THE DRILL SERGEANT: Peel Mining (ASX: PEX) has received the results from RC drilling it recently conducted at the Mundoe copper-polymetallic prospect.

Mundoe is part of the company’s 100 per cent-owned Cobar Superbasin project and is located about 90 kilometres west of Condoblin in New South Wales, about 50 kilometres south of Peel’s Mallee Bull project.

Peel said the drilling had returned encouraging results confirming Mundoe to be a valid copper-polymetallic target.

Results were returned over a 600 metre strike and include:

–    19 metres at 0.3 grams per tonne gold from 88 metres, 24 metres at 15 grams per tonne silver, 0.29 per cent copper from 124 metres,  including 5 metres at 42 grams per tonne silver and 0.68 per cent copper from 140m;

–    13m 28g/t silver, 0.76 per cent copper from 106m, including 6m at  42g/t silver and 1.24 per cent copper from 112m;

–    19m at 0.33g/t gold from 8m, including 5m at 0.86g/t gold from 22m, 23m at 25g/t silver and 0.4 per cent copper from 129m, including 3m at 180g/t silver and 2.07 per cent copper from 129m; and

–    23m at 15g/t silver and 0.31 per cent copper from 153m, including 8m at 19g/t silver and 0.57 per cent copper from 163m.

Source: Company announcement

“The Mundoe prospect is currently defined by an open two kilometre-long multi-element geochemical anomaly, coincident geophysical anomalies, and encouraging historic drill results,” Peel Mining said in its ASX announcement.

“Results received from this round of drilling indicate that the sediment-hosted mineralisation is most likely easterly dipping meaning that downhole widths are close to true widths.

“Further drilling is required to confirm the geometry and true width of mineralisation.

“Peel is highly encouraged by the results to date and further work is planned for first half 2013.”

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Forge Resources (ASX: FRG) has had an airborne TEMPEST Geophysical survey conducted on the company’s Fraser Range West Eucla project.

The company said interpretation of the electro-magnetic (EM) survey has demonstrated it achieved its three main objectives, which were:

–    To identify any discrete EM anomalies within the basement that may be associated with base metals deposits;

–    Interpretation of the basement structure to assist in the identification of potential locations for base metal deposits; and

–    Mapping of palaeochannels to assist with ongoing Heavy Mineral sands exploration.

The West Eucla project is located 20 kilometres south of Sirius Resources’ (ASX: SIR) Nova nickel-copper discovery and directly south east of Sheffield Resources’ (ASX: SFX) Red Bull project.

All projects are situated within the newly-anointed Fraser Range nickel province in Western Australia.

Forge indicated it was these recent Fraser Range discoveries which prompted its investigations into the potential of the West Eucla tenements for base metals and gold.

The EM survey identified a number of anomalies, highlighting three areas of greater interest for Forge.

These were defined by a cluster of high-order EM anomalies in each area, which have now been ranked according to the company’s degree of interest and clarity.

Map showing the interpreted major structures, depth to basement
(based on conductivity contrasts) and the location of the ranked EM
anomalies. Souerce: Company announcement

Forge said it intends to follow these areas up with ground geophysics to enable higher resolution of these anomalies with the aim to eventually drill test those anomalies that display further potential.

“These are highly encouraging results to the first phase of exploration into the project’s potential to host primary mineralisation,” Forge Resources managing director Matthew James said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“While these EM anomalies may be the results of a number of geological processes, their occurrence and in particular the clustering of high-order anomalies into three areas has provided the company with three key areas of interest that can be investigated with a focused approach.”

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Ramelius Resources has intersected further high-grade gold mineralisation by way of RC and diamond drilling being carried out at the company’s Water Tank Hill prospect.

The Water Tank Hill project is located at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Mt Magnet mine in the Murchison Province of Western Australia.

Results received from drilling conducted in December 2012 include:

–    9.20 metres at 13.0 grams per tonne gold from 250.5 metres, including 5 metres at 22.90 grams per tonne gold;

–    19m at 6.53g/t gold from 194m, including 5m at 17.8g/t gold;

–    24m at 13.62g/t gold from 289m, including 22m at 14.45g/t gold; and

–    26m at 5.28g/t gold from 253m, including 6m at 18.9g/t gold.

The holes in question were drilled below the Water Tank Hill pit, located four kilometres south-south-east of the company’s Checkers Mill at Mt Magnet and only 250m west of the existing St George underground mine decline, which was mined between 2005 and 2007.

