Brightstar Resources has intersected high-grade gold at Cork Tree Well in the first two diamond holes drilled into the prospect. Pic via Getty Images.
Mining
Special Report: Brightstar Resources believes it has ‘barely scratched the surface’ at Cork Tree Well after returning encouraging results from the first two diamond holes drilled into the lead prospect at its Laverton gold project.
Cork Tree Well already hosts an existing 303,000oz @ 1.4 g/t gold resource and Brightstar Resources (ASX:BTR) expects it will form the baseload ore feed for the company’s proposed restart of processing facilities ~30km south of the Laverton township.
Drilling success at Cork Tree Well is another boost for BTR just a day after the aspiring gold miner reported a series of high-grade hits at the Aspacia prospect, part of its Menzies project, and receiving a ‘speculative buy’ recommendation with a target price of 3.2c from respected advisory firm Evolution Capital.
BTR is also poised to start generating cash of its own any day now with first ore from the Selkirk JV with BML Ventures set to be processed via Genesis Minerals’ (ASX:GMD) Gwalia plant this month.
Assays from BTR’s first two diamond holes drilled into Cork Tree Well returned up to 172.41g/t Au with visible gold also observed in cut core on multiple occasions.
These holes are about 30km north of Laverton and were designed to build on the company’s geological model and understanding of the mineralisation styles defined by +28km of previous RC drilling.
A total of 20 holes were drilled as part of the broader +2,000m diamond core program which began last month and remains ongoing.
Hole CTWMET004 showing visible gold (circled) at 71.85m, with scale compared to a $2 coin which has a 20.5mm diameter. Pic: Supplied (BTR)
Intercepts returned so far include 34.4m @ 7.94g/t gold from 43.5m (including 8.4m @ 13.47g/t gold from 43.5m, 3m @ 7.05g/t gold from 54m and 15.6m @ 8.23g/t gold from 58m) in hole CTWMET004, which was drilled into the virgin Delta deposit at Cork Tree Well North where the gold mineralisation is entirely contained with a mafic metadolerite and quartz breccia unit.
The Delta deposit remains completely open at depth with the deepest hole previously drilled intercepting 31m @ 2.12g/t gold from 172m beneath the current open pit shell.
Assays received from CTWMET002 below the historical open pit at Cork Tree Well include 6.5m @ 1.42g/t gold from 104m and 1.65m @ 1.82g/t gold from 112m.
Holes CTWMET001 and CTWMET003 have been prioritised for expedited assay turnaround, while the remaining holes in the program are pending drill completion and processing for PFS workstreams which envisage Cork Tree Well as the baseload ore feed for BTR’s wholly-owned processing plant and associated infrastructure.
“We have reinforced our view that the gold mineralisation at Cork Tree Well is structurally hosted, with a mafic metadolerite host rock observed in CTWMET004 at Delta, whilst gold mineralisation returned in CTWMET002 is positioned within a chert-breccia horizon in the sedimentary package underneath the shallow historically mined open put,” BTR managing director Alex Rovira said.
“Due to the high grades returned, several re-assays were completed to cross-check the veracity of the initial results in certain cases, with multiple high-grade re-assays and visible gold supporting a coarse-grained nuggety gold mineralisation model at Delta.
“Given the inaugural diamond drilling results thus far, we remain of the view that we’ve barely scratched the surface at Cork Tree Well, with strong potential to build on the existing 303,000oz @ 1.4g/t gold mineral resource, both at depth with high-grade plunging shoots and strike extensions targeting the structurally-controlled mineralised trends across geological units.”
Cross section of diamond hole CTWMET004. Pic: Supplied (BTR)
BTR intends to conduct continued analysis into the effects of nuggety gold at Cork Tree Well, specifically within the Delta deposit, in future drilling programs.
Metallurgical and geotechnical properties from the ongoing diamond program will be used to inform design criteria for both the open pit mine and the process plant.
Discussions are continuing with mining and haulage contractors for budget pricing in the PFS, with some early-stage engagements now under way with regional processing facilities for toll-treating materials from the company’s Menzies project.
**Managing Director Alex Rovira will be presenting at the RIU event at 3.15 today and the BTR team are present across the 3 days of the conference on the exhibitors floor**
This article was developed in collaboration with Brightstar 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.
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