approximately 45-50,000 tonnes of material. Orana Pty Ltd was responsible for conducting the drilling and blasting operations, while Orica Ltd supplied the necessary explosives, ensuring precise and effective execution of blasting activities at the site. Grade control measures have become a crucial aspect of EQR’s mining operations, guaranteeing uniform ore feed grades at the crushing plant and understanding the orebody. The EQR geology team is instrumental in mapping out ore zones within the open cut and ensuring that ore deliveries reach their specified bays before processing. Grade Control Drilling Grade control drilling using Reverse Circulation (RC) was carried out before the Open Pit operation in Q4 FY2023 on a 10 x 10-meter grid in 33-meter flitches ahead of mining operations to guide ore markups. A color-coded system was implemented to distinguish between different ore grades: High-Grade Ore (WO3 > 0.2%) was marked in pink, Low-Grade Ore (WO3 < 0.2%) in blue. A ROM (Run of Mine) pad was set up to store various grades of material when necessary. resourcing the new economy for a better tomorrow 21 Open Cut Mining Operations Geology The FY2024 marked significant milestones in commissioning, production, ongoing exploration, and grade control drilling. The mine initiated its first blast on June 28, 2023, and subsequently conducted 50 additional blasts, each involving approximately 4550,000 tonnes of material. Orana was responsible for conducting the drilling and blasting operations, while Orica Ltd supplied the necessary explosives, ensuring precise and effective execution of blasting activities at the site. Grade control measures have become a crucial aspect of EQR's mining operations, guaranteeing uniform ore feed grades at the crushing plant and understanding the orebody. The EQR geology team is instrumental in mapping out ore zones within the open cut and ensuring that ore deliveries reach their specified bays before processing. Grade Control drilling Grade control drilling using Reverse Circulation (RC) was carried out before the Open Pit operation in Q4 FY2023 on a 10 x 10meter grid in 33-meter flitches ahead of mining operations to guide ore markups. A color-coded system was implemented to distinguish between different ore grades: High-Grade Ore (WO₃ > 0.2%) was marked in pink, Medium-Grade Ore (WO₃ 0.080.2%) in blue, and Low-Grade Ore (WO₃ 0.05-0.08%) was transported to low-grade stockpiles. A ROM (Run of Mine) pad was set up to store various grades of material when necessary. Picture Above: ROM 1 showing the separation of Low-Grade Ore (Blue: WO₃ 0.08-0.2%) and High-Grade Ore (Pink: WO₃ > 0.2%). The ore extracted from this process closely matches the 10 x 10-meter infill RC drilling results. The ore "markup" system involves a combination of using the geological model for overall grade delineation and detailed mapping enhanced with UV light examination. During the Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) phase, no new drilling was completed in the top 20 meters of the Stage I pit, relying on only three historical holes spaced 75 meters apart. This part of the pit revealed lower grades than those inferred in the model for this zone. It wasn't until mining reached the levels with recent drilling by EQR, conducted at 50-meter intervals, that better grade correlations were observed. The discrepancies were likely due to poor survey control of hole locations and downhole trajectories and resulted in 21% lower tungsten production for tonnage mined from the model in the top 20 meters of mining. For more information, see: ASX Announcement 12th May 2023 ‘EQR Begins Grade Control Drilling Ahead of Open Pit Restart’; ASX Announcement 19th July 2023: ‘Confirmation of Initial Ore Reserve Section at Mt Carbine’ Infill drilling reveals High Grade zones in Stage II Pit In the second half of FY2024, EQR completed 66 infill reverse circulation drill holes to confirm the consistency of high-grade vein systems in Stage I & II Pit and to provide data for accurate grade control of upcoming pit blasts. The drilling was initially conducted on the Iolanthe and the Johnson Vein Systems at the 350-340m level, complementing the 2024 diamond drilling campaign. The drill rig was then moved to the 305-295m level on the pit floor to complete a standard 10m x 10m spaced pattern. The results confirmed the transformation in the ore body from a thinner network to substantial veins exceeding 50 cm at the 315323m level, enhancing the understanding of the vein systems under UV light examination. The RC drilling conducted at the 345m level showed significant zones with a tungsten grade of 0.21% WO3, nearly double the expected grade according to the current Picture Above: ROM 1 showing the separation of Low-Grade Ore (Blue: WO3 0.08-0.2%) and High-Grade Ore (Pink: WO3 > 0.2%). The ore extracted from this process closely matches the 10 x 10-meter infill RC drilling results. The ore “markup” system involves a combination of using the geological model for overall grade delineation and detailed mapping enhanced with UV light examination. During the Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) phase, no new drilling was completed in the top 20 meters of the Stage I Pit, relying on only three historical holes spaced 75 meters apart. This part of the pit revealed lower grades than those inferred in the model for this zone. It wasn’t until mining reached the levels with recent drilling by EQR, conducted at 50-meter intervals, that better grade correlations were observed. The discrepancies were likely due to legacy issues, including poor survey control of hole locations and downhole trajectories and resulted in 21% lower tungsten production for tonnage mined from the model in the top 20 meters of mining. See ASX Announcement 12th May 2023: ‘EQR Begins Grade Control Drilling Ahead of Open Pit Restart’; ASX Announcement 19th July 2023: ‘Confirmation of Initial Ore Reserve Section at Mt Carbine’. EQ Resources Limited Annual Report 2024 23
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjE2NDg3