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- Maiden ore reserve entirely within single open pit
- Ore reserve represents approximately 87% of Measured and Indicated resource ounces
- Reserve supports project production life of more than 13 years
- Mining via a conventional single open pit mining
Tesoro Gold (ASX: TSO) is on a fast-track to development after unveiling a maiden ore reserve for the Ternera gold deposit, part of the El Zorro project in Chile.
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The ore reserve contains 1.28 million ounce (Moz) of gold, entirely within a single open pit representing approximately 87% of the 1.47 Moz of gold contained within the Measured and Indicated components of the August 2026 mineral resource estimate (MRE).
MD Zeff Reeves said the results provide a high conversion of the Ternera MRE base into ore reserves and supports a substantial, long-life development at the planned 3.0 Mtpa process rate.
“The Ternera gold deposit represents a rare single-open pit development opportunity in a world-class mining friendly country,” Mr Reeves said.
“Establishing this initial 1.28 Moz Ore Reserve is a significant step for our El Zorro gold project.”
The reserve is supported by more than 160km of diamond drilling completed at Ternera since its initial discovery and the recent significant upgrade to geological confidence of the mineral resource base.
“Importantly, this reserve contains approximately 87% of the gold currently classified within the Measured and Indicated mineral resource and is reflective of the consistency of mineralisation at Ternera,” Mr Reeves said.
“We now have a substantial Ore Reserve contained entirely within a single open pit which supports more than 13 years of production at the planned 3.0Mtpa processing rate.
“This gives us a strong development base at Ternera, which still has significant upside to be unlocked from further drilling.”
The company will continue advancing the technical and development workstreams for El Zorro in parallel with drilling as multiple rigs pursue extensions to the existing Ternera resource and high-priority discovery targets across the broader El Zorro gold district.
Mr Reeves said the reserve pit was designed based on a US$3,000 per ounce gold price optimal pit shell. It is underpinned by pre-feasibility (PFS) mine designs and schedules and the application of modifying factors informed by work completed across mining, geotechnical, metallurgy, processing, infrastructure, environmental and cost workstreams.
The ultimate reserve pit is based on a shell selected from pit optimisation using a US$3,000/oz gold price. This work provides a robust foundation for the DFS, through which Tesoro will evaluate further opportunities to optimise the Project as the technical and development workstreams are refined.
TSO was was up 2.89% to 89.0¢. Mkt cap $155.4M.
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