THE DRILL SERGEANT: St George Mining (ASX: SGQ) is about to kick off a major drill program designed to test priority gold targets at the company’s 100 per cent-owned East Laverton project in Western Australia.

The company explained a program of reverse circulation (RC) drilling is planned in the first phase of this gold‐focused drill program, which will test two priority targets – Ascalon and Bristol.

The first of these targets, Ascalon, has never been drilled, however the company considers it to be situated in a favourable structural setting for gold mineralisation with a strong associated gold anomalism identified by shallow reconnaissance drilling completed to the north‐west of the main target area.

The Bristol target has been tested previously, albeit by shallow drilling with an average drill hole depth of 40 metres.

This limited drilling produced a number of end of hole drill samples of anomalous gold with values up to 2.5ppm gold.

St George said the upcoming program is the first ever test of the bedrock geology at both targets and is confident it has the potential to deliver a major breakthrough for gold exploration at East Laverton.

The RC drill rig is scheduled to arrive at East Laverton this week, with drilling to commence by Friday.

“We are very excited to begin drilling of our highly rated gold targets at East Laverton which satisfy key exploration targeting criteria for significant gold deposits,” St George Mining executive chairman John Prineas said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The targets have never been systematically explored for gold and provide us with an opportunity to make an important discovery.”

Website: www.stgm.com.au

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Pioneer Resources (ASX: PIO) has received the first 668 results from a 4,000 sample soil geochemistry program from the company’s 100 per cent-owned Pioneer Dome project, near Norseman in Western Australia.

The results have generated five anomalies, located at the PEG006 target (2 anomalies) and PEG009 (3 anomalies).

“The soil geochemistry program will initially comprise 13 pegmatite clusters sampled to determine whether each is likely to be a complex pegmatite and therefore potentially a host to lithium mineralisation,” Pioneer Resources said in its ASX announcement.

To date the company has sampled three clusters – PEG006, PEG009 and PEG012, however it indicated further wider spaced samples will be undertaken in order to locate additional pegmatites that don’t outcrop.

“Rock chip geochemistry confirms that two lithium-mineralised pegmatites with different characteristics are evident at PEG009, (i.e. PEG009A and PEG009B) further substantiating the complex nature of this LCT pegmatite, the company said.

Rock Chips from two separate outcrops at PEG009 returned high-grade lithia (Li2O) values, including:

PEG009A
lepidolite samples assaying between 1.38 per cent and 3.94 per cent Li2O; and

PEG009B
silicate dominated rocks assaying between 1.17 per cent and 3.84 per cent Li20;

“Soil geochemistry results from PEG006 indicate two areas with elevated lithium and other coincident LCT pegmatite elements,” the company continued.

“Field inspection and rock sampling will be undertaken later this month.”

Website: www.pioresources.com.au

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS) has reported drill results from ongoing resource drilling being conducted along the Central and Western pegmatites at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Pilgangoora lithium-tantalum project near Port Hedland in Western Australia.

Pilbara Minerals said the latest drilling has outlined extensions of the mineralisation to the north of the Central pegmatite, well beyond the conceptual pit for the Central Open Pit designed in the March 2016 Pre-Feasibility Study.

Latest intersections include:

PLS459
58 metres at 1.69 per cent lithium oxide (Li2O) from 131m;

PLS456
37m at 1.85 per cent Li2O from 106m and 8m at 2.11 per cent Li2O and 119ppm tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5) from 147m and 15m at 1.72 per cent Li2O and 113ppm Ta2O5 from 160m;

PLS453
30m at 1.92 per cent Li2O from 96m and 23m at 1.92 per cent Li2O and 106ppm Ta2O5 from 129m and 8m at 1.68 per cent Li2O from 155m; and

PLS454
20m at 1.8 per cent Li2O and 141ppm Ta2O5 from 127m.

“Thick zones of high-grade mineralisation have now been encountered well beyond the boundary of the conceptual open pit for the Central Pegmatite defined in the recent Pre-Feasibility Study, which is the largest open pit at the project and will provide the bulk of production in the early years of operations,” Pilbara Minerals managing director and CEO Ken Brinsden said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“While there is further work to be done, there is a high likelihood that this material will be able to be incorporated in the updated Ore Reserve – resulting in a significant expansion of the Central pit which in turn should grow our Ore Reserves and mine life.

“Recent drilling has also continued to demonstrate excellent continuity, width and grade of mineralisation within the current pit design over the Central and Western pegmatites.

“This program is successfully converting a significant portion of the current Indicated Resource to the Measured category to underpin the upcoming Definitive Feasibility Study.”

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Kin Mining (ASX: KIN) has been quick to announce high-grade gold intersections from a recently commenced drill program at Merton’s Reward T1 and T2 targets, part of the company’s Leonora gold project in Western Australia.

