News

Black Cat Syndicate Limited provided an update on regional exploration activities and the Cu-Ag-Au potential at the 100% owned Paulsens Gold Operation.

Black Cat’s Managing Director, Gareth Solly, said: “We are excited by the regional exploration potential at Paulsens. The project contains several crustal-scale faults which provide deep plumbing for mineralising fluids. Strong copper and gold anomalism is common and historical mining is not isolated to the main Paulsens operation with examples of workings
present throughout the project area. Paulsens is already one of the highest-grade underground gold deposits in Australia and we have numerous copper, gold and silver targets that have the potential to host additional mineralised bodies.  Our early exploration planning is prioritising targets for drilling later in 2023

 HIGHLIGHTS

• High resolution photogrammetry survey and photo geology interpretation completed over Paulsens with multiple new quartz veins identified for follow-up.
• Reprocessing of historical geophysical data has refined and complemented regional targeting studies.
• Reconnaissance surface rock chip sampling to further define Cu-Ag-Au anomalies and drill targets is ongoing. 
• Integration of data into a comprehensive regional targeting database is also ongoing to inform the new geology model and support regional drilling commencing in mid-2023.

Caprice Resources Ltd announced an update on the Northampton Polymetallic Project (Northampton), located in the Northampton Mineral Field of Western Australia. Northampton is a historical mining area with over 100 years of base metals mining, with minimal on-ground exploration completed during the last 50 years.

Caprice recently completed an 11-hole RC program at Lady Sampson, approximately 40km southeast of Northampton. The drilling tested north-south oriented base metals mineralisation over c.750m of strike. This is the first time drilling has been done in this area.

This program's first drill hole (23NHRC001) has returned excellent near-surface results, with outstanding grades and widths of mineralisation from 39m down hole. In addition, a second zone was intersected from 67m, with the hole finishing in mineralisation.

23NHRC0001 was the southernmost hole in the program and was drilled to 70m deep. The hole location was guided by historical costeans. The presence of two zones is very pleasing, as it indicates the potential for additional lodes to the mineralised system at depth, compared to the costean.

Whilst the remaining holes are expected to be received over the next few weeks, the results from 23NHRC0001 represent an immediate follow-up drill target and planning for an accelerated program is well advanced

• 14m at 7.6% lead, 1.1% zinc and 3.1 g/t silver from 39m;
  • incl. 6m at 11.4% lead, 1.7% zinc and 4.4 g/t silver from 40m; and
• 3m at 4.2% lead, 2.2% zinc and 4.6 g/t silver from 67m to EOH.

Managing Director Andrew Muir commented, “Given this is the first drilling in this area, we see these initial results as exceptional. The high grades and polymetallic nature, in addition to the presence of at least two zones, demonstrate the potential of the Lady Sampson Prospect. Whilst we have only received the first hole to date, we recognise the significance of these results and will look to fast-track follow-up drilling at Lady Sampson.”

Magmatic Resources Limited provided an update on the ongoing exploration program at its 100% owned Myall Project, located approximately 60 kilometres north along strike of the Northparkes Mine (owned by China Molybdenum/Sumitomo).

The world-class Northparkes porphyry copper-gold deposits have a current combined Resource and Reserve base of 607Mt at 0.55% Cu & 0.21g/t Au2 and Magmatic Resources is targeting similar Northparkes-style mineralisation and grades.

The Company has now drilled ten diamond holes totaling nearly 8,000 metres, with multiple +400 metres copper-gold intersections returned during the high impact program. Porphyry deposits provide more than 60% of global copper supply and are typically low grade (0.2 – 1.0% copper and 0.01 – 1.0g/t gold) and large tonnage (from 100 million to several billion metric tonnes). Magmatic’s two porphyry projects, Myall and Wellington North, are located near the two largest porphyry mines in Australia in the Northparkes and Cadia Valley Mines, respectively.

