THE DRILL SERGEANT: Southern Gold (ASX: SAU) released the results of its third processing campaign of ore treated from the company’s Cannon gold mine near Kalgoorlie.

The latest processing campaign yielded 2095 ounces of gold.

The mine is managed by Southern Gold’s development partner Metals X (ASX: MLX) with ore being treated at its South Kalgoorlie Operations (SKO) Jubilee plant.

Southern Gold explained the June campaign gold grade of 2.09 grams per tonne was lower than previous head grade levels, but is in line with expectations given ore from this parcel was primarily lower grade blocks in the cutback between the Stage 1 and Stage 2 pits.

The company expects the gold grades to improve as deeper parts of the orebody are accessed with a projected remaining average gold grade for the open pit of 3.84g/t gold.

A total of approximately 14,600 tonnes at 2.67g/t gold was unable to be processed due to wet weather halting transport from the Cannon ROM.

Southern Gold indicated this material will be used as part of the next batch, currently scheduled for August 2016, after which processing is anticipated to be relatively continuous until March 2017.

“Southern Gold is very pleased with the continuing excellent recovery achieved in this campaign of 92.5 per cent, reflecting adjustments made at the Jubilee mill,” Southern Gold said in its ASX announcement.

“The previously reported ‘Life of Mine’ metallurgical recovery estimate by Metals X was 86.3 per cent.

“Under the base case financial model and assuming a 90 per cent Life of Mine metallurgical recovery factor and assuming a spot gold price of $1795 per ounce (spot price at time of writing is $1799/oz) net profit attributable to Southern Gold is projected to be $17.2 million, the equivalent of $0.47/Southern Gold shares.

“Actual cash distribution to Southern Gold is scheduled for December 2016 to March 2017 and will be net of MLX debt repayments currently estimated to be $2.18 million, or $0.06/share, implying total net open pit ‘Life of Mine’ cash of $0.41/share.”

Email: info@southerngold.com.au

Website: www.southerngold.com.au

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Sheffield Resources (ASX: SFX) has released an updated Mineral Resource for the company’s 100 per cent-owned, world-class Thunderbird mineral sands project, near Derby in northern Western Australia.

The Minerals Resource now stands at 3.23 billion tonnes at 6.9 per cent heavy minerals (HM).

The new Mineral Resource was updated to include 110 infill holes drilled in the up-dip region of the deposit and includes a coherent high-grade zone of 1.05 billion tonnes at 12.2 per cent HM at a 7.5 per cent HM cut-off (Measured, Indicated and Inferred).

This high-grade zone contains 9.7 million tonnes of zircon, 3 million tonnes of high-titanium leucoxene and 35 million tonnes of ilmenite.

Of particular note is the Measured category of the Thunderbird Resource, which has been doubled to 220 million tonnes at 14.5 per cent HM (at a 7.5% HM cut-off) with minimal change in the high in-situ zircon and ilmenite grades of 1.07 per cent and 3.9 per cent respectively.

Sheffield declared the Measured component of the Mineral Resource alone places Thunderbird in the top tier of mineral sands deposits globally, including those currently in production.

“The doubling of tonnes in the highest-confidence Measured Resource category is consistent with the company’s strategy of delivering a high-quality BFS,” Sheffield Resources managing director Bruce McFadzean said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The updated Mineral Resource provides a robust platform for comprehensive optimisation studies, mine design and detailed scheduling.

“In conjunction with the BFS update released last week, which outlined material improvements in metallurgical performance, it further highlights the significance of the project on a global scale.

“Thunderbird has a projected mine life of over 40 years and is one of the few Western Australian mining projects that enjoys ‘Lead Agency’ status with the Department of Mines and Petroleum.

“The project is commanding significant interest from both producers and consumers alike, due to its long mine life, zircon-rich mineral assemblage, high-quality products, low-risk jurisdiction and exploration upside including the exciting new Night Train discovery.”

Email: info@sheffieldresources.com.au

Website: www.sheffieldresources.com.au

THE DRILL SERGEANT: S2 Resources (ASX: S2R) has completed a broad-spaced 27 hole reconnaissance RC drilling program at the Nanook prospect, part of the company’s 100 per cent-owned Polar Bear project in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia.