The company said that both targets returned sizeable intersections in line with modelled target zones.

Highlights include:

MR16RC004
A wide intersection of 27 metres at 2.65 grams per tonne gold from 66m, including two high-grade zones of 2m at 16.47g/t gold and 5m at 5.54g/t gold; and

MR16RC005
An intersection of a broad zone of mineralisation down dip of MR16RC004 returning 15m at 1.81g/t gold with a higher grade zone of 5m at 3.78g/t gold.

The company identified the intersection from MR16RC004 as being “extremely encouraging”, adding it would aid in its efforts to refine the geometry of the T1 lower lode target zone.

Kin advised the recent drilling was part of an ongoing program at Merton’s Reward with the intention to expand the current Merton’s Reward Resource of 1.08 million tonnes at 2.6g/t gold for 91,000 ounces of gold.

“Kin is very pleased with the latest drill results from both target areas,” Kin Mining managing director Trevor Dixon said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The T1 target intersections indicate that mineralisation is broad and of high-grade and continues deeper than previously thought as both holes achieved great results.

“We believe that MR16RC004 intersected the continuation of the lower lode through the centre of the lode where previous drill holes had just missed the higher grade ore zone.

“MR16RC005 demonstrated that the lode is persistent at deeps below the historic underground workings and now defines an exciting follow-up target area.

“To date the bulk of the resources that have been defined at Merton’s Reward are from the Upper T2 target area, so it is very encouraging to find high grade mineralisation in the lower T1 target.

“It is early days for the lower lode but these results indicate that mineralisation is persistent at a depth that has very little exploration activity and that is very exciting for the Kin team.”

Email: info@kinmining.com.au

Website: www.kinmining.com.au

THE DRILL SERGEANT: St George Mining (ASX: SGQ) continued its recent love affair with the drill bit by announcing it has intersected massive nickel-copper sulphides in the first ever drilling carried out at the Stricklands prospect, part of the company’s Mt Alexander project in Western Australia.

Drill holes MAD20, MAD22 and MAD23 targeted separate modelled EM conductors at the Stricklands prospect, and all three have intersected nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation at shallow depths.

“The discovery of massive nickel-copper sulphides in the first ever drill program at Stricklands illustrates the strong potential that exists for additional new discoveries at Mt Alexander,” St George Mining executive chairman John Prineas said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The effectiveness of EM techniques and our rapidly increasing knowledge of the geology of the region are substantially enhancing the prospectivity of the project.

“With more EM targets being defined and drilling ongoing, we are in an excellent position to deliver further exploration success.”

The company explained MAD20 was completed to a downhole depth of 100.1 metres and intersected approximately 7.9m of ultramafichosted sulphide mineralisation from 46.5m to 54.45m which comprises:

3.8m, from 46.5-50.3m, of weak-moderate disseminated sulphides;

1.65m, from 51.9-53.55m, of moderate increasing to heavy disseminated sulphides;

0.45m, from 53.55-53.95m, of matrix and stringer sulphides (spot XRF reading of 2.3 per cent nickel, 0.5 per cent copper); and

0.5m, from 53.95-54.45m, of massive sulphide (spot XRF readings average 4.6 per cent nickel, 1.9 per cent copper).

MAD22 was completed to a downhole depth of 138.9m and intersected approximately 4.7m of ultramafichosted sulphide mineralisation from 49m to 53.7m which comprises:

2.7m, from 49-51.7m, of ultramafic with thin stringer sulphides and veinlets;

0.8m, from 51.7-52.5m, massive nickel-copper sulphide stringers (spot XRF readings average 2.8 per cent nickel, 8 per cent copper);

1.2m, from 52.5-53.8m, minor blebby sulphides and sulphide veinlets.

MAD23 was completed to a downhole depth of 123.3m and intersected approximately 4.25m of ultramafic-hosted sulphide mineralisation from 53.45-57.7m which comprises:

2.15m, from 53.45-55.6m, of weak disseminated and blebby sulphides;

1.85m, from 55.6-57.45m, of heavy disseminated sulphides (spot XRF readings average 0.8 per cent nickel, 0.6 per cent copper); and

0.25m, from 57.45-57.7m, of massive sulphides (spot XRF readings average 2.3 per cent nickel, 5.1 per cent copper).

St George stressed in its announcement that the metal values quoted are based on field XRF analysis and are preliminary only.

The Stricklands prospect is located within the Cathedrals shear zone, approximately one kilometre west-southwest of the Cathedrals prospect.

St George has now tested seven EM conductors in the current drill program – four at Cathedrals and three at Stricklands – and all have been demonstrated to represent nickel-copper sulphides.

The company considers this strike rate to be exceptional, saying it confirms the effectiveness of EM surveys as a targeting tool for mineralisation within the Cathedrals shear zone.

Website: www.stgm.com.au