Commenting on the new results from the Corvette Prospect, Magmatic Resources’ Managing Director Dr. Adam McKinnon said: “The latest results from hole 422 are simply outstanding. Having decided to make our biggest step out at Corvette into the untested northern part of the prospect, to intercept the strongest interval of copper-gold mineralisation so far is a great result for the program, and speaks to the massive scale of the system.” “I am particularly pleased that, along with strong copper mineralisation, the last couple of holes have returned multiple zones with significant gold. Recent results from hole 421 have also shown very high grade molybdenum mineralisation is present in the Corvette system, with individual grades up to 1,100ppm.” “We are now starting to define portions of Corvette with copper-gold zones up to 600 metres wide and up to 800 metres deep, already suggesting the potential for a system with huge mineralised volumes at this early stage. Corvette continues to be open or poorly tested in all directions and I am very much looking forward to seeing what upcoming drilling to the north may yield.” “Perhaps the most exciting part of the recent drilling success at Myall is that we have only tested a tiny fraction of the highly prospective 245 square kilometre Myall tenement. We know that in our region porphyry deposits of this type, including the world-class Cadia and Northparkes Mines, tend to occur in clusters of multiple deposits within several square kilometres. Given everything we are seeing at Myall, from the geology and geophysics to the geochemistry and alteration signatures to the large-scale mineralised intersections, I am confident Myall has the potential to develop into a Tier-1 project.”

Dreadnought Resources Limited announced today that RC drilling has commenced at the 100% owned Mangaroon project, located in the Gascoyne Region of Western Australia. RC drilling is currently underway at Yin, which will build upon the current Resource as well as testing the Exploration Target along strike.

A second RC rig and a diamond rig will commence in March 2023 and will focus on the first pass, wide-spaced drilling of the C1-C7 carbonatites. The diamond rig will provide ongoing support for Resource upgrades, metallurgical testwork and geotechnical studies.

These systematic drill programs have the potential to rapidly add significant Resources.

Dreadnought’s Managing Director, Dean Tuck, said “After an extremely successful 2022 drilling program, we are excited to be back on site for what will be a busy year for Dreadnought as we seek to make additional discoveries and to rapidly grow Resources. After a short break, the team is ready to deliver on both the ironstones and carbonatites as we build the wider Gifford Creek Ferrocarbonatite Complex into a world-class rare earth and critical metals region. We will have ongoing newsflow on our progress throughout 2023.”

Ora Banda Mining Limited announced today an updated estimate of Mineral Resources and a maiden Ore Reserve for its Riverina Underground. 

• Riverina Underground Mineral Resource doubles to 303,000 ounces at 4.1g/t
• New Resource is robust with minimum mining width of 1.6m applied
• Resource remains open in all directions, with Phase 2 of the exploration program to commence in March 2023
• Phase 2 program is targeted to extend the mineralisation envelope further south and at depth
• Riverina underground maiden ore reserve of 73,000 ounces averages 4.3g/t, with more Reserve conversion only limited by drilling density
• Reserves calculated using gold price of A$1,850/oz and using a minimum mining width of 2.2m in stoping
• The Reserve is primarily made up of the Main Lode mineralisation only, with the Murchison lode making up less than 3% of the Reserve due to it having an inferred classification in the resource. Conversion from resources into reserves is a key component of the in-fill grade control drilling
• The Phase 1 exploration program drilled 24% more holes in the 6 months from Jul-22 to Dec-22 than the entire amount of diamond drilling at Riverina Underground from 1984 to 2021

Ora Banda Mining’s Managing Director, Luke Creagh, commented: “We are very excited by the increase of the Riverina Underground Resource and maiden Reserve position. This update is a game-changer for the Company because, subject to final investment decision, we have a genuine pathway to greater than 100kozpa that is backed by reserves,” Mr Creagh said “This puts us in a good position to present a business case for the final investment decision, thereby placing this project squarely on a rapid development path. “This result also validates the prospectivity of our tenement package, noting there has been no modern or systematic approach to target high-grade underground mines, so we consider this not just early days on the Riverina system, but early days across our entire tenement package.”

