THE DRILL SERGEANT: Investigator Resources has received the first assays for a diamond and reverse circulation percussion (RCP) drilling program the company commenced late last year at the Paris silver prospect.

The company said assays for sections of the drilling demonstrate new intersections of high silver grades that continue to upgrade its greenfields silver discovery located on the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia.

Paris prospect – Interpretive Section for Line 7. New intersections by
the recent diamond drill holes are shown in blue labels. Source: Company
announcement

Investigator claims the high silver grades confirmed the visual assessments of sulphide intersections the company reported to the market in January.

First assays for all three holes submitted from recent drilling on Paris Line 7 returned results including:
 
–    4 metres at 1,383 grams per tonne silver from 140 metres;

–    11.6m at 3,847g/t silver from 63.5m, including 1m at 22,500g/t silver from 66m; and

–    7m at 364g/t silver from 71m.

According to Investigator the silver intervals it has encountered on either side of the initial aircore intersection have confirmed the potential for a shallow high-grade silver target in the re-interpreted Northeast Zone of the Paris prospect.

“The assays were delayed beyond our expected timeframe due to the amount of re-assaying needed to get final silver values for our high grade samples,” Investigator Resources managing director John Anderson said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“It was worth the short wait to get the result for our highest grade sample that at 2.25 per cent silver required assaying with a method usually applied to concentrate grade material.

“Our initial diamond drilling on the Line 7 section has been a great success with the first assays enhancing the potential for the large Paris prospect to produce coherent zones of high grade silver.

“The spectacular silver grades achieved by the new drilling so far have surmounted those of the widespread intersections by the prior aircore drilling.

“The Paris prospect continues to advance with each exploration step, a good indication at this early stage of drilling that the prospect has the potential to develop into a high quality silver deposit.”

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Ironbark Zinc lifted its gaze from its Greenland activities to achieve some high-grade base and precious metal drilling results and strike length extension at its 100 per cent-owned Peakview prospect in New South Wales.

Significant intercepts from this program include:

–    3.2 metres at 7.5 per cent zinc and lead and 2.7 per cent copper from 53.0 metres;

–    5.6m at 4.4 per cent zinc and lead, 0.8 per cent copper and 256 grams per tonne silver from 48.7m, including 1.2m at 7.4 per cent zinc and lead, 1.9 per cent copper and 880g/t silver from 49.7m; and

–    1m at 25.8 per cent zinc and lead, 1 per cent copper and 119g/t silver from 152.5m.

Dilling intercepts at the Peakview prospect, showing outcrop geology and collar locations. Source: Company announcement

Ironbark completed 11 holes for a total of 1709 metres during its 2011 drilling program at Peakview, which was designed to follow up on historic drilling.

Ironbark said it had confirmed the extension of the high-grade mineralisation both along strike and down-dip with the drilling targeting and intercepting shallow high-grade strike extensions.

“We are very excited by the results of our drilling program that has highlighted the economic potential of this project,” Ironbark Zinc managing director Jonathan Downes said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The results show a very extensive initial strike of mineralisation that now extends for at least 1.3 kilometres and remains open at depth.

“We still consider this “early days” and we will be planning further work in the near future.”

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Argonaut Resources has kicked off a 5,000 metre RC drilling program at the Ban Klong prospect, situated within the company’s Ban Bak project area on its Xekong concession in southern Laos.

The new drilling program is targeting gold mineralisation discovered by Argonaut last year through an exploration program of surface geochemical sampling, channel sampling and drilling.

“The exploration program is targeting replacement style gold mineralisation analogous in nature to mineralisation found at the Sepon gold mine in Laos and at the Carlin trend in Nevada, USA,” Argonaut Resources said in its ASX announcement.

In July 2011 the company announced that drilling at the Ban Klong prospect in the north-western corner of the Ban Bak area had intercepted:

–    6m at 26.2 grams per tonne gold from 22 metres, including 2 metres at 76.4 grams per tonne gold from 24 metres;

–     12m at 3.48g/t gold from 10m; and

–    8m at 4.45g/t gold from 0m.

“Ban Klong drill intercepts cited above may not represent the true widths of mineralised bodies,” Argonaut said.

“Additional drill hole data is required to properly determine the geometry and dimensions of any potentially economic mineralisation.”

