Gold: Great Northern is speeding towards a resource for Big Rush

Great Northern Minerals (ASX:GNM) is pushing to define a maiden resource for its Big Rush project in northern Queensland after drilling boosted the potential already highlighted by historical exploration.

A new high grade zone was discovered about 15m east of the Main Zone, with intersections including 2m grading 35.2 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from a depth of 113m and 3m at 14.5g/t gold from 118m.

Great Northern — formerly Greenpower Energy — says Big Rush was mined in the 1990s, with four open pits developed to extract oxide ore for heap leaching.

While mineralisation at the Central Pit, which was mined up to 1998, remains open along strike and at depth, there has been no drilling outside the pit since 1997.

Alkane Resources (ASX:ALK) has defined an initial 445,000 ounce resource at its Roswell deposit, next to its Tomingley operations in NSW.

Further drilling is underway to convert the inferred resource to the higher confidence indicated and measured categories, which will give the company enough information on geology and grade continuity to support mine planning.

Alkane added that there is potential to expand the resources at depth with a focus on the high grade zones in southern Roswell.

Drilling is continuing in the prospective corridor to the south of Roswell and an initial resource for the San Antonio deposit is anticipated in March.

The company is also seeking NSW government approval for an underground exploration drive to the Roswell deposit.

In other ASX gold news today:

Marmota’s (ASX:MEU) first batch of extension drilling at its Aurora Tank project in South Australia has returned a top result of 4m at 24g/t gold, 68m from surface.

This intercept is not only the most outward extension hole on the new NW flank, it is also the first time the company has intersected such high grades at depths below 50m. Additionally, the intersection is accompanied by highly elevated levels of bismuth and arsenic, which are indicators of primary mineralisation.

In WA, Pantoro (ASX:PNR) has identified a wide zone of mineralisation at the Daisy South deposit within its Norseman project with drilling returning up to 31m at 3.75g/t gold.

Drilling has also demonstrated continuity of the higher grade mineralisation and southern extensions to the Everlasting deposit with top results of 2.8m at 20.07g/t gold and 2.02m at 8.35g/t gold.

Veteran miner Steve Parsons has joined the board of Auteco Minerals (ASX:AUT) as the company moves to acquire the Pickle Crow gold project in Ontario, Canada.

Pickle Crow is one of Canada’s highest-grade historical gold mines that produced 1.5 million ounces of gold at a grade of 16g/t until it closed in 1966. It remains underexplored, Auteco says, with little modern exploration since mine closure.