Helix Resources Extends Collerina Copper Zone Prospectivity

/in , /by

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Helix Resources (ASX: HLX) reported on geochemical sampling it recently conducted in search of new copper-gold deposits in the company’s Eastern Group Tenements located near Nyngan in central New South Wales.

Helix Resources’ efforts produced more than 600 auger sample assays from the Eastern Group Tenements, which its claims to have confirmed the Collerina Copper Trend as a major prospective zone with elemental signatures indicative of copper-gold deposits in similar style to nearby Aeris Resources’ Tritton copper deposit.

The company declared the geochemical infill results confirm the tenor and scale of pathfinder element anomalies identified at several targets:

o Numerous +20ppb gold (Au) assays have been returned, with peak values of 187ppb Au, 39ppb Au and 44ppb Au at Max’s Folly, Alderbaran and Gwinear respectively, with the sample grid infilled to 50m x 50m at Max’s Folly and Alderbaran, and to 100m x 50m at Gwinear.

o Several Au anomalies have been defined at Tarawera and Iowaba, with numerous +20ppb Au assays, with peak values of 37ppb Au and 59ppb Au respectively, with the sample grid infilled to 50m x 50m in multiple areas.

“The auger infill programs continue to confirm there are significant geochemical anomalies along the prospective corridor we refer to as the Collerina Copper Trend, which extends south from the Aeris Resources copper tenements through Helix’s Eastern Group Tenements for over 100km of strike length,” Helix Resources managing director Kylie Prendergast said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“The results demonstrate this is a major prospective zone and the signatures we are observing in the data are consistent with signatures for Tritton-style copper gold deposits.

“Helix is working proactively around crop and weather constraints to progress programs in all accessible areas, bringing targets to a drill ready stage as efficiently as possible.

“There are also several large areas along the prospective trend which are proposed for aircore drilling as they are essentially unexplored, given airborne VTEM geophysics may not have tested through the alluvial clays.

“Helix is focused on advancing several priority targets in its pipeline which we believe have potential to deliver a new copper-gold discovery in the highly endowed, Cobar region close to established operations and processing facilities.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Lincoln Minerals Implementing Staged Development Strategy for Kookaburra Graphite Project

/in , /by

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Lincoln Minerals (ASX: LML) will have a lot to cram in its five minute pitch at the Roadhouse Steak Sandwich Showdown in Kalgoorlie next week.

Lincoln Minerals updated the market on progress of a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) underway for the company’s Kookaburra graphite project (KGP) in South Australia.

Lincoln is eyeing a staged development strategy at KGP where it aspires to deliver the first producing graphite mine for Australia for some time by leveraging the project’s unique attributes.

The company’s ambitions are based on:
• High grade core at surface: Potential to deliver low operating costs/high margins.
• Existing Mining License: Accelerates timeframe to first ore.
• Existing infrastructure: Power 5km’s, Water 12km’s and Road 0.1Km’s. Minimises capital and approvals timeframes.
• Proximity to major regional centre: 25 minutes from Port Lincoln.

Lincoln believes, based on publicly available information, that KGP has potential to deliver low start-up capital and operating costs and is likely to generate positive operating margins and an acceptable rate of return, even in a low graphite price environment.

“Lincoln’s Kookaburra Graphite Project is unique in Australia, in that it benefits from extremely high-grade graphite at surface, requiring no pre-strip, thanks to an orebody which literally sticks out of the ground,” Lincoln Minerals CEO Jonathon Trewartha said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“As an experienced mining project developer, it is clear to me that with a Mining Lease already approved and developing such high grades at the front end of the production schedule, means that Lincoln is likely to be able to generate attractive returns, even at low graphite prices.

“Our strategy to stage the development and initially to focus on the high grade at KGP will also allow us to progress to first ore potentially quicker than any other Australian project in Australia and enable Lincoln to deliver production-scale graphite concentrate for qualification in the EV markets while we plan the development of a larger project to feed the global demand for high quality anode material.

“We look forward to the results of our PFS to support our plans for KGP to be first to market in Australia, which would make it the preeminent graphite project, and we expect the outcome to attract significant interest in the project.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Prodigy Gold Reports Updated Hyperion Gold Deposit MRE

/in , /by

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Prodigy Gold (ASX: PRX) released an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its 100 per cent-owned Hyperion gold deposit within the company’s Tanami North project in the Northern Territory.

Prodigy Gold reported a total MRE of 8.64 million tonnes at 1.5 grams per tonne gold for 407,000 ounces at a cut-off grade of 0.6g/t gold.

