Blackham Resources discovers new oxide deposit at Matilda gold project
Blackham Resources’ (ASX: BLK)
drilling at its Matilda Gold Project in Western Australia has
identified a new shallow oxide deposit as well as potential for
underground extensions at its M2 deposit.
The resource inventory
at the Matilda Gold Project is currently 25 million tonnes grading 1.9
grams per tonne for 1.5 million ounces of contained gold.
Further Matilda drilling is currently being planned while preparations underway for the maiden Williamson drilling campaign.
Oxide discovery
Drilling 500 metres north of the M4 North area had returned notable assays of:
- 6 metres at 3.31g/t gold from 42 metres including 1 metres at 14.3 g/t gold (MARC0152); and
- 4 metres at 2.64g/t gold from 29 metres (MARC0153).
Notably, previous rotary air blast drilling had failed to identify this near-surface mineralisation.
MARC0153
also intersected a broad, patchy zone of mineralisation at the bottom
of the hole grading 20 metres at 0.99g/t from 120 metres. It was
abandoned in mineralisation due to poor sample return.
The grade
and near-surface nature of the mineralisation, as well as deeper
encouragement in MARC0153, demonstrates potential for new oxide
resources to be delineated and warrants further exploration.
Deeper Drilling
Two
holes were drilled to target potential higher grade mineralisation
below the M2 Deposit, which is characterised by broad zones of
lower-grade mineralisation within the oxide zone.
The MARC0154
hole returned 7 metres at 3.38g/t gold from 197 metres though it did not
reach target depth due to unstable ground conditions and failed to test
all potential lode positions.
This provides proof of concept and
encouragement for further depth testing that may identify potential
underground extensions to mineralisation.
Results from the M1 and M3 deposits confirmed the presence of interpreted lode positions.
The
M3 mineralisation has demonstrated continuity beyond a late-stage dyke
which the pit terminated against. This provides some confidence that new
resources can be found between M2, M3 & M4.
Future work program
Further interpretation of drill results and planning of future program is underway.
The
near-surface mineralisation at M4 North is of particular interest as
additional oxide resources would have a positive effect on future mining
studies.
Open pit targets are currently being prioritised
though strong potential remains for discovering new deep deposits that
could sustain a long-lived mining operation.
The exploration
focus has also broadened beyond the immediate mining centre and planning
is underway for regional exploration program designed to discover new
deposits.
More information about regional targets will follow in the coming weeks.
Preparations
are also well advanced for the Company’s maiden drilling program at the
Williamson Mine, which has been delayed by lack of access due to wet
weather.
This will test for extensions of mineralisation beneath the existing open pit that would facilitate a cut-back.
Analysis
The
discovery of a new oxide deposit at M4 North and increased likelihood
of deeper mineralisation at the M2 deposit strengthens Matilda’s
potential to be a multi-million ounce project within a highly
prospective area with a regional endowment of over 35 million ounces as
well as supporting infrastructure.
This includes being only 19 kilometres from the Wiluna Gold Plant.
Notably,
there is a strong pipeline of updates lined up – including
interpretation of drill results and the start of drilling at the
Williamson Mine – that have the potential to further grow Blackham
Resource’s gold inventory.
These position the company for future feasibility studies.
Taken
together, there is every reason to believe that the company will
continue the momentum, which has seen it increase the Matilda Mining
Centre resource to the current 784,000 ounces of gold from 68,000 ounces
at its acquisition in November 2011.
Blackham is well-funded after recently securing a $13.3 million funding package with Great Central Gold.
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