High-grade satellite hits for Noble

THE DRILL SERGEANT: West Africa-focused Noble Mineral Resources has received a handful of highgrade results from drilling at the Strauss-Walsh satellite deposit at its Bibiani gold project in Ghana.

Based on results received by the company so far for the Strauss-Walsh deposit, as well as the Aheman, Grasshopper and Big Mug deposits, Noble has set a resource target of a minimum of three years production to be sourced from these satellite deposits.

Noble is confident the Strauss and Walsh deposits, and the area between them, will provide the initial primary ore for the refurbished plant at Bibiani.

The company said the recent results from the Strauss and Walsh deposits, and the others, support its view that they will join to form one super pit.

“They will also be used to help calculate a maiden reserve estimate for the satellite deposits, which are completely excluded from the current estimate,” Noble Mineral Resources said in its ASX announcement.

“This figure will then form part of an upgraded inventory at Bibiani, where resources to the 13th level of 23 currently stand at 1.98 million ounces and include 790,000 ounces in reserves.”

Strauss sits northeast of Walsh with 400 metres between the existing pits. The total length from the north of Strauss to the south of Walsh is 1.35 kilometres.

The latest intersections to the south of Strauss include:

– 2 metres at 47.19 grams per tonne gold from 134 metres;

– 2m at 3.69 g/t gold from 86m;

– 2m at 28.68 g/t gold from 65m; and

– 1m at 21.6 g/t gold from 108m.

Drilling at Walsh returned hits including:

– 3m at 18.07g/t gold from 114m; and

– 3m at 4.15 g/t gold from 82m.

Noble said it considers the results to be important as they stem from drilling in four areas not previously considered prospective and are:

– Away from the main lodes to the south of Walsh past the main lode;

– Under the old Walsh pit to the north of the largest mineralised zone;

– Well to the north-east of Walsh in the “gap” area; and

– At the south end of the Strauss pit workings.

The deposits have so far been drilled to 180m from surface at Strauss and at Walsh, but only to 130m in the “gap” between the two pits.

“Walsh drilling is complete and most assays have been returned. Many of the composite sample submissions have also been returned for the ‘gap’,” Noble said.

“Drilling at Strauss will be completed shortly.

“In light of very encouraging results returned from the ‘gap’, a decision has been made to infill this area with sufficient drilling to provide full feasibility data densities.

“This will enable Noble to announce a resource that can be converted to reserve status with no further drilling.”