The company said the update represents an increase in ounces from the previously reported Hyperion MRE of 4.4 million tonnes at 2.2g/t gold for 314,000 ounces that was reported at a lower cut-off of 0.7g/t gold.

Prodigy explained the Tanami North project area is emerging as a strategically important project for the company and is to be the main focus of its exploration activities during the 2024 field season with drilling planned for both the Hyperion and Tregony deposits.

This will include drilling at Hyperion that is designed to provide additional sample material from different mineralised structures for further metallurgical testwork.

“The Hyperion deposit is one of Prodigy Gold’s most strategically important projects,” Prodigy Gold managing director Mark Edwards said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“It was a focus of exploration activities in 2023 with 19 holes drilled around the Hyperion exploration lease with 14 of these holes, for 1,674 metres, drilled into the Hyperion Mineral Resource itself.

“The work completed highlights that the Hyperion deposit is now reaching a size that warrants consideration for future development.

“While this Mineral Resource update has yielded more tonnes at lower grade, this update represents a better understanding of the deposit.

“The wireframing has been completed including lower grade material, with this update using a lower cut-off level of 0.3g/t gold compared to the lower cut-off level of 0.5g/t gold used in the 2018 model.

“This means the underlying higher-grade material of the updated Resource…is still present at a cut-off grade of 1.1g/t gold.

“This compares well with the tonnes and grade previously reported in 2018.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Astral Resources Completed Rogan Josh In-Fill Drilling Ahead of MRE

/in , /by

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Astral Resources (ASX: AAR) reported final assay results from drilling undertaken at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Feysville gold project outside Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.

Astral Resources received assays from the remaining 16 holes of a 32-hole RC drilling program completed at the Rogan Josh prospect.

Results from the Rogan Josh in-fill program include:

FRC325
8 metres at 1.35g/t Au from 55 metres;

FRC287
8m at 1.28g/t Au from 43 metres; and

FRC326
5m at 1.79g/t Au from 32 metres.

The Feysville project hosts a Mineral Resource Estimate of 3 million tonnes at 1.3 grams per tonne gold for 116,000 ounces of contained gold at the Think Big deposit.

Astral believes this to be a sound foundation to potentially become a source of satellite ore feed to a future operation based on the company’s flagship Mandilla gold project approximately 50km to the south.

“Recent exploration activity at Feysville demonstrated the potential of the project to provide multiple gold deposits capable of producing satellite feed for the 2.5 million tonnes per annum Mandilla process plant contemplated in the September 2023 Scoping Study,” Astral Resources managing director Marc Ducler said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“The recently completed drill programs will provide critical data into Mineral Resource Estimates for the Feysville project, being Think Big, Rogan Josh and Kamperman.

“The previously reported Think Big MRE of 116,000 ounces was unconstrained (not reported within an optimised pit shell), so it is expected a small decrease will be incurred when applying open pit constraints as is best practice.

“On the upside, we are very confident that inaugural contributions from Kamperman and Rogan Josh will see a material increase in the aggregate Mineral Resources at Feysville following the positive exploration results reported, primarily at Kamperman, over the last 18 months or so.”

Astral indicated it has plans underway for a RC in-fill program at the Theia deposit within the Mandilla gold project it anticipates will support an MRE update for Mandilla ahead of detailed mine design for the Mandilla Pre-Feasibility Study.

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Argent Minerals Upgrade Kempfield Deposit Silver MRE

/in , /by

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Argent Minerals (ASX: ARD) reported an upgraded Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Kempfield silver deposit within the company’s 100 per cent-owned Kempfield silver-gold-lead-zinc project in New South Wales.

The Kempfield silver deposit MRE now stands at 63.7 million tonnes at 69.75 grams per tonne silver equivalent (AgEq) for 142.8 million ounces of silver, with a 54 per cent increase in silver metal content to 65.8 million ounces silver from the previous 2023 MRE.

Argent Minerals claims the updated MRE positions the Kempfield silver deposit as the second largest undeveloped silver deposit in Australia.

“The upgraded 2012 JORC compliant Resource over the Kempfield silver polymetallic deposit has delivered a significant 54 per cent increase of silver content compared to the previous resource, a major milestone for Argent,” Argent Minerals managing director Pedro Kastellorizos said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“The significance of the Mineral Resource Estimate, both in size and the associated value of the metal content within the resource area is substantial.

“The company believes the discovery of further mineralisation within the project area will further enhance the overall value of the future operations.

“Furthermore, our technical team believe the Kempfield deposit has substantial potential for additional resource growth along strike, down hole plunge and depth.

