Listed gold miner Oceana Gold has identified new gold resources at its Macraes gold mine which could add another one and a-half years to the life of the mine.
Infill drilling within the Panel 2 Deeps area of the Frasers underground mine, at Macraes, recorded significant grades and thicknesses.
Results to date are expected to extend indicated resource boundaries and expand the Deeps reserves.
Oceana Gold chief executive Paul Bibby said the follow-up drilling programme at Panel 2 Deeps was under way.
The resource at Panel 2 Deeps, originally announced in September last year, now represented the potential for an additional one and a-half years of underground mine life, providing the company continued to be successful upgrading the confidence of the resource through the infill drilling programme, he said.
The results from the most recent programme further pointed to an expanding mineralised package which should be integrated into the mine plane.
"We expect to be able to determine the total extent of Panel 2 Deeps through continued drilling programmes through to the year end," Mr Bibby said.
The company's shares leapt 34c, or 8.8%, to $4.19 on the news, recovering much of the ground lost over the past month, although gains for shareholders over the past year still stand at just above 200%.
