HVJV gold output up 23%

 THE Hidden Valley Joint Venture (HVJV) mine in Morobe produced 26,584 ounces of gold during the fourth quarter of last year, up 23% from the previous quarter.

Part owner Harmony Gold Mining attributed this growth to higher grades of gold and better recovery rates.

Harmony owns 50% of the mine while Newcrest Mining Ltd owns the other half.

There is also positive news from drilling at the Wafi Golpu deposit, Harmony’s exploration project also in Morobe.

The latest exploration had extended the high grade mineralisation more than 200 metres north of the current resource outline. 

Harmony believed that it was well on track to achieving its previously stated exploration target of 30m oz of gold and 8m tonnes of copper.

In other mining news, Pacific Niugini Ltd, a gold and copper explorer with five exploration titles in PNG, discovered new gold-silver-base metal deposits on its Garaina tenement between and Morobe and Gulf. 

The area has had limited modern-day exploration. 

Previously, a successful initial field mapping programme confirmed historical grab sample results and the discovery of outcropping mineralisation.