De Grey Mining Limited reported an exploration update from RC drilling at Withnell and Withnell South areas around the known mineralised trends at the Withnell gold deposit, located within the Mallina Gold Project, Pilbara region, Western Australia. Exploration activities within the Company’s broader tenement portfolio have been conducted in parallel with the resource definition drilling at the Hemi deposits in support of the on-going discovery and mineral resource expansion program of the Mallina Gold Project. Exploration in the Withnell area is aimed at discovering new domains of gold mineralisation and testing for large extensions to known gold mineralisation hosted in favourable structural locations. During the ongoing work program, improved structural and stratigraphic interpretation at Withnell directly contributed to the development of new structural targets both along strike and in the structural footwall/stratigraphic hanging wall to the south of the Withnell gold deposit. In conjunction with the exploration programs, metallurgical and geotechnical drilling have been progressing at Withnell in line with ongoing technical studies for the regional deposits within the greater Mallina Gold Project. This drilling and associated studies at Withnell are aimed at converting existing resources within preliminary feasibility study (PFS) pit shell optimisations to reserves for the definitive feasibility study (DFS) currently in progress.

New results from RC drilling at Withnell South include:

• 20m @ 1.62 g/t Au from 110m and 9m @ 4.6 g/t Au from 159m in MWRC0320
• 17m @ 1.38 g/t Au from 70m and 5m @ 2.29 g/t Au from 157m in MWRC0303
• 15m @ 1.72 g/t Au from 28m in MWRC0302
• 2m @ 12.42 g/t Au from 125m and 7m @ 2.38 g/t Au from 160m in MWRC0225
• 12m @ 2.0 g/t Au from 2m and 10m @ 1.13 g/t Au from 44m in MWRC0284

De Grey General Manager Exploration, Phil Tornatora, said “The recent exploration activities and drill results achieved by the regional exploration team have identified a new structurally hosted mineralised zone at Withnell South and demonstrates the potential for De Grey to find substantial additions to mineral resources at the Withnell gold deposit. The new results at Withnell South are quite significant in that they open up the southern footwall structural position along the 7km long east-west Withnell trend. The discovery of Withnell South demonstrates the potential that remains to meaningfully increase the resource base and future production from our existing, structurally hosted, regional deposits. The results from the metallurgical hole highlight the down-dip continuity and grade of the main structure at Withnell which, combined with the new results at Withnell South, illustrate the exploration potential beneath and adjacent to the regional deposits."

Navarre Minerals Limited reported today further strong gold, silver and copper results returned from ongoing resource definition and exploration drilling within its wholly owned 850km2 Mt Carlton operation in north Queensland. The latest drill intercepts are from depth and strike extensions to the existing V2 and A39 orebodies and from the satellite Mt Carlton United (MCU) deposit. The results continue to reinforce the shallow, high-grade nature of these deposits and to highlight the outstanding prospectivity of the broader Mt Carlton project area in support of Navarre’s strategic objective of growing the mineral inventory and extending mine-life.

Drilling remains ongoing at MCU in support of open pit mining recently approved by the Queensland Government. The results from V2 and A39 cover an additional 84 reverse circulation holes for 9,355 metres of drilling and represent the final assays for drilling completed during the 2022 field season. The drilling program has involved up to two RC drilling rigs and one diamond core drilling rig, with the aim of expanding the known limits of the gold, silver, and copper mineralised systems. The results of this program will be included in an annual update of the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserves statement scheduled for reporting in March 2023.

Navarre Managing Director Ian Holland said: “The continued success of our drilling programs, aimed at extending the V2, MCU and A39 orebodies on the Mt Carlton mine lease, is very pleasing. The drilling results further reinforce the potential to grow our existing mineral inventory substantially and to extend mine life at Mt Carlton with additional gold, silver and copper ore. “We look forward to announcing more drill results in due course from our ongoing drilling campaign at Mt Carlton.” 

