Vertex Minerals (ASX:VTX) has announced the commencement of underground gold production at the Reward Gold Mine in New South Wales. The initial blast has successfully produced gold-bearing ore from the Lady Belmore Reef. This material will supplement the existing low-grade gold stockpile that feeds into the gravity processing plant. Vertex Minerals is a gold exploration company focused on discovering, developing, and producing projects in New South Wales and Western Australia.
In the coming weeks, the company plans to continue processing the high-grade stope ore extracted from the underground mine. With a market capitalisation of $46.48 million, Vertex is focused on ramping up operations at the Reward mine. Infrastructure developments are also progressing, with the Reward underground 11 kilovolt-ampere to 1,000 volt Transformer Substation now installed and powered up. Cabling to the primary fan has also been completed.
Vertex aims to establish at least four mining fronts to ensure a continuous feed to the processing plant, employing various mining methods to achieve this goal. The initial mining schedule includes extracting 2,075 tonnes of ore grading at 17.8 grams per tonne gold from a developed airleg stope block. The planned stope width aligns with the interpreted mineralisation.
To expedite the extraction of high-grade ore, Vertex’s team has prioritised the mining of a long hole stope this month. This stope will be mined using the long hole stope method, utilising the Epiroc Production Rig. The company is focused on optimising its mining operations to maximise gold production from the Reward Gold Mine.
