Black Cat hunting for big gold payoff as drilling targets ‘another Paulsens’

Black Cat has kicked off underground drilling aimed at testing a some significant targets at its Paulsens gold project.

Paulsens is better known as the project that started the rise of Northern Star Resources before it moved on to bigger and better things after lifting the mine’s production to some 907,000oz of gold at an average grade of 7.3 grams per tonne.

However, it remains ideally suited as a ‘starter’ project for a junior explorer like Black Cat Syndicate (ASX:BC8)

Not only does it have an existing resource of 217,000oz, of which 89,000oz at an average grade of 5.9g/t is located underground, it also has a well maintained 450,000tpa processing facility that is expected to need minimal capital to restart, and plenty of exploration potential.

Small wonder then that the company has now embarked on a 7,000m underground diamond drilling program which will test down-plunge extensions of the near-surface Apollo Lodes and Gabbro Veins with potential strike extent of about 1,000m that are adjacent to existing workings.

Structural target

However, the most exciting target for this program is the ‘Paulsens Repeat’ structural target located about 200m below and parallel to the decline.

First identified by a 3D seismic survey in 2018, the Paulsens Repeat target stretches out over 1,250m (compared to the strike of at least 2,200m for the main Paulsens structure) and has never been drill tested.

What makes this target exciting is its structural similarity to the Paulsens deposit, raising the likelihood that the company could find a repeat of its mineralisation, which would drastically increase potential resources at the project.

“Commencement of our first drill program at Paulsens is a significant milestone for Black Cat and has the potential to transform the asset for us,” managing director Gareth Solly said.

“The asset is target-rich and offers many opportunities to significantly grow the Resource base near existing underground workings and also find a new, high-grade Paulsens-style deposit which would be a game changer for the company.

“We will be drilling for several months and hope to be reporting results from this drilling before the end of the current quarter.”

Extending existing resources

Drilling will initially test the Gabbro Veins which contains historical high-grade intersections such as 1.25m grading 131.5g/t gold from a down-hole depth of 58.8m and 1.05m at 66.2g/t gold from 118.4m.

It will then test Paulsens Repeat and search for down-plunge extensions to the Apollo Lodes, which is a near-surface lode system immediately east of the underground decline.

Previous exploration had intersected high-grade zones such as 2.28m at 28.05g/t gold from 11.52m and 1.24m at 35.98g/t gold from 18.72m outside the existing resource envelope.

Work is also underway to line up regional targets for testing in 2023.

This article was developed in collaboration with Black Cat Syndicate, 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.