“Gold mineralisation at Water Tank Hill is associated with brecciated and sulphidic banded iron formation (BIF) sequences,” Ramelius Resources said in its ASX announcement.

“The gold mineralisation occupies a series of subvertical, high-grade plunging shoots within the BIF fold closure.

Longitudinal section looking east, highlighting the recent high
grade intersections within the southern shoot. Source: Company
announcement

“As previously reported (in an ASX release on 28 November 2012) the high-grade shoots are displaced by a low angle reverse fault around 200m below surface.

“From here the shoots are oriented parallel with the plane of the fault and plunge gently to the northwest.

“Gold mineralisation remains open to the northwest and drilling is scheduled to recommence this month.”

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Red Mountain Mining (ASX: RMX) has received drilling results it claims to have confirmed a second high-grade gold system within the company’s Batangas gold project located 50 kilometres south of Manila in the Philippines.

The first hole of a planned 10-hole diamond drilling program at the West Drift epithermal lode structure at the Lobo prospect within Batangas, has returned an intersection of:

–    8.6 metres at 2.53 grams per tonne gold from 136.6 metres depth downhole including 0.85 metres at 5.59 grams per tonne gold and 1 metre at 4.62 grams per tonne gold.

The new intersection is from an initial drilling being conducted by Red Mountain at West Drift to target high-grade gold mineralisation below the old Lobo copper mine and potentially convert the gold mineralisation to resource inventory.

A second hole has also intersected a strongly mineralised quartz/barite lode structure over a downhole thickness of 10m from 147.45m depth.

Plan of Lobo epithermal gold structures. Source: Company announcement

“The result from the first hole in Red Mountain’s initial drilling program at Lobo is very encouraging and highlights the under explored nature of the Batangas gold project,” Red Mountain executive chairman and acting CEO Neil Warburton said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“An additional drilling rig will be commissioned to commence in the second week of January to fast track the drilling program at West Drift.

“If successful this program has the potential to increase the known Lobo gold resources significantly as the West Drift target area is at least four times larger than the existing South West Breccia resource area immediately to its south.”

Previous drilling has only tested approximately a 500 metre strike length of the interpreted 10 kilometres strike length of mapped lode structures at Lobo, to shallow depth of less than 150 metres.

High-grade gold shoots have been identified at South West Breccia, which boasts an Indicated Resource of 270,000 tonnes at 6.49g/t gold for 56,380 ounces of gold and an Inferred Resource of 61,000 tonnes at 5.35g/t gold for 10,540 ounces of gold.

High-grade shoots have now been identified at the West Drift prospect.

Drilling by previous owners at West Drift indicated a target zone of greater than 400m strike length, with generally increasing gold-grade with depth.

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Investigator Resources (ASX: IVR) has received results of silver intersections from 18 new assayed holes from the company’s Paris silver project in South Australia.

Investigator claims the results have firmed up the Western Sheet target and extend the Northeast Zone at the project.

The company achieved intersections of 12.15 metres at 1,269 grams per tonne silver from 45.4 metres and 1.2 metres at 896 grams per tonne silver from 200.5 metres down inclined holes.

These have respectively extended the upper and downdip Western Sheet on Line 7.

Line 7 cross section. Source: Company announcement

Investigator is now awaiting other downdip drilling results from the Western Sheet north of Line 7.

The margins of the Northeast Zone were extended by shallow intersections of:

–    5m at 372g/t silver from 89m;

–    2m at 548g/t silver from 40m (to bottom of precollar with cored extension of the mineralisation yet to be assayed);

–    2.22m at 157g/t silver from 52m; and

–    8.6m at 94g/t silver from 44.3m.

Investigator indicated it is achieving much better drill recoveries after earlier concerns about cavities in the Paris mineralisation have been proven incorrect.

Redrills of prior high-grade intersections have achieved comparable results, which the company consider to have added confidence to the previous drill results.

The new holes intersected:

–    12.1m at 1,766g/t silver from 64.0m in the Northeast Zone; and

–    2.8m at 1,643g/t silver from 48.7m and 8.7m at 267g/t silver from 52.6m in a new hole into the Southeast Zone.

“Investigator looks forward to moving the Paris silver prospect to a resource estimation and to developing numerous other silver and copper targets in the Peterlumbo field during 2013,” Investigator Resources managing director John Anderson said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.