Alliance Resources Continues to Define Weednanna Gold

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Alliance Resources (ASX: AGS) announced results from a recent phase of RC drilling completed at the company’s Weednanna gold deposit on the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia.

Alliance Resources drilled 33 RC holes during July and August 2019 for 5,211 metres at the Weednanna deposit in a bid to continue to define the extensions of gold mineralisation at Shoots 5E, 7 and 8, infill gold mineralisation at Shoot 9/11, and test for Shoot 1 style gold mineralisation at the 3DIP target.

The company’s objective with this drilling program was to extend known gold mineralisation in the southern area of the deposit.

“The results from this drilling program have continued to grow the size of the Weednanna deposit outside of the Maiden Mineral Resource area,” Alliance Resources said in its ASX announcement.

Drilling at Shoot 5E continued to extend mineralisation with intersections of:

19WDRC064
3 metres at 3.4 grams per tonne gold from 118m (Shoot 5E HW);

19WDRC065
9m at 3g/t gold from 147m and 3m at 4g/t gold from 175m (Shoots 5E and 5E FW); and

19WDRC067
6m at 16.6g/t gold from 107m, including 4m at 24.1g/t gold from 108m (Shoot 5E).

Further definition of Shoot 9/11 was achieved with an intersection of:

19WDRC075
3m at 3.8g/t gold from 127m.

The Shoot 7 target area was defined on 50 metre spaced traverses for infill drilling, encountering a result of:

19WDRC086
13m at 1.2g/t gold from 97m.

Drilling was undertaken on the unnamed 3D induced polarisation (3DIP) geophysical target to follow-up a previous intersection of 10m at 1.6g/t gold from 92m in 19WDRC046 hosted in Archaean granite.

The latest drilling hit:

19WDRC087
6m at 3.4g/t gold from 54m, including 1m at 12.1g/t gold from 58m.

Alliance said this gold is associated with strong chlorite-sericite alteration and disseminated arsenopyrite similar to mineralisation at Shoot 1.

In 2018, Alliance announced a maiden Mineral Resources estimate for the Weednanna gold deposit of 1.097 million tonnes at 5.1 grams per tonne gold for 181,000 ounces gold (classified 49% Indicated and 51% Inferred) (2018MRE).

Since the 2018MRE Alliance has drilled a further 139 RC holes and 5 diamond holes, for 21,542 metres, with the objective of growing and increasing geological confidence in the Weednanna Mineral Resource.

 

Email: info@alliancereources.com.au

Web: www.allianceresources.com.au

 

Matsa Resources Kicks Off Red October Diamond Drilling

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Matsa Resources (ASX: MAT) has commenced an underground drilling program at the company’s Red October gold mine in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia.

Matsa Resources explained the drilling is aimed at providing grade control around the current production area and provide extensions to the existing resources through finding additional high-grade mineralised shoots to contribute to the next phase of mining.

This initial phase is expected to be part of a much larger campaign over the next six months aimed at increasing the gold resource at the Red October underground gold mine.

A recent capital raising undertaken by the company has enabled it to plan for a sizeable and comprehensive diamond drilling program at Red October.

This first program will target the Red October Shear Zone (ROSZ) North and consists of an initial 13 holes.

The focus of the first eight holes is to get a better understanding and potential for the high-grade shoots below the current workings and to test for additional high-grade shoots to the north.

A further five holes will be drilled based on the results both visually and via assay results from the first eight holes.

Four of these holes will be infill or grade control holes.

The last of these holes is a resource definition hole within the ROSZ.

Matsa expects the results of this drilling program will enable better planning for mine design and open additional areas for mining as part of its longer-term production aim.

“We are now underway in the next stage of underground exploration drilling at Red October,” Matsa Resources executive chairman Paul Poli said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“This is the start of a much larger exploration programme aimed at delineating new future mining areas and really opening Red October up.

“We saw previous drilling result in bonanza grades and we know that previous drilling by Saracen identified many gold targets ranging between 15 grams per tonne to 30 grams per tonne.

“If we can continue identifying areas with these high grades as per our last program…it can only augur well for the next stage of production.”

 

Email: reception@matsa.com.au

Web: www.matsa.com.au

 

Hillgrove Resources Scores Healthy Drill Results From Kanmantoo Deposit

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Hillgrove Resources (ASX: HGO) provided an update on progress of drilling underway at the company’s Kanmantoo Underground copper mine development in South Australia.

Hillgrove Resources is undertaking the drilling a as part of the evaluation of a possible underground mining development below the Giant Open Pit that would work in conjunction with the Pumped Hydro Energy Storage (PHES) development.