Argonaut said the recently-commenced 59 hole program would be focusing on determining the geometry of the mineralisation the company intercepted by RC drilling in April/May 2011.

Once it has established the orientation of several known mineralised bodies, the company said the program will seek to define the approximate extent of the gold mineralisation.

Additionally, gold targets peripheral to Ban Klong that were defined by surface geochemistry during 2011 will be tested.

THE DRILL SERGEANT: RC drilling being conducted by Stawell-based gold exploration company Navarre Minerals has hit 24 metres at 2.5 grams per tonne gold from a depth of 35 metres, including 3 metres at 10.9 grams per tonne gold and 1 metre at 15.3 grams per tonne gold.

The drilling is part of a program currently underway at the company’s Tandarra prospect.

 

Bendigo North project and Tandarra prospect location map. Source: Company announcement

 

This result is from the first drill traverse undertaken across the Tomorrow Anticline as part of a 25,000 metre resource definition drill program at the Tandarra prospect, part of the company’s Bendigo North project, 40 kilometres north of Bendigo in Victoria.

Navarre said the data obtained from this RC program will be used to calculate the estimation of a maiden mineral resource at Tandarra by the end of 2012.

“We are particularly pleased with the width of gold mineralisation intersected in (drillhole) RCT006 and its relatively shallow depth from 35 metres down-hole as it aligns with our concept target of a mineral resource that may be suitable to potential open pit mining”, Navarre Minerals managing director Geoff McDermott said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

Navarre is targeting gold mineralisation at Tandarra below a thin veneer of sand and clay cover ranging in thickness from 20 to 50 metres.

The current drilling activity is set to be heightened by the addition of a second drill rig in February.

“While we experienced some delays associated with contractor’s equipment, we are now in full swing at Tandarra and we are looking forward to a busy program over the next few months,” McDermott said.

Navarre Minerals expects to release more drill results in the coming weeks from two further diamond holes at the Kingston gold project and from the ongoing RC resource definition drilling at Tandarra.

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Gold Road Resources has announced to the ASX the discovery of multiple new gold anomalies across the company’s wholly-owned Yamarna Gold Belt.

The discoveries include the Koopman’s Find high-grade gold patch, which Gold Road identified during an auger drilling program at the Tobin Hill gold trend.

The following new gold anomalies, all located across the Yamarna Belt, have recently been identified through drilling activity:

Koopman’s Find prospect:

–    A new gold discovery located in Tobin Hill area; and

–    Rock chip returned a grade of 40.7 grams per tonne gold.

 

Free gold panned from Koopman’s Find patch at Tobin Hill area. Note floating fine gold. Source: Company announcement

Tatar prospect:

–    Located on the Tamerlane trend between Attila South gold deposit and the Hann prospect; and

–    Gold Road has delineated a 1.5 kilometre long gold anomaly.

VTEM prospect:

–    Located on the Tamerlane trend close to the Alaric 2 gold deposit;

–    Drilling has identified a 500 metre long gold and a 300 metre long arsenic-copper-lead-zinc-nickel anomaly; and

–    Assays and lithology suggest a possibility of VMS style of mineralisation.

Dorothy Hills (north) prospect:

–    Located approximately 23 kilometres north-east of Central Bore;

–    Drilling has identified a broad 100 – 200 metre wide gold anomaly;

–    Gold appears to be hosted by both granite and basalt; and

–    Follow up RAB program will focus on the long granite and basalt contact.

Western Ultramafics prospect:

–    Located 1.5 kilometres west of the Alaric 3 gold deposit;

–    Drilling was designed to test a 1.5 kilometre long zone where sporadic historical drilling identified gold anomalism (the best intercept: 1m at 3.72 g/t gold); and

–    Gold Road’s current drilling confirmed the presence of anomalous gold in the area – full interpretation of the results is in progress.

 

In addition to the above results Gold Road said it has also continued to delineate its Central Bore, Central Bore North, Central Bore South, Justinian, Hann and Khan North projects.

The company has surpassed its 150,000 metre target by drilling in excess of 170,000 metres of RAB, RC and diamond drilling throughout 2011.

Gold Road has already commenced its 2012 drilling campaign with all three rigs in operation and its entire exploration team back on site.