“Argent will be planning the next phase of drilling within the Kempfield NW, Sugarloaf Hill, Henry’s and Golden Wattle Zone Area with a view of increasing the tonnage and grade of the current resource estimation.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Hammer Metals Delivers Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate for Orelia North Gold Deposit

/in , /by

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Hammer Metals (ASX: HMX) delivered the initial Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Orelia North gold deposit, part of the company’s Yandal gold project in Western Australia.

The Orelia North deposit is located to the northeast of Leinster in the Yandal Greenstone Belt in WA in a good neighbourhood sitting approximately 9.5 kilometres to the north of the Orelia gold operation operated by Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST) and around 12.5km northwest of that company’s Bronzewing gold operations.

Hammer Metals released a JORC Code-compliant Inferred MRE for Orelia North of 1.48 million tonnes at 1.15 grams per tonne gold for 54,500 ounces of contained gold (0.5g/t Au cut-off).

The deposit extends from surface and remains open at depth, which the company consider displaying potential for Resource extensions.

“We’re pleased to report the initial Mineral Resource Estimate of over 54,000 ounces of contained gold for the Orelia North deposit, providing a solid foundation for Hammer’s ongoing exploration within the Yandal Greenstone Belt,” Hammer Metals managing director Daniel Thomas said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“Orelia North was discovered by Hammer in 2020 as part of a reconnaissance aircore drilling program.

“The discovery highlights the potential of Hammer’s exploration ground in the Yandal region where shallow first pass exploration conducted in the late 1970s and 1980s has been shown, in some instances, to not have detected near surface gold mineralisation.

“The Yandal gold region has long been a significant contributor to Australia’s gold production, with numerous significant gold systems including Bronzewing (2.3Moz), Jundee (>10Moz) and Thunderbox (>8Moz).

“With the Orelia North deposit located less than 10 kilometres north of Northern Star’s operating gold mine at Orelia, the project is ideally situated for future development.

“Additional exploration potential will now be considered with a view to increasing the project’s contained gold inventory.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Charger Metals Defines New Bynoe Lithium Targets

/in , /by

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Charger Metals (ASX: CHR) will be busy soon having defined 11 new lithium targets for follow-up exploration work at the company’s Bynoe lithium project in the Northern territory.

Charger Metals defined the targets via modelling of combined geochemical and geophysical data.

The company’s 2023 entailed a large infill soil sampling program carried out over the eastern portion of its Bynoe tenure to define areas of anomalous lithium and/or associated elements at surface.

This coincided with Ambient Noise Tomography (ANT) and ground gravity surveys over a large area in the northeast of the tenement in an attempt by the company to ‘look below’ the surface and potentially define pegmatite targets that may not outcrop.

The results achieved by Charger confirmed at least two sets of pegmatites at Bynoe:

• High caesium: lithium pegmatites – the most fractionated of the two pegmatite types with a classic suite of LCT elements (i.e. lithium-caesium-tantalum); e.g. the 7-Up Prospect. The high Cs:Li ratio is potentially indicative of lithium micas; and

• High lithium: rubidium pegmatites – a fractionated pegmatite system typically low in “LCT” elements; e.g. the Enterprise Prospect. The high Li:Rb ratio is more suggestive of albite – spodumene pegmatites.

“It’s great to see the results of our systematic approach to exploration during the field season at Bynoe last year,” Charger Metals managing director Aidan Platel said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“Each data set contributes a significant piece of information that has culminated in eleven new target areas to investigate for lithium mineralisation.

“It is important to now ground truth these new anomalies to remove any false positives and to take further samples where possible.

“We can then use the growing database of information to prioritise targets for future drill testing.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Dart Mining Drilling Confirms Key Rushworth Mineral System Model

/in , /by

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Dart Mining (ASX: DTM) recently completed a Phase 2 diamond drilling campaign within the company’s 100 per cent-owned Rushworth gold tenement package in Victoria.

Dart Mining reported the first results from the Phase 2 diamond drilling program undertaken at Star of the West and Henry Horne prospects, which it sad had confirmed the company’s Mineral Systems Model of the Rushworth Goldfield, with sulphide mineralisation presenting as a key identifier for potential high-grade structures.

The company highlighted results achieved in hole SWDD004 that intersected several zones of sulphide mineralisation surrounding large structures, returning:

An intersection of 0.24 metres at 8.8 grams per tonne gold, from 56.2m downhole from within a broad zone of sulphide mineralisation returning 7.1m at 0.75g/t gold from 50.8m.

