Middle Island Resources Kicks Off Phase 2 Drilling at Sandstone
THE DRILL SERGEANT: Middle Island Resources (ASX: MDI) has begun a Phase 2 drilling campaign at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Sandstone gold project in the central goldfields of Western Australia.
Middle Island Resources has been eager to commence the Phase 2 campaign, following recent results from the Phase 1 campaign that identified five new satellite gold deposits, McClaren, McIntyre, Ridge, Old Town Well and Plum Pudding, at the Sandstone project.
The upcoming drilling is to comprise an initial 222 holes (13,846m) of reverse circulation (RC) resource definition drilling and around 10 holes (1,000m) of HQ3 diamond drilling.
The company has expanded the RC drilling component from an original 3,000m due to the success of the Phase 1 campaign, as it now has to cover five new satellite gold deposits, rather than the one new deposit that was originally envisaged.
The Phase 2 RC drilling will also take in initial assessment of at least two further exploration priorities that have been shown up by the Phase 1 campaign.
The first exploration target is the undrilled, 1.15 kilometres-long Shillington Gap, with the second being extensive zones of gold mineralisation observed in historic drilling below and adjacent to the Eureka open pit deposit, situated 700m west of the company’s 100 per cent-owned 600,000 tonnes per annum gold processing plant.
“Following an extremely successful start to the extended 2020 drilling campaign at the Sandstone gold project, I am pleased to confirm that the Phase 2 RC drilling program commenced on schedule last week,” Middle Island Resources managing director Rick Yeates said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.
“The Phase 2 program comprises an initial 13,800 metres of resource definition RC drilling to infill and extend the five new satellite deposits identified during Phase 1 work, along with confirmation of a possible southern extension to the Shillington deposit.
“The resource definition component of the program will be followed by an exploration element to provide initial assessment of two further significant targets identified by the Phase 1 drilling, at Shillington Gap and Eureka.
“Planning for this component is still on-going and will be partly predicated on assessment of the imminent high resolution airborne magnetic and radiometric survey results.
“I look forward to sharing the details, progress and results of an extremely exciting and expanded Phase 2 program with you during June and July.”
Middle Island indicated it is currently undertaking preliminary resource estimates and pit optimisations on all five of the new satellite deposits to assist in refining planned Phase 2 resource definition RC and diamond drilling.
Final resource estimates are anticipated to then be prepared for the Two Mile Hill, Wirraminna and Shillington deposits, where resource definition drilling has largely been completed, prior to final pit optimisation studies for a feasibility study update.
Shillington will be the last of the three deposits to be re-estimated, following limited Phase 2 RC drilling on the recently identified southern extension.
Final resource estimates and pit optimisations will then be progressively undertaken on the new satellite deposits as the Phase 2 drilling results are received and compiled, prior to inclusion in the feasibility study.
Email: info@middleisalnd.com.au
