Greatland Gold PLC has noted the annual releases made by Newmont Corporation, its joint venture partner in the Havieron gold-copper project. Newmont has released an updated Reserve and Resource for the Havieron project, its first since completing the acquisition of Newcrest Mining Limited in November 2023. It is important to note that Newmont reports Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources in accordance with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's SK 1300 guidelines, while Greatland reports in accordance with JORC, an internationally recognized reporting standard commonly used by UK and Australian listed mining companies.
Newmont's updated Havieron Mineral Resource estimate closely correlates to Greatland's estimate in the higher confidence Indicated Mineral Resource category, and there is a significant increase relative to the previous Newcrest Indicated Mineral Resource. Greatland remains highly confident of its December 2023 Mineral Resource Estimate, which defined a Mineral Resource for Havieron of 8.4Moz AuEq, reported in accordance with JORC and independently reviewed by SRK Consulting (Australasia) Pty Ltd.
Newmont has classified an Indicated Mineral Resource for Havieron, which represents a 35% increase to the previous Indicated Mineral Resource published by Newcrest prior to its acquisition by Newmont. The increase in Indicated Mineral Resources relative to the previous Newcrest Indicated Mineral Resource is highly encouraging. The importance of the Indicated Mineral Resource category is that it may be converted into Reserves, whereas the Inferred Mineral Resource category cannot due to its lower confidence.
Newmont's 2023 Annual Reserves and Resources Statement also classifies an Inferred Mineral Resource for Havieron. Greatland calculates that Newmont's Inferred Mineral Resource would equate to 1.0Moz AuEq, on an equivalent basis to the Greatland December 2023 MRE. Greatland continues to classify an Inferred Mineral Resource of 3.4Moz AuEq. The difference in approach is considered the principal factor in the variance between the Newmont Inferred Mineral Resource and the Greatland Inferred Mineral Resource.
Overall, the alignment in total Indicated Mineral Resource size to the Greatland December 2023 MRE is seen as excellent validation of the estimation process and independent review. The increased Newmont Indicated Mineral Resource can potentially be considered in the updated Reserve estimate that will be part of the Havieron Feasibility Study, which is ongoing.