• 4 metres at 5.8 g/t gold & 5.1 g/t silver from 14 metres (MC22RC394)
• 6 metres at 4.2 g/t gold, 104.2 g/t silver & 0.7% copper from 17 metres (MC22RC433)
• 8 metres at 3.8 g/t gold, 17.5 g/t silver & 0.3% copper from 87 metres (MC22RC435)

Red 5 Limited advised today that underground drilling at the recently commissioned King of the Hills (KOTH) Gold Mine, part of the Company’s Eastern Goldfields gold mining hub operations in Western Australia, has delivered positive results, further defining current Ore Reserves that underpin the FY23 and FY24 mine plan and identifying new targets for potential Resource extensions. The significant assay results, received from 45,154 metres of underground drilling undertaken during CY2022, have been recorded across several key mining areas in the KOTH Underground

• 25.3m at 5.85g/t from 75.5m (KHRD0633)
• 152m at 2.77g/t from 21m (KHRD0636)
• 38.5m at 5.97g/t from 72.5m (KHRD0642)
• 6.8m at 35.06g/t from 150.5m (KHRD0685)
• 62m at 6.33g/t from 24m (KHRD0689)
• 24.5m at 14.07g/t from 140.5m (KHRD0776)
• 3.4m at 49.4g/t from 73m (KHRD0851)
• 5.8m at 100.9g/t from 85m (KHRD0855)
• 10m at 79.62g/t from 160.5m (KHRD0868)

Managing Director of Red 5, Mark Williams, said: “These impressive drill results provide further support for our mine plan over FY23 and FY24, as well as opening up potential new mining areas for the future. “King of the Hills is an enormous orebody, with significant areas remaining relatively undrilled, providing excellent potential for continued growth.”

White Cliff Minerals Limited announced an update on the Company’s Hines Hill REE project in the Wheatbelt region, WA, where maiden air core drilling has discovered mineralised REE clays from the surface. The results are incredibly positive, and further geochemical sampling over the remaining magnetic features has also been completed to grow the project's potential. The Company has also undertaken a maiden geochemical sampling program over E70/6136, an addition to the Hines Hill project area, which is contiguous to the west and increases the project size to ~576km2

White Cliff's Technical Director Ed Mead said: “Our maiden drill program at Hines Hill has been extremely successful in demonstrating the potential of the project with the discovery of shallow mineralisation with intercepts of up to 1,602ppm TREO in clays from surface down through the oxidisation profile, and into the basement. It appears at this early stage that the granitoid basement is highly elevated in REE’s and the REE Clays are the weathered granitoid. The Hines Hill project sits on salt affected broad acre farmland, which gives us the ability to work all year round; and with a land access agreement with the landowner, further encouraging results bodes well for the progression of the project. We have also increased the scale of the project to ~576km2 ”

Norwest Minerals Limited announced today it had received the assay results for the 33 RC drill holes (3,886m) completed at its 100% owned Bali Copper Project in Western Australia. The Bali Copper Project comprises approximately 8 kilometres of the Bali shear zone, a significant structure extending through the region and hosting numerous copper and other base metal prospects. The RC drilling targeted four priority prospects, with many holes returning wide copper intercepts grading ≥ 0.2% with 16 individual metres assaying ≥ 3% copper and the highest being 11.2% Copper.

Norwest’s CEO, Mr. Charles Schaus "This is the first drilling undertaken at Bali since 1989 and we are very encouraged by the results. The program tested each of the four prospects by systematic drilling of holes along strike with the aim of locating the source(s) for the high-grade copper exposed at surface. All prospects returned one or more wide drill intersections of copper mineralisation. Also, we have identified additional shear zones across the Deep South area with highgrade copper rock chips, with drill planning underway focusing on potential lateral and depth extension of these seven high-grade copper vein structures."

Great to have a little Bali in WA