Develop edges closer to production restart at Woodlawn

Develop (ASX: DVP) has taken a key step towards securing project funding and production restart at its Woodlawn mine in NSW.

After acquiring Woodlawn in mid-2022, Develop begun an aggressive exploration and infill drilling program to extend the mineralised lenses at depth and along strike, convert the inferred resources to indicated and drill test electromagnetic conductors.

This work resulted in the addition of 4mt of resources, including a further 60,000t of copper and 235kt of zinc metal. Woodlawn now has a mineral resource estimate of 11.3mt at 1.8% copper, 5.8% zinc, 2.1% lead, 46g/t silver and 0.5g/t gold.

This increase paves the way for a significant increase in Woodlawn’s existing 3.4mt of reserves and an extension of the mine life from seven years to 10 years, based on existing throughput capacity of 850ktpa.

Develop managing director Bill Beament says the upgraded resource is essential for Woodlawn.

“This expanded and upgraded resource is a pivotal outcome for Woodlawn because it will drive the imminent reserve update. This will in turn underpin Woodlawn’s economics and position Develop to secure the most attractive source of project funding,” he said.

“The new resource also shows that Woodlawn is rapidly emerging as a major VMS geological system of significant scale and demonstrates how quickly and efficiently we can expand the inventory in what is a very fertile system.”

The reserve update and mine plan are set for completion in the coming weeks.