A further intersection of 3.6m at 0.44g/t gold, from 161.8m encountered sulphide mineralisation including pyrite, cubic pyrrhotite and acicular arsenopyrite, including two higher grade sections of 0.2m at 2.87g/t gold and 0.3m at 1.45g/t gold.

“Receiving high-grade results from reef structures within zones of gold bearing sulphide mineralisation is a key step to refining our mineral systems model of the project,” Dart Mining chairman James Chirnside said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“Today’s results confirm our optimism surrounding the results from a potential stacked reef system at Growlers Hill and add a second prospective target zone within 500m at the Star of the West prospect.

“Importantly we are just getting started, with the Growlers Hill and Star of the West prospects being the first two targets drill tested, on a long list.

“Drilling remains ongoing, and we are very pleased at the penetration rates and overall rate of progress.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Brightstar Resources Continues High-Grade Laverton Gold Results

/in , /by

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Brightstar Resources (ASX: BTR) has kept the gold hits coming at the company’s Laverton gold project (LGP) in Western Australia.

Brightstar Resources reported assays from eight geotechnical diamond holes completed at the Cork Tree Well prospect.

Intercepts returned included:

CTWGT004
4 metres at 17.32 grams per tonne gold from 78m, including 1m at 40.15g/t gold from 78m, 0.59m at 37.4g/t gold from 81m and 0.41m at 11.62g/t gold from 81.59m.

“It is pleasing to see further high-grade assays continuing from geotechnical holes from the diamond drilling program that was completed at Cork Tree Well earlier this year,” Brightstar Resources managing director Alex Rovira said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“CTWGT004 returned a significant high-grade intersection…which complements the previously announced intersection of 27.6 metres at 17.77 grams per tonne (CTWMET003) drilled 200m to the north.

“The sixteen Geotechnical drillholes (CTWGT001 – CTWGT016) were drilled into the current optimized $2,750/oz pit shells generated in the 2023 Scoping Study with these holes designed by Brightstar’s independent geotechnical consultants targeting structural and rock mass data for the definitive feasibility study.

“Both CTWGT003 and CTWGT004 were drilled perpendicular to the orebody and thus reported intersections represent estimated true widths of significant mineralised intercepts.

“Given the quality of the assays received from the drilling to date, Brightstar is excited to build on the existing 303,000 ounces at 1.4g/t gold Mineral Resource, which is open both at depth with high-grade plunging shoots and along strike targeting the structurally-controlled mineralised trends.

“The high-grade results returned to date are significantly higher than the current 1.4g/t gold head grade of the Mineral Resource (and 1.85g/t mine grade from the 2023 Scoping Study), representing significant upside to both metrics.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Maximus Resources Confirms Larkinville Spodumene-Bearing Pegmatites

/in , /by

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Maximus Resources (ASX: MXR) has confirmed the existence of spodumene-bearing pegmatites at the company’s Larkinville lithium project outside Kambalda in Western Australia.

Maximus Resources recently completed soil geochemistry sampling across the Larkinville project area to assist in defining the most prospective areas of the project.

This combined with high-resolution imagery and LIDAR drone survey with geochemical mapping, from which the company identified multiple high-priority areas for follow-up field evaluation.

Initial ground reconnaissance of these areas led to the identification of previously unknown spodumene-bearing pegmatites.

To verify mineral identification, Maximus submitted samples for laboratory assays and RAMAN spectroscopy.

The company explained RAMAN spectroscopy as being a proven mineral identification technique that employs laser light for non-destructive analysis to determine the chemical structure, composition and mineralogy compared to a spectral profile from a database of control samples of spodumene.

Initial assay results confirmed high lithium content of weathered pegmatites with observed coarse spodumene crystals up to 6cm in length, producing results including:

SMX00982
1.76 per cent lithium oxide (Li20);

SMX00956
1.48 per cent Li20;

SMX00981
1.46 per cent Li20;

SMX00957
1.32 per cent Li20; and

SMX00958
1.29 per cent Li20.

“The identification of spodumene-bearing pegmatites has significantly upgraded the prospectivity of the entire Larkinville project tenure,” Maximus Resources said in its ASX announcement.

“The Maximus team continues with further fieldwork, including geological mapping, infill soil sampling, and outcrop sampling at several priority targets throughout the project.”

Maximus revealed the company has been awarded an EIS Co-funded drilling grant of $102,000 to undertake a first-pass Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling campaign at Larkinville.

The program will include several traverses of RC drill holes to investigate the various pegmatites of the swarm in fresh rock.

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE