The Blayney – Kings Plains district has been the subject of alluvial and hard rock mining in the mid to late 19th century and sporadic exploration for gold and base metals over various exploration licences since the 1960s. Nine different exploration licence holders have explored the area since that time, leading up to the discovery of the McPhillamys deposit.

More recently, between 2006 and 2009, exploration targeting gold mineralisation at McPhillamys on EL5760 was undertaken by LFB Resources NL, which at that time was a joint venture between Newmont Exploration Pty Ltd and Alkane Resources Ltd, referred to as the Newmont Alkane JV.

Having identified the McPhillamys deposit within the “Ingledoon” property, a program of diamond core drilling was undertaken in 2010 by the Newmont Alkane JV to further define the known mineralisation and metallurgical characterisation of the deposit. At the completion of this exploration program, a potentially economic resource was confirmed subject to further feasibility assessment. In November 2012, Regis Resources Limited (Regis) acquired LFB Resources NL from the Newmont Alkane JV. Regis then completed an infill resource drilling program in the first half of 2013 to confirm the earlier exploration results and to increase the confidence level of the resource model. A resource estimate was prepared in July 2014. In mid-2016, Regis commenced a further round of drilling to refine the resource estimate and to obtain additional information required to complete a Pre-feasibility Study. That study has culminated in an updated mineral resource estimate and maiden ore reserve estimate released in September 2017. 

Regis’ Board anticipates making a decision to commence development of McPhillamys following the receipt of all required approvals.

McPhillamys would include the following key components as part of the development proposal:

• A single approximately circular open cut mine with a diameter of approximately 800m by 1,200m and a final depth of approximately 460m;
• Waste rock emplacements that would be constructed and rehabilitated in a manner that would, where practicable, mirror existing landforms. The outer perimeters of these waste rock emplacements would where practicable, be constructed in the early stages of the proposal and in a manner that would shield surrounding residents from activities within the mine;
• A conventional carbon-in-leach (CIL) processing facility comprising a run-of-mine (ROM) pad, crushing, grinding, gravity, leaching, gold recovery, tailings thickening, cyanide detoxification and tailings management circuits;
• An engineered tailings storage facility (TSF) to store tailings material;
• A site access road and intersection with the Mid Western Highway;
• A water supply pipeline from Springvale (Lithgow) and power supply from Panorama (Bathurst);
• Water infrastructure, including water diversions, storage dams and sediment control infrastructure;
• Ancillary infrastructure, including soil stockpiles, administration, workshop, stores and other infrastructure; and
• A final landform that with the exception of the open cut void, would be suitable for a final land use of agriculture or biodiversity conservation.

NOTE: The conceptual site layout may change as further studies are completed and mine site infrastructure locations are optimised accordingly.