Astral Resources’ gold hits point to Kamperman as Mandilla satellite deposit

Astral Resources’ drilling hits high-grade gold at the Kamperman deposit
Surprise hit of 3m at 26.6g/t gold in FRCD397A highlights potential for upside
Assays pending for 265-hole aircore drill program at the Feysville project

Special Report: Astral Resources is increasingly confident the Kamperman deposit will boost economics of its Mandilla gold project near Kalgoorlie, WA, after drilling returned thick, high-grade gold intersections.

All three holes in a diamond drilling program returned aggregate intersections exceeding 100 gram-metres (grams of gold multiplied by intersection width), which are generally considered to be an indicator of an economic deposit.

Notable results include 20.5m at 3.61g/t gold from 19.8m including 0.6m at 25.9g/t from 21.4m and 1m at 17.8g/t from 25.95m in hole FRCD395, 10m at 13.5g/t gold from 62.3m including 2.5m at 51.8g/t from 69.8m in FRCD396, and 20.8m at 2.15g/t gold from 120m and 3m at 26.6g/t from 148.8m in FRCD397A.

Astral Resources’ (ASX:AAR) managing director Marc Ducler said Kamperman deposit and its resource of 2Mt at 1.3g/t, or 84,000oz of contained gold, represented a near-term satellite development opportunity for inclusion in the Mandilla project pre-feasibility study, which is on track for completion in the June 2025 quarter.

“All three drill-holes returned substantial high-grade mineralised intersections. Drill-holes FRCD395 and FRCD396 successfully replicated the expected mineralised intersections, albeit without the exceptional high grades seen previously,” he said.

“Metallurgical hole FRCD397A returned an intersection that matched the expected width and grade that was modelled in that area – and then surprised with an additional high-grade zone of 3m at 26.6g/t Au intersected at depth in a silicified porphyry as opposed to the sulphidic chloritized mafic that hosts the southern lode.

“Our confidence in the ability of Kamperman to make a meaningful contribution to the Mandilla gold project economics as part of the upcoming pre-feasibility study is growing with every hole drilled.”

Watch: Astral ascent in the heart of the Goldfields

Feysville project

The Feysville project has a resource of 5Mt at 1.2g/t, or 196,000oz within the Kamperman, Think Big and Rogan Josh deposits.

It is seen as a source of satellite ore feed for a future operation based on AAR’s flagship Mandilla project.

The three-hole diamond drilling program at Kamperman was designed to twin two previously drilled RC holes which intersected exceptionally high-grade gold to collect information that may lead to a better understanding of the orientation of these structures, and collect samples from the southern Kamperman mineralisation for metallurgical testing.

The Mandilla and Feysville projects. Pic: Astral Resources

FRCD395 was designed as a twin hole to FRC378, which intersected 12m at 7.26g/t gold from 23m and 25m at 24.3g/t from 68m.

While it did not intersect the exceptionally high grades of the earlier hole, it encountered two zones of higher grade gold mineralisation consistent with those in FRC378.

FRCD396 twinned FRC243, which hit 5m at 8.29g/t gold from 53m and 4m at 94.8g/t from 77m, with results mirroring what was seen in FRCD395.

Meanwhile, hole FRCD397A to collect metallurgical samples returned grades as expected through the southern lode before intersecting a surprise 3m at 26.6g/t gold from 148.8m, an intersection presenting upside that requires further testing.

Assays are also pending from the recently completed 265-hole aircore drill program at Feysville while a 46-hole RC drill program is underway.

This article was developed in collaboration with Astral Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.