Hillgrove initiated a drilling program in late June to confirm the down-dip depth extension, grade and lateral continuity of the higher-grade sections of the Kavanagh copper-gold lodes.

A total of 12 diamond drill holes has now been completed to increase geological confidence for resource estimation, underground mine planning and evaluation.

Assays for all holes have been received with every drill hole intersecting copper-gold mineralisation.

The company declared the intersections clearly demonstrate the down dip and lateral continuity of the higher-grade copper mineralisation on the Kavanagh copper-gold lodes.

Highlights from the drilling include:

KTDD187_W1
14.55 metres at 1.9 per cent copper, 0.08 grams per tonne gold, 4.4g/t silver from 442.45m downhole

KTDD187_W2
16.37m at 3 per cent copper, 0.21g/t gold, 7.8g/t silver from 434.73m downhole

KTDD187_W3
20.0m at 2.1 per cent copper, 0.26g/t gold, 6.8g/t silver from 421m downhole

KTDD187_W5
20.15m at 1.5 per cent copper, 0.1g/t gold, 4.1g/t silver from 393.25m downhole

KTDD187_W5
14.0m at 2.4 per cent copper, 0.3g/t gold, 6.7g/t silver from 420m downhole

KTDD187_W6
22.5m at 2.5 per cent copper, 0.11g/t gold, 6.9g/t silver from 372m downhole

KTDD187_W7
10.3m at 2.7 per cent copper, 0.27g/t gold, 8.1g/t silver from 390.7m downhole

KTDD187_W8
7.5m at 1.9 per cent copper, 0.53g/t gold, 5.6g/t silver from 461m downhole; and

KTDD187_W10
18m at 2.3 per cent copper, 0.16g/t gold, 7.8g/t silver from 367m downhole.

Hillgrove indicated its next steps for the potential Kanmantoo underground development, which are being progressed in unison with the drilling program, to be as follows:

Completion of a Mineral Resource Estimate;
Completion of final designs and feasibility study, and conversion to an Ore Reserve;
Execution of an agreement with AGL to provide a guaranteed minimum period for mining;
Completion of the mining approvals process; and
Securing funding for working capital requirements.

 

Web: www.hillgroveresources.com.au

 

Metro Mining Scores Healthy September Shipping Numbers

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Metro Mining (ASX: MMI) had just as good a September as the Richmond Football Club by hitting production levels across all areas at the company’s Bauxite Hills project at the strongest levels since operations commenced.

Metro Mining put the achievement down to greater consistency, which in turn led to improved productivity that was evident across all aspects of the logistics chain.

The company indicated that mining and haulage is benefitting from excellent machine availabilities, its barge loading facility is now sustainable at higher levels, and ship loading rates have been assisted by better productivity and returning vessels that have previously performed strongly.

“The mining and shipping results continue to improve as we build our operational knowledge and experience,” Metro Mining managing director and CEO Simon Finnis said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“Recent incremental changes to our haulage, loading and transhipping systems are yielding positive results and reflect the commitment and dedication of the entire team, particularly in identifying areas of process improvement.

“The mine is ideally placed to maintain current levels for the remainder of the operating year and is on track to meet the production and shipping guidance of 3.3 to 3.5 million wet metric tonnes for 2019.”

 

Email: info@metromining.com.au

Web: www.metromining.com.au

 

Galan Lithium Confirms High Grades in Argentina

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Galan Lithium (ASX: GLN) informed the market on progress of its current drilling program underway at the company’s Western Basin projects, located on the Hombre Muerto salar in Argentina.

Galan Lithium said the drilling has confirmed that initial results from the maiden drilling program at Rana de Sal and Pata Pila have intercepted several heavy brine bearing aquifers in both holes completed to date.

The Rana de Sal and Pata Pila licences both cover large alluvial fan areas lying adjacent to Livent Corporation’s (NYSE: LVHM) tenure, covering the western margin of the Hombre Muerto salar.

Drilling targeted highly conductive CSAMT (Controlled Source Audio-frequency Magnetotellurics) anomalies recorded from surveys Galan previously completed in September last year, which it believes represent the extension of Livent’s brine producing aquifer for their Fenix operation.

Galan declared the results from Pata Pila confirm the high-grade nature with all samples returning lithium grades greater than 900mg/l lithium (Li) with low levels of magnesium/lithium (Mg/Li).

These grades were encountered within very wide brine intercepts, which Galan has interpreted to indicate the potential for a substantial new Resource at Pata Pila.