The drilling was carried out with the aim of identifying various possible local bedrock sources for the extensive zone of gold hosted within gravels at the base of the Nanook palaeochannel.

To date results have been received for 16 holes, which S2R suggests has confirmed the continuity and thickness of gold mineralisation in gravels at the base of the Nanook palaeochannel, and extending into the weathered bedrock immediately beneath it.

Results from this zone include:

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Blackham Resources (ASX: BLK) has released a maiden resource estimate for the Moonlight Shear deposit, located within the company’s Matilda gold project in Western Australia.

The Resource for Moonlight Shear has come in at 2.6 million tonnes at 4.6 grams per tonnes gold for 381,000 ounces of gold with 10 per cent of the Resource sitting in the Indicated category.

The Matilda gold project Resources now stand at 48 million tonnes at 3.3g/t gold for 5.1 million ounces with 48 per cent of the Resources Indicated.

Blackham has commenced open pit and underground mining studies on the deposit.

“Blackham is delighted to have put together over five million ounces of Resource all within a 20 kilometre radius of the Wiluna gold plant,” Blackham Resources managing director Bryan Dixon said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“Mining studies have commenced over the Moonlight resources.

“Our exploration team see significant potential along this two kilometre-long underexplored shear.”

The Moonlight Shear deposit is located less than two kilometres from Blackham’s 100 per cent-owned gold plant.

Blackham explained it has completed a number of maiden resource estimates targeting mineralisation along the under-explored Moonlight Shear Zone.

Further mining and exploration studies will focus on identifying shallow oxide and transitional resources along strike of the existing open pits where the mineralisation continues along the shear zones.

Blackham said the initial resource has identified resources that may be amenable to underground mining.

Email: info@blakchamresources.com.au

Website: www.blackhamresources.com.au

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Cassini Resources (ASX: CZI) has received results from a recently-completed maiden drilling program carried out at the company’s 100 per cent-owned West Arunta project in Western Australia.

The drilling is the first ever drill program conducted for sedimentary zinc at the West Arunta project and targeted two ferruginous outcrops with the aim of testing for enriched zinc mineralisation in fresh bedrock beneath these outcrops.

According to the Cassini the drilling encountered broad zones of sub-surface enrichment in zinc and associated elements within the weathered zone at both Iapetus and Enceladus prospects.

Best results include:

WAC0007 
22 metres at 0.26 per cent zinc from 13m, including 2m at 0.89 per cent zinc from 22m at the Enceladus prospect.

Anomalous zones of accessory metals were also intersected, including:

WAC0010
21m at 1.2 grams per tonne silver from 9m.

The company explained that all the zinc enrichment it intersected in the weathered zone sat within two main sub-horizontal layers.

Zinc-anomalous ferruginous-zones, which Cassini had originally hypothesized as gossans, were the target of drilling, and have now been reinterpreted to represent hydromorphic ferricretes.

Ferricretes are iron-rich accumulations that have been deposited in the regolith through the lateral movement of groundwater.

Cassini believes it to be very likely that zinc-rich ferricretes are the result of dispersion plumes from a proximal primary zinc mineralisation source as most ferricretes in the area are not base-metal anomalous.

The company also finds the quantum of zinc anomalism and the presence of accessory metals such as silver to be very encouraging and point to a primary zinc sulphide source nearby.

“We are encouraged with the progress we’ve made from our maiden drilling campaign,” Cassini Resources managing director Richard Bevan said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The broad zones of zinc anomalism suggest a nearby source of bedrock zinc mineralisation.

“Furthermore, we have the tell-tale geochemical patterns that support our geological model.

“We have demonstrated that we are indeed in a brand new, sedimentary zinc province, that Cassini wholly controls.

“This program has been an important first step to finding an economic ore body.

“We now have the confidence to pursue our strategy and commit to more advanced exploration including geophysical surveys that we believe will provide vectors towards primary economic mineralisation.”

Email: admin@cassiniresources.com.au

Website: www.cassiniresources.com.au