Jabiru Metals has almost completed its Jaguar copper-zinc-silver mine decline.

The project located near Leonora in Western Australia has progressed 1800 metre from the portal in the construction of its decline. It is currently within 50m of the bottom of the primary ventilation and emergency egress shaft.

The company recently announced this key milestone has been achieved on target and on budget.

In recent press release Jabiru Metals managing director Gary Combs says ground conditions are very good and continue to reflect the Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) geotechnical expectations and support the likelihood of achieving future mine plan and budget targets.

The Jaguar orebody Level 1 Access is 60% complete. This access approaches the orebody along its strike and has intersected mineralisation earlier than expected, some 40 metres outside the current known ore reserve boundary. The sulphides intersected to date consist of discontinuous zones, up to 1 metre in width and 1 metre to 2 metres in length, of massive, fine grained, sphalerite plus minor chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite.

"Intersecting the Jaguar ore horizon is a major milestone in the development of the Jaguar Project and while the mining schedule going forward is still critical path it provides confidence that the orebody and geotechnical modelling are representative of the mine's conditions," the company reported in a press release recently.

"It is anticipated that mineralisation continuity and width will improve as the access drive approaches the known ore reserve position early this month.

This intersection maintains the project on target to provide development ore to the Jaguar concentrator in the June quarter and stoping ore in the September quarter. Initial concentrator feed will be supplied by existing stockpiles of the Teutonic Bore sulphide ore which are nearby.