“We are delighted with the interim grades in excess of 1,000 milligrams per litre lithium with low impurities at Rana de Sal, being the highest-grade samples returned by Galan to date,” Galan Lithium managing director Juan Pablo Vargas de la Vega said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“This augurs well for potential new, very high-grade resources for the Western Tenements which would greatly complement our recently reported maiden resource from Candelas.

“These high-grade, low impurity results are the key outstanding factors that differentiate Galan and strengthens our view that the company’s projects have excellent development potential at Hombre Muerto.”

 

Web: www.galanlithium.com.au

 

St George Mining Confirms Nickel-Copper Sulphide Discovery

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: St George Mining (ASX: SGQ) announced that laboratory assays have confirmed a healthy intersection of high-grade nickel-copper sulphides at the Radar prospect – the latest discovery at the company’s Mt Alexander project, located in the north-eastern Goldfields of Western Australia.

St George Mining indicated the new discovery to be located 1.2 kilometres east of the known nickel-copper sulphide deposits at the Cathedrals prospect and extends the east-west strike of high-grade mineralisation on the Cathedrals Belt to 5.5 kilometres.

The company said that the first drill hole undertaken at the Radar prospect returned assays that confirm a shallow discovery of nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation

MAD152 encountered an intersection of:

6 metres at 2.14 per cent nickel, 0.74 per cent copper and 1.62 grams per tonne PGEs from 46m, including 2.55m at 4.29 per cent nickel, 1.46 per cent copper and 3g/t PGEs from 49.05m.

MAD152 was drilled into an electromagnetic (EM) conductor the company had interpreted to be situated within the unexplored eastern extension of the mineralised Cathedrals Belt.

A subsequent downhole EM (DHEM) survey in MAD152 indicates that the hole has intersected only the northern portion of the EM conductor with increased strike and conductivity of the conductor to the south-west.

St George intends re-commencing drilling at Radar with step-out holes planned to test for up-dip and down-dip extensions to the high-grade mineralisation.

“With high-grade mineralisation now established over a 5.5 kilometre strike of the east-west oriented Cathedrals Belt, we are increasingly confident of the potential to develop a potential mining operation at the project,” St George Mining executive chairman John Prineas said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“More than 10.5 kilometres of the Belt remains underexplored with strong targets emerging at Fish Hook and West End, which are also scheduled for drilling in this drill program.

“Exploration success here could add substantial volumes of mineralisation to a potential resource at Mt Alexander.

“The strong rally in the nickel price over recent months is likely to be very favourable for the project economics of a potential development at Mt Alexander, and we are pleased to initiate preliminary studies to assess a potential mining development at Mt Alexander.”

 

Web: www.stgm.com.au

 

Musgrave Minerals Drills and Rock Chips High-Grade Gold at Cue

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Musgrave Minerals (ASX: MGV) reported on recent activity undertaken at the company’s Cue gold project in the Murchison district of Western Australia.

Musgrave Minerals’ latest work included follow-up reverse circulation (RC) drilling on the Break of Day deposit that returned:

19MORC017
3 metres at 13.9 grams per tonne gold from 53m down hole, including 2m at 20g/t gold from 53m.

The company suggested this could be a potential southern extension to the Break of Day deposit with the intercept sitting approximately 75m south of the current resource boundary and remains open down plunge.

The intercept is up dip of drill hole 19MORC015 that the company reported in September that intersected 2m at 9g/t gold.

Other work carried out at Cue involved earlier-stage exploration activities at Musgrave’s newly acquired Mainland prospect, where rock-chip sampling returned a highly encouraging ultra-high-grade gold assay result from an iron-quartz breccia sample in an area of no previous drilling.

The sample assayed 3,449g/t gold with visible gold obvious in the sample.

“This is another strong drilling result extending the high-grade gold mineralisation at Break of Day,” Musgrave Minerals managing director Rob Waugh said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The ultra-high-grade rock-chip sample at Mainland is encouraging as this prospect has never been drilled, highlighting the potential for ultra-high grades in the Mainland area.

“We’re excited to commence drilling on this new target at Mainland in approximately three weeks.”

Both Break of Day and Mainland are retained 100 per cent by Musgrave and are not part of the recently announced Evolution Mining (ASX: EVN) earn-in and exploration Joint Venture area.

The Break of Day deposit has a JORC 2012 Resource of 868,000 tonnes at 7.15g/t gold for 199,000 ounces gold.

The deposit consists of a number of high-grade gold lodes, with potential at depth and along strike to grow the existing resource.

 

Email: info@musgraveminerals.com.au

Web: www.musgraveminerals.com.au

 

Stavely Minerals Confirms Outstanding Copper-Gold Discovery

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Stavely Minerals (ASX: SVY) set the boards of the ASX alight by confirming its shallow high-grade copper-gold discovery at the Thursday’s Gossan prospect, part of the company’s 100 per cent-owned Stavely copper-gold project in Victoria.

Stavely had previously set the gold bulls running with the release of results it achieved from diamond hole SMD050 the company had drilled targeting high-grade structurally controlled copper-gold-silver mineralisation within the Ultramafic Contact Fault (UCF).

To recap – diamond hole SMD050 intersected:

32 metres at 5.88 per cent copper, 1 gram per tonne gold and 58g/t silver from 62m down-hole, including 12m at 14.3 per cent copper, 2.26g/t gold and 145g/t silver, including 2m at 40 per cent copper, 3g/t gold and 517g/t silver; and

4.4m at 3.98 per cent nickel and 0.23 per cent cobalt from 96.7m drill depth.

Stavely Minerals has now received results for a second diamond drill hole, SMD051, that also targeted shallow structurally controlled mineralisation within the Ultramafic Contact Fault (UCF).

SMD051 was carried out 160m to the south-east of discovery drill hole SMD050 and intersected a thick zone of shallow copper-gold-silver mineralisation, producing stunning grades of up to one metre at 19.3 per cent copper in a second zone of mineralisation.

Results include:

59m at 1.8 per cent copper, 0.43g/t gold and 15.4g/t silver from 98m down-hole, including 8.5m at 4.38 per cent copper, 0.87g/t gold and 32.7g/t silver from 106.6m; and

3m at 5.66 per cent copper, 0.29g/t gold and 4.6g/t silver from 134m.

The hole encountered a second very high-grade intercept of:

8m at 9.69 per cent copper, 0.4g/t gold and 16.8g/t silver from 177m drill depth, including 2m at 17.3 per cent copper, 0.57g/t gold and 13.1g/t silver from 179m.

Stavely said visual observations of drill core from the second and third step-out holes SMD052 and SMD053, each located a further 80m to the south-east respectively, indicate that both of these holes encountered zones of massive to semi-massive mineralisation over narrower down-hole widths.

Assays for these holes are pending.

“The recognition that we should be using a Magma/Butte high-grade structurally-controlled mineralisation model for our exploration drill targeting has now been rewarded with spectacular success in the first two diamond holes drilled to evaluate a shallow 500 metre long target at the Ultramafic Contact Fault,” Stavely Minerals executive chairman Chris Cairns said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“In conjunction with the narrower intercepts in SMD052 and SMD053, each drilled 80 metres further along strike to the south-east, we believe this change in the thickness and grades of mineralisation reflects a natural pinching and swelling of the structural zone which will produce inherent variations along strike and down-dip.

“As we accelerate drilling along this fertile structure, we expect to see further examples of this natural variance in grade and thickness.

“However, we should also pause to reflect that we have only just commenced drilling of this exceptionally exciting shallow target, so we are optimistic that we will be able to generate further outstanding results as drilling accelerates.

“We are now drilling some closer-spaced holes to the original intercept in SMD050 to understand any secondary structural controls on the very high-grade copper-gold-silver mineralisation while awaiting assay results from SMD052 and SMD053, which will then inform the next steps for drilling.

“This new Magma / Butte model has significantly expanded our ‘search space’ and a number of previous shallow historical air-core and RC intercepts of massive sulphides are clearly much more significant than previously thought and are now considered to be high-priority targets for diamond drill testing.

“A second diamond rig arrives on site today to increase our drilling capacity, and we would hope to have a third drill rig deployed quite soon to begin testing similar regional targets in the not too distant future.”

 

Email: info@stavely.com.au

Web: www.stavely.com.au

 

Impact Minerals to Commence Trial mining at Blackridge Gold Project

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Impact Minerals (ASX: IPT) announced trial mining of up to one million loose cubic metres (about 1.6 million tonnes) will be undertaken at the company’s Blackridge gold project located north of Clermont in central east Queensland.

Impact Minerals has signed an agreement for tribute mining with private contractor, Queensland-based Nimble Resources, which will take responsibility for all set up, mining, processing and rehabilitation costs at the project.

In return Impact has financially de-risked the next stage of exploration and development of Blackridge.

The company will also benefit from the receipt of a sliding scale Net Smelter Royalty (NSR) of up to 15 per cent depending on the average monthly grade of gold mined.

Impact declared the trial mining phase, if successful, would be major step forward in demonstrating the potential for a larger open pit mine at Blackridge and follows the recent recognition of large volumes of free-digging oxide ore with exceptional gold recoveries of more than 95 per cent by wet gravity processing methods in recent bulk sampling programs.

The bulk sampling programs were done in conjunction with Nimble, which was so encouraged by the results, it approached Impact to initiate the trial mining.

Nimble boasts specialist skills and equipment in both wet and dry gravity gold processing technologies and is of the opinion that a large portion of the oxide material at Blackridge may potentially be dry processed.

Nimble will initially trial a proprietary dry processing technology with a throughput capacity of about 90 cubic metres per hour (about 150 tonnes per hour).

In addition, Impact will work with Nimble to determine optimal processing routes for the other two material types in the deposit which are not suitable for dry processing: wet clay-rich material and less oxidised to fresh bedrock.

“This agreement is a very positive step forward for the Blackridge project,” Impact Minerals managing director Dr Mike Jones said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“We know that the best way to determine grade in coarse gold deposits such as Blackridge is to simply start mining.

“This is inherently very high risk and so this agreement gives Impact a very low risk entry to mining by trial mining of only a modest part of the mineralised area which extends over at least 1,500 metres along trend.

“In addition, Impact, under the royalty payment provisions will receive at least a modest cash flow from the trial.

“Having worked with Nimble Resources for the past 18 months Impact has established that the company is a very capable operator and we look forward to working with them and starting the trial as quickly as practicable.

“The use of their dry processing technology in the first instance also significantly decreases the environmental risk and the large water requirements for a wet processing plant.

“Impact will also continue to assess other processing alternatives for other material types which are key targets for the larger scale potential at Blackridge.”

The Blackridge project is an advanced conglomerate-hosted gold project that covers the historic Blackridge and Springs mining centres located about 25 kilometres of Clermont.

The gold fields produced about 185,000 ounces of gold from 1879 to the early 1900s from surface down to depths of about 70 metres in small shafts and related underground workings.

Impact Minerals has previously completed two phases of bulk sampling of the conglomerate material with very encouraging results from a wet gravity processing plant.

Gold was recovered from samples taken over 1,000m of trend with grades ranging from 0.07 grams per cubic metre to 2.17g/m3 at an average of 0.36g/m3.

All material sampled was free digging down to at least four to five metres below surface with gold present, in at least a few locations, throughout the profile.

Large volumes of such material are present at Blackridge over the 1,500m of trend.

 

Email: info@impactminerals.com.au

Web: www.impactminerals.com.au

 

Hammer Metals Encounters Bronzewing South Gold

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Hammer Metals (ASX: HMX) received assay results from a Phase 1 RC drilling program completed at the company’s Bronzewing South gold project in Western Australia.

Hammer Metals explained the 14 hole program tested five targets on mineralised trends south of the 2.3 million ounce Bronzewing deposit.

Highlighted intersections include:

BWRC006
10 metres at 1.97 grams per tonne gold from 129m, including 1m at 16g/t gold from 137m and
2m at 3.39g/t gold from 110m;

BWSRC004
8m at 1.36g/t gold from 199m, including 1m at 6.2g/t gold and
4m at 2.49g/t gold from 226m, including 1m at 9.3g/t gold from 229m; and

BWSRC011
5m at 1.91g/t gold, including 2m at 4.38g/t gold from 147m.

Hammer currently has planning underway to initiate Phase 2 of the program to test a further five targets developed from IP and gravity survey data in conjunction with the information acquired in the current program.

A 15,000m aircore drilling program testing the mineralised trend along strike to the north of Echo Resources’ (ASX: EAR) Orelia deposit is expected to commence in mid-October.

Rock chip samples from quartz veining at the Kens Bore prospect returned encouraging results including 6.09g/t, 7.73g/t, 12.1g/t and 22.3 g/t gold.

Initial testing of this target is planned to occur in the Phase 2 RC program.

“We are very encouraged by the results from our first drilling program at Bronzewing South,” Hammer Metals chairman Russell Davis said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The wide-spaced drilling has intercepted significant gold mineralisation in most of the holes drilled and has provided useful information on the structure, geology and deportment of the gold mineralisation at the project and will guide further drilling.

“We are looking forward to commencing RC and aircore drilling programs in the near future along both the Bronzewing South and Orelia trends and at the new Ken’s Bore target.”

 

Email: info@hammermetals.com.au

Web: www.